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." He has toured throughout the U.S., Canada and a few cool spots in Europe teaching clowning.
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 are 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 50 full length theatrical productions in diverse character roles from the neurotic lead in Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam", to the hilariously domineering Mother Superior in the musical "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”.
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 in 2008 put out a comedy Christmas cd called “Jest In Time For Christmas”, now available for download on iTunes and Amazon.
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, one-act play that eventually became the show “The Santa Class.” (See The Santa Class page of this web site). 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.
And that may not be all!
Watch this space!