The Pampanga Bakery

A Birthday Party was celebrated! And we were there to help make it a big one! Many thanks to Pampanga Bakery in Stockton, CA and their desire to have fun!!

1619 E Hammer Ln
Stockton, CA 95210
(650) 359-9628

PDM Steel Service Center

A HUGE Thanks to PDM Steel Serice Center for letting us perform and entertain your children at this past weekends company picnic! We love being a part of your family circle!

P.O. Box 310 (95201)  
3535 E. Myrtle Street
Stockton, CA 95205  (209) 943-0555

JS West and Companies

This past weekend we performed for JS West and Companies in Modesto, CA for their Company Event! The production was held at Davis Park and was an incredible start to the summer! THANK YOU JS WEST for making us part of your day!

Main Office
501 9th Street
Modesto, CA 95354
209-577-3221

Where is the Love?

In Shape City

This past Wednesday evening we helped kick off the Grand Opening following their remodel of In Shape City in Stockton, CA! With about 200 children, we face painted, twisted balloons and handed out stuffed animals galore! The excitement on their faces and the length of the lines told of a grand time!

Thank you In Shape City for letting me be part of your fun! 

7920 Kelley Drive 

Stockton, CA 95209

(209) 472-2105

Happy Mother's Day

Our deepest fear is not what we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frighten us.  We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

from- A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson

Hanna's Press Release for School Assemblies

Click HERE to read Hanna's Press Release about teaching at School Assemblies!

Hanna's Press Release for School Assemblies

School Assembly

Having a School Assembly? Hanna Banana has started a program geared to schools! Check out SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES. And - check out our new site HERE

Hanna Banana is now performing at SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES!

This past Saturday we performed at at the Montclair Golf Club in Oakland, CA! We were busy with children and I have the face painted pictures to show for it! We hope to be there again. Thank you for letting us share in a fun day, we hope we made it more special for you and the children!

Montclair Golf Club

phone number: (510)482-0422

2477 Monterey Blvd. Oakland CA 94611

Our Children LOVE Stuffed Animals!

Laurel's Birthday

Facepainting Guide

Would you like to learn to FACE PAINT? Check out our FREE guide to learn some tips and techniques!

                                                                       CLICK HERE

Check out Hanna Banana's website for more information on Birthday Parties, Company Picnics, and of course - CLOWN SCHOOL! 

We serve in the California Central Valley including: Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Modesto, Galt, Tracy, Livermore, Pleasanton and more! Give us a call! 209-464-6677

Easter Weekend

What an incredible weekend we had celebrating Easter! We performed for Quail Lakes Baptist Church and at Oakdale Country Club.  We were amazed at how excited the children were to see the Easter Bunny and enjoyed spending that time with them. We loved driving to each location and enjoyed the excitement of people seeing the Easter Bunny around town.

Quail Lakes Baptist Church

1904 Quail Lakes Dr.
Stockton, CA 95207
(209) 951-7380

Oakdale Country Club

243 N. Stearns Road
Oakdale, CA 95361
209 847-2984 Phone

Bill Corbett

A HUGE thanks to Bill Corbett and his complimentary write up of California Clown School! We love that the idea of non-intimidating clowns is reaching people far and near. California Clown school along with Hanna Banana is campaigning to make clown work a fun/safe place for children and are hoping to drop those previous fears of the bozo clown.

Bill Corbett is an American Playwright known for his work on Mystery Science Theater, several plays, and his contribution to NPR's Prairie Home Companion (one of our personal favorite shows!) and All Things Considered (another favorite!). He is currently touring with the play The Stuff of Dreams. We appreciate the work you do, Bill! Thanks for the compliments!

Check out his write up HERE or read it below!

Rifftrax.com

An article posted at Rifftrax.com

Go on, be one! All you need is a little clown training, and then you can enter the wonderful world of clowndom.

“And where does one get this clown training!?” I hear many (most?) of you asking eagerly, ready to sign up. Well, one such place is the California Clown School, located in…. Reno, Nevada! (Those clowns!)

From their curriculum, here's a sample day:

Monday:
The Rose
Philosophies and attitudes of clown work
Your Clown Character
Costuming
Develop your clown face
Face Painting
Your self
Others

Health and Safety Hazards
Yours
The Children's


Right off the bat, I'd say that one of the “Safety Hazards” for the Children is: being terrified into a a lifelong vegetative state.

