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“When Clowns Collide”
On the way to Anaheim, CA. It was July of 1967 and a clown parade was in full swing in front of us., with colorful floats, honking horns, and laughter filling the air. Our tour bus full of Vaudevillians is traveling down the same road, also en route to Anaheim I think we were traveling about 80 mph down I.5. Our bus was filled with performers dressed in extravagant costumes, we were practicing our routines and singing show tunes.
Unbeknownst to the bus driver, a mischievous clown had accidentally placed a banana peel on the road during the parade, hoping to get a laugh from fellow clowns. As the bus approaches the parade, the driver spots the banana peel but fails to react in time. The bus skids on the peel, losing control and careening into the clown parade.
Pandemonium ensues as two clowns hit heads and both clowns fly through their windshields scattering blood and floppy shoes everywhere and a couple of foam red noses fly skyward. The truck that was carrying the clown's wardrobe and props slid off the road as well and In every direction, their oversized shoes scattered all over the highway and slid on the road, balloons popped, confetti flew, and honking horns mixed with the frantic screams of both clowns and Vaudevillians. The bus crashes into a giant inflatable clown that then explodes into a fireball causing it to deflate instantly and, enveloping the scene in a cloud of smoke.
As the dust settles, clowns and Vaudevillians find themselves tangled in a colorful and rather macabre mess of brightly colored costumes, oversized props, and juggling balls. The bus driver, dressed as a ringmaster, emerges from the wreckage, bewildered but unharmed his hat was smoldering a bit. The clowns, with their resilient spirits, started screaming and running around and making fun of a couple of the clowns that were on fire, and the other clowns were running after them with a bucket of confetti and throwing it on them making the fire worse.
Unfortunately, a few of the clowns were killed.
The ones who hit head-on in a clown car accident were just a bloody and polka-dotted mess on the highway. There was a clown in front of us dead and he was lying in front of our bus with his big floppy shoes brightly colored clothes and bright blue wig on fire.
I heard after everything was said and done each clown was buried, and they each had a twenty-one seltzer bottle salute.
It was sad and kinda funny looking back on it.
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