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Last Updated: Feb 15, 2010 - 2:25 PM |
"A clown is like an aspirin, only it works twice as fast."
—Groucho Marx
Be a Clown! Be a Clown! Be a Clown!
That's exactly what Russ Hanson of Stromsburg, or better known as Rusty the Clown, has done for the past 25 years!
What started out as a hobby has grown into a full-time lifestyle for Russ, a local farmer, and his family.
Russ was pretty much a shy kid growing up. He graduated from Stromsburg High School in 1973. Being an entertainer was positively the farthest thing from his mind!
Russ has always been intrigued by magic. Whenever he learned a new magic trick, he would bring it to school to share it with his friends. He was fascinated by the attention it gathered. When Russ was in college, he met someone who was a great juggler. He literally made this guy teach him how to juggle—he bugged him and bugged him until he did!
Okay, so now Russ knew some magic tricks and he knew how to juggle. The clown act simply fell into place and the rest is history.
Russ's wife, Dixie grew up near Genoa, NE. Roughly 25 years ago, one of her neighbors was looking for a clown to entertain at their child's birthday party, so Dixie brought the idea up to Russ. He thought it was a wonderful idea, so he dressed up as a clown, did some magic tricks and juggling, and instantly knew this is what he wanted to do. He didn't know much about the make-up part, but he gave it his best shot.
"You can tell how good a clown is by looking at his make-up and outfit." —Russ Hanson
Word traveled quickly that Russ had done a clown act. He never advertised for his clowning—the phone started ringing and people started asking for him, and Rusty the Clown acquired his claim to fame from that very moment on.
Russ didn't work alone for very long. He was performing on stage at the Swedish Festival when his oldest son, Dusty, was three years old. Dixie was trying to hold onto him and run the sound system at the same time. Dusty somehow broke away from her and went up behind his dad and started dancing around. The crowd started laughing and cheering and Russ said to his wife, "We've got to put him in the act! The people love him!" From then on, the duo of "Rusty and Dusty" was a huge hit and the demand for their act flourished into show after show after show.
Dixie has sewn every clown outfit for Rusty and Dusty. Their attire matched perfectly from their colorful clown hair down to their oversized shoes.
Dusty loved to color, so Russ had Tim Alvis, the local art teacher, design a coloring book back in 1989. Alvis created an animated version of Rusty and Dusty in a unique 12-page production. He decided to put them in the grocery store to sell at cost and sold over 100 the first week! Russ never had anymore printed, and now he only has one left as a momento.
Clowning became a "family" operation from the start. Dusty and his younger brothers, Cody and Casey, have all been involved in the act, with Dixie at the helm to drive them around, run the sound system, help out with props, and put make-up on the boys. Russ, however, does his own make-up, and always has. He has had professional teaching on applying clown make-up and has even held seminars to teach other clowns how to do it.
Russ's clowning time quickly surpassed his farming time, but there were no two bigger supporters than his parents, Kenneth and Jeanette Hanson of Stromsburg. Russ shared the farming operation with his father, but when he seriously started "clowning around," his dad encouraged him to "run with it" and his mom was and still is his biggest fan.
"You don't have to be a clown to be a farmer, but with the economy, it sure helps!"
—Kenneth Hanson
Russ admits he has had a lot of breaks in his clowning career. Channels 10/11 came out in 1986 and did a 15-minute segment for a television show called "Etcetera." They took pictures of him farming in his clown suit. The show aired twice, and both times, he started receiving calls from people all over the Midwest who saw him on TV and wanted him to entertain at various events.
Throughout the past quarter of a century, Russ has had many clowning highlights. He recalled one time he and Dusty were going to a party to entertain and were stopped for a train. Already dressed and ready, Russ decided that he and Dusty could "practice" their act, so they got out of their vehicle and went to the car behind them and started doing some juggling and magic tricks. People kept getting out of their cars and coming up to watch the performance. Meanwhile, the train had gone by, but nobody was getting back into their vehicles! They wanted more! Rusty and Dusty continued their act for about 10 minutes after the train passed!
Traveling in costume is an experience in itself. One time years ago, Rusty was on his way to an event and was running a bit late. He was stopped by a patrolman for speeding, but the officer came up to him, started laughing and said, "I have never given a speeding ticket to a clown, and I never will." Rusty simply said, "thank you," and continued on his way.
"It's better to be funny than perfect." —Russ Hanson
When Russ began his career, nobody was afraid of clowns. But over the years, Russ has come across many people with coulrophobia (fear of clowns) and is very considerate of their condition. In most cases, Russ said, once you get them laughing and they see others having a good time, the fear leaves. When someone says they are scared of clowns, Rusty simply replies "I am too! They give me the heebie geebies!" They come back with "but you are a clown." Rusty then screams, "I am! I always look like this!" His humorous tactic almost always works.
Rusty the Clown has performed at the Swedish Festival for 12 out of the past 25 years. He has also entertained at numerous birthday parties, county fairs, the state fair, mother/daughter teas, and other church events. His youngest birthday party was for a 3-year-old and the oldest was for someone local who turned 90. The farthest he has traveled was Chicago, IL for a church event. Rusty wore his clown outfit the entire time! The pilot welcomed him into the cockpit and invited him to do magic tricks on the airplane. He continued by making balloon animals at the airport while waiting for his ride!
One of Rusty's favorite acts is "Create a Clown" night at AWANA, held at the Evangelical Free Church Wednesday evenings during the school year. He has participated in this event for almost 20 years. The children come dressed as clowns and Rusty entertains by giving a Christian message. Rusty has a picture taken with each child and gives them the picture the following week.
"Laughter is the best medicine." —Proverb
Russ recalls a few statistics in 25 years of clowning:
• he has completely worn out 5 clown wigs
• his wife, Dixie has sewn 10 different clown outfits (just for him)
• he has made 50,000+ balloon animals and has never used a pump.
Russ enjoys including children in his act. "When I bring a child up on stage, I want their experience to be one they will remember," he commented. "I will do things like fail the trick and let them do it right. I want to send them away feeling special."
Russ has a special love for children. "They energize me," he said. Being a clown is not work for Russ, even though he does it for a living. When it's not fun anymore, he'll quit.
For the past 23 years, Russ has also performed as another clown character for a franchise in the Midwest area.
One thing Russ plans to do before he hangs up his clown outfit is to write a children's book. "There is one in me," he said.
Russ's most recent honor was to be Grand Marshal of the 2009 Midsommar Swedish Festival. He is very proud of his community and always brags about being from Stromsburg. "Everywhere I go I tell people I am from the best town in the world—Stromsburg," Russ added. "I am a huge promoter of Stromsburg! I love the people here and everyone has been so supportive."
Russ and Dixie's sons used to tell their friends "we live on a funny farm" or "my dad is a funny farmer!" They never knew any different than having a dad who's a clown!
Being a clown has been "life changing" for Russ. He never dreamed it would be so much fun!
"Laughter is an instant vacation." —Milton Berle
© Copyright 2009 by polkcountynewspaper.com
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