Kenneth Ng

HK Magazine: Why were you so determined to be a professional clown?
Kenneth Ng: I never once thought about my salary. I believe I should do what I like to do. I love being a clown because it’s the happiest job. Interacting with kids is the most rewarding for the recognition and love they show me. They give me small presents and want to keep coming to visit me. Some parents tell me that the first thing their child said the morning after a show was that they wanted to come visit me!

HK: What did you learn from your experience at the World Clown Association Annual Convention?
KN: It was an eye-opening experience. Compared to Hong Kong, clown culture is so much more exciting and diverse in the United States. Performers in the convention ranged from whiteface clowns—the more serious and authoritative kind—to auguste and hobo clowns. In Hong Kong, the type of clowns we have is strictly limited to auguste clowns that have the joker/fool persona. The contrast showed me how limited and underdeveloped Hong Kong’s clown culture is.

HK: What are some of the most unforgettable moments of your career?
KN: Nothing beats the sense of satisfaction I felt when teaching “marginal teenagers” and getting to see them standing on their feet again. I worked with a welfare company for a few years, and one of their projects was teaching balloon twisting and other clown skills to minor legal offenders. Their unruliness at first seemed to prove my fear that they were rebellious and bad. But slowly, I realized that they just lacked confidence. I helped them regain confidence by assigning easy balloon shapes and letting them show their skills to family and friends. After the course ended, they performed on stage. Witnessing these insecure teenagers gradually regaining their confidence was a remarkable experience.

HK: Have you ever had any embarrassing moments while performing?
KN: I am a clown! Embarrassment is not a word in my dictionary. A big part of the job is about having thick skin and being able to turn sticky situations around. I do have to make a confession—I’m not usually this bold, but putting on my clown makeup magically gets me into my clown persona. But this constant need to improvise means that I get into tight spots at times. I remember performing for an elderly audience once, and I could not get any reaction from twisting balloons and mime shows. I had to quickly switch to telling jokes.

HK: Do you think children today are harder to interact with?
KN: They are different, definitely. Change is something that comes with time. But not the for worse, I’d say. Kids today now live in a much better environment. They have all the new toys. They quickly learn new jokes and tricks. I have to keep updating my act to make sure it’s new and exciting to them.

HK: What are some of the difficulties you have faced when trying to make your name as a clown in Hong Kong?
KN: In the first few years of my career, people had a negative impression of clowns—that they are murderers, psychopaths, perverts… Not many jobs for clowns came by. Also, there are only about 30 full-time job positions for clowns in Hong Kong, and the starting salary is roughly $7,000. But we are seeing more and more demand for freelance clowns for birthday parties and such.