Who is David Bartlett?
Good question! I ask myself that sometimes.
First and foremost, David Bartlett is a clown. Not a "clown" in the sense of being a normal member of civilized society who occasionally acts like a goofball, but a clown in the capital "C", red nose, face paint, huge shoes sense... and not just "a" clown. "Mr. Rainbow" is one of the most well known and respected clowns in the North American family entertainment community.
Called "one of the nation's most perceptive and articulate practitioners of the clown art" by The New Calliope magazine, David was the recipient of the 1995 Freddy Award for lifetime achievement in clown education. His book The Clown Star has been called "the new clown bible." His newest book A Guide To YOUnique Clowning is receiving similar critical praise. He has toured throughout the U.S., Canada and a few cool spots in Europe teaching clowning.
He has clowned for the usual suspects (kids, day cares, festivals, company picnics, churches, schools) as well as the not so usual suspects (weddings, hospital clowning at Duke and UNC hospitals for over 20 years each, 25 years at NC and FL RV and Camping Trade Shows, Senior Centers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and colleges age crowds at UNC, Duke, State, Appalachain State and NCCU... who all laughed and wanted to know how to get a job like mine!)
And that's not all!
David is also one of the world's most well known, well respected balloon sculpture artists and designers. In 2008 he was awarded the European ballooning community's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Millinneum Jam in Mol, Belgium. His DVDs of original balloon designs has been sold worldwide. According to a guy who made a "ship them overnight" order, he's "very big in Singapore." He's pretty fat in the U.S. too.
And that's not all!
He is also an accomplished award winning actor and director! He has appeared in over 60 full length theatrical productions in diverse roles from the neurotic lead in Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam", to the hilariously domineering Mother Superior in "Nunsense" (he swears he looked exactly like the library nun from his high school... it freaked him out!), to the beloved, bumbling Bottom in “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, to the amazing two actor- 15 character Irish tragi-comedy "Stones In His Pockets, to... OK, I'm sure you get the idea!
And that's not all!
He began writing and performing comedy parodies in 4th grade (as a way to get out of class). While in the Navy stationed in the Aleutian Islands he wrote, directed and performed a one act parody of South Pacific entitled North Pacific. As a clown he writes and performs comedy parodies to tickle the funny bones of all ages (his “Prostate Song” to the tune of “In The Still Of The Night” often draws tears in older guys!). He and his friend Myke Hutchings are a duo called Balderdash and Humbug, and have two comedy Christmas albums (Jest In Time For Christmas, and The 55 Days Of Christmas) available for download on iTunes.com and Amazon.com
And that's not all!
In 1969, David started doing Santa Claus and has performed as the old elf every year since. On December 9, 2006 after a week of work on the comedy Christmas cd “Jest In Time For Christmas” (did I mention it is available for download on iTunes and Amazon?), in an almost instantaneous flash of revelation, David claims to have seen in his mind the entire one-man play that eventually became the show "In The Boots of St. Nick" (originally titled“The Santa Class.”)
OK, the exact wording didn't come that quickly but the intent and the spirit of the show never varied from that original mental flash. In July 2008 it was named "Sleeper Hit" of the Windsor Canada International Fringe Festival. In August 2009 the show was licensed to the New York production company Entertainment Events Inc. The show is now back in David's hands and he performs it hither and yon when the Christmas spirit moves him.