Weekend Three - We Love Screamers!

We got our boo on out at Maris Farms Haunted Woods http://www.marisfarmshauntedwoods.com/ Friday through Sunday last weekend. It was a blast! I'm not getting tired of this experience at all. Contrary to that, I eagerly look forward to playing with the cast and customers.

One of my favorite lines of the weekend comes from Jill, my partner in clown. I overheard her say to another actor, "I love watching you peel your face off." (It is important to note that this comment was made while we were applying makeup.)

We partnered up with TJ and perfected our "distract and surprise attack" moves as the evenings' progressed. I know I wouldn't want to have this guy jump out at me from a dark corn maze. His voice is loud and booming as he leaps out and yells, he also has a way of following people and simply staring at them in silence. I give TJ an 9 out of 10 scream/surprise rating and an 8 out of 10 for creep factor.

Things are are weird and wonderful over the course of a weekend. Friday was party people, most had been getting some spirits into them before coming to get the crap scared out of them. It was a rough crowd. At one point I was handed a condom. (It was unused and in the wrapper, if you must know.) I didn't realize what the guy had handed me until he walked away. It was one of those times that I thought of a good line after the moment had passed. If I had been quicker I would have laughed wickedly, "Thanks! I know you won't be needing this tonight!" On Friday night 2427 people came through the experience.

Due to a snafu with my regular costume, I wore something different. It was pants, shirt and jacket. At first I thought the pants wouldn't fit, that they were too small. As it turns out, they were loose.

At one point I realized that my pants had fallen down half way...the back half.

Hey, do these clown pants make my butt look funny?

I get a lot of compliments on my hair. I'm sure you can see why. Look, look upon my clownish beauty! (That's what I say to people who can't stand to even look at clowns.) I have to be sure to pin it on to my head. It popped off just when I burst out to scare some people. At least we all got a good laugh out of it.

We have three goals: Make 'em scream, make 'em laugh, make 'em jump. We love it when we hear screamers coming down the path. Inevitably Jill will say from her hiding spot, in her evil clown voice, "Screamerrrrrssss." And I'll reply, "We love screamerrrrsssss!"

I still love following people and saying, "Don't sleep, clowns will eat you. Yum, yum, yum!" Jill came up with a great line, "We'll catch up to you later, we like our meat warm."

Saturday night the crowd was teenagers, lots of teenagers. Though fairly rude and crude, they are mostly out for a good time and they're having fun. I get such a kick out of the groups of screaming girls. Even better are the boys who scream like girls. Lots and lots of screamers. On Saturday Maris Farms broke their previous attendance records when a whopping 3673 victims, er, people waited hours in line for their chance to pee their pants in delight as they walked the haunted trail.

Here are some photos of my partner getting ready:
Jill, fresh faced and ready to start.

Here's Jill with her second clown face attached.

Here is Jill in all her clownish glory! She is a terrific clown, with a scare/surprise rate of 7 out of 10 and a creep factor of 8 out of 10. Her timing is impeccable and she can often get a scream out of someone just by looking at them. I'm sure you can see why.

On Sunday the crowd had many families. We were only open two hours and 665 people came through the tour.

This is an awesome experience and I'm grateful to be a part of something bigger than myself. I have lots more to write about. I succumbed to a nasty flu virus on Monday the 17th and I've been fighting it all week. I even missed Thursday and Friday, 20 & 21 of "work." I am determined to return tomorrow, the 22nd. I hate missing the fun! Now it's off to bed, to get some good rest.