…And THAT is why I knew — back when I was a younger man, who played in a punk garage band — that we must push back on this clowny-clown-clown madness. I haven’t thought of the following song for many years, dismissing it in retrospect as a 19 year old kid’s grim, nihilistic indulgence. But now I see that I was wiser than my years. This was was about survival, friends.

(Alas, I only remember the first verse and a half or so, and after that it’s all a bong-y haze:)
DECOMPOSING CLOWNS  by (the young, sullen, and obnoxious, but full-head-of-dark-hair-possessing) Bill Corbett

Something happened under the Big Top
The lights are out, the colors down
Jolly white faces smiling forever
Oh, what an ugly death for a clown.

Red rubber noses, covered in maggots
Big floppy shoes, in dried blood and dust…

…And then it kinda went on like that. A nasty little Sex Pistols-wannabe song, yes… but if you watch that video above again, you’ll see what we’re up against, and why a young man felt the need to lash out.

Anyway..

Be a clown!

(To be fair to the California Clown School, they’ve specifically addressed the issue of Scary Clowndown. To her great credit, the CCS’s main teacher, Hanna Banana, recognizes the danger of Clowns Who Terrify, and she has released a manifesto on the matter. It’s long, so I’m putting it after the break:
“The State of Clowning in America:


Hanna Banana:

She has a new approach to clowning. She is at the forefront of a revolution in clowning in America. She is not a scary clown but is a new kind of clown. A Modern clown with a soft gentle approach that promotes peace, understanding and unity among all age groups and all cultural and ethic groups. She is a Nanny Clown and her entertainment is soothing to children and entertaining to adults.

Circus Clowns:

The following paragraph was taken from a program for RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS. “Irvin Feld, President and Producer of The Greatest Show On Earth, had just acquired this gigantic circus and found it woefully lacking in clown talent. At that time, in 1967, there were thirteen clowns under contract to RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS. Their ages ranged from fifty to almost eighty. Most of them could barely make it once around the hippodrome track. The mot juste at the time was: we know they can fall down, but can they get up again? There was no question that clowning in America definitely was going downhill, surely staggering to an untimely end.”

Party Clowns:

The status of party clowning is also going downhill in America. More and more children and adults are scared of clowns. The fear of clowns, known as coulorophobia, can cause panic attacks, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea and feelings of dread. It is one of the 10 most searched-for phobias on Yahoo! search engine. Psychologists who have addressed coulorophobia say it usually develops out of some traumatic incident in childhood associated with a clown. Several movies have also contributed to making clowns scary most notably Stephen King’s “It”. Tom Eldridge, secretary of Clowns International, said their make-up had been tined down in recent years.

Not only is that a problem but the traditional clown acts and antics no longer entertain children or provide the services adults want for their children. Hanna Banana has started a revolution as a new kind of clown with her Hands on Workshops and her soft gentle approach. She is not the traditional whiteface clown but a modern clown that has changed her costume and her face to portray a Jester Payaso clown. Children flock around her and accept her readily even those who fear clowns. Adults and older children, who view clowns as for babies, are very accepting of her as a modern clown.”

Good for you, Ms. Banana. As the dad of two very young kids, I’d rather they enjoy clowns than have nightmares about them.

(P.S. But Ms. Banana may be fighting a losing battle… Google “clown” images and see for yourself what comes up.)

Fairy Photo Album

Elise

Clown School - We separate the Amateurs and the Professionals!

California Clown School is now offering Liability Performers Insurance for one year with the price of Clown School! This policy is good for Clowns, Face Painters, Balloon Artists, Street Performers, and Children's Entertainers for Magic and Games. This is a $3 million dollar policy and is included for one year with the price of the class. This allows you access into larger events. I know that when we perform at Mammoth Resort the first thing they want is to see our policy! Contact us to find out more!

My Photo Collection

Hanna has been working for over twenty-five years and still going strong! We celebrate happiness in children and strive to create memories!

Lexington Hotel

This past weekend we worked at the Lexington Hotel in Stockton, CA. What a beautiful hotel located on the waterfront. We were hired to perform for a grand 1st birthday with an excess of 30 children.

110 West Fremont Street
Stockton CA 95202
Telephone 209-944-1140
Fax 209-466-1095