We recently connected with Topher O’Foolery and have shared our conversation below.

Topher, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I knew very early on that I wanted to be a clown. My aunt and uncle took me to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and I participated in a pre-show gag with the clowns. I was hooked, instantly. Knowing that you could connect with an audience and get them to drop their guard and be in the moment to just laugh was a feeling unlike anything else in the world, and from that day forward I had only one goal.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As I said, I knew this was what I wanted to do for a living from a very early age. Life kind of got in the way in my late teens and early twenties, and I got distracted trying to simply earn a living, but the desire never disappeared. I like to say clowns aren’t made, they’re born, and I was definitely born for this. One day I just had it with the daily grind – there was no joy in simply doing a job for a living, with no passion. From that moment on, I dove head first into learning everything I could – I practiced, I took classes, I read books, I studied the films of folks like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. I’m very fortunate to have made some great friends who pointed me in the right direction. I got to study with the New York Goofs and learned the importance of character and vulnerability. You learn to look around at life and find the absurdities in it.

Balloon twisting wasn’t something I every truly “planned” for, but I realized it would be a valuable tool to offer clients. I learned very quickly that you could do absolutely amazing things with balloons, and decided right away I didn’t want to be the “dogs and swords” kind of clown, so I figured out how to make amazing creations the general public wasn’t used to. The industry, as a whole, has come such a long way over the years. I really like to blend the art of clown with balloon twisting, making it the best of both worlds. It honestly brings me such joy – I say all the time that I have the best job in the world, and I genuinely mean it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The connection you create with a perfect stranger is a powerful thing. You learn to read people, and you have to learn to be vulnerable – you need to look at your own flaws and truly own them. As a clown I get to have authentic moments with people where we just connect; as the clown, I show my vulnerability in an effort to be as genuine as possible, I’m the fool, I give them the power. In every day life, this person probably has someone else holding the power, whether it’s their boss at work, or their parents and teachers if they’re a child. To give them the power and just be a pawn in their world for a moment provides a lasting memory for them, and a job well done for me.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There’s no straight line in the creative field, it’s not numbers and spreadsheets. We may have an end goal in mind, but there’s no definitive way to get there. Our job is to entertain people, and everyone is different. A joke may make one person laugh hysterically, but another stare blankly at you. If you fail and learn something, you don’t really fail. The goal is always connection. If you can make everyone drop their guard and live in the moment, you’re on to something, but getting there, and sustaining it, is different on every stage, at every show, and every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mynameistopher.com
• Instagram: @topherofoolery
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/topherofoolery
• Other: Threads: @topherofoolery