Without the priceless red nose, impossible to imagine his funny job. Erwan Page arrives around 9 a.m., in shorts and sneakers, in front of the small Darius Milhaud theater, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. A worried look at the work above the entrance. “The other day, there were huge noises of iron bars when I was on stage, boom! boom! »
Erwan, 29, is a clown for children. Far from the circus and the colorful capitals, further still from the horrific imagination conveyed by the cinema. The intermittent of the show tries to live of his passion after years of galley. “It’s been a dream since childhood. I always told my parents that I would be a clown, and today it’s starting to take shape,” he smiles.
“You will never manage to do this job! »
The vocation was born during a week at the circus school in 2002. “They asked who wanted to be a clown, and like the trapeze and the tightrope walker, it wasn’t my thing… a click. I couldn’t explain it, like a flash… I absolutely wanted to do that”. Passion drives him to organize amateur shows and to create his small troupe for performances at his grandmother’s retirement home for four years. The boy already feels more at ease in theater lessons than at school, which he left at 16. “Teachers told me: ”you’ll never manage to do this job! ” It was a mess in my head, but my parents encouraged me, ”he breathes.
After hairdressing training, Erwan went on to work in the artistic world, then left Finistère for Disneyland Paris. He is C3PO, the droid from Star Wars, in several parades. At random professional meetings, he finally finds his favorite costume for birthday parties. “After a journey strewn with pitfalls, I return to the red nose. But even at Disney, I was like ‘it’s temporary’, I still had the clown in me”. Faced with competition, he continues, “you have to fight to find your place, to succeed in standing out. As I did not go to school, I study the subject in books, and I learn on the job”.
Today, Erwan does not earn his living with his only show. It offers many services at home: puppet show for birthday parties, family or company celebrations, escape room for the little ones, master of ceremonies for professional seminars or retirements… He is also an event manager in the Val-de-Marne and sometimes extras on TV sets. Essential “odd jobs” to “work your hours” and obtain your intermittent status.
This daily life is sometimes far removed from the big names in classical circus, Bouglione, Pinder, or even Zavatta, who forged the image of the clown in the minds of the general public. “The homeless life does not make me dream, answers Erwan. It’s not the name that makes a good clown. I have friends in small family circuses who do excellent work, as much as the great artists. I have more respect for them, who have their own marquee to set up and take down”. Once on the boards, the objective is the same. “Playing with emotions. Our role is to offer a moment of escape to the public, to make people forget the pains of life for a few minutes”.
Discount stores and System D
The young man looks at his watch: one hour to install everything. “It’s a show that I play alone, there is no one on sound or lights”. In the small dark room, Erwan is alone with three suitcases. Everything is stacked there for placement. To ensure light, garden spotlights were purchased at a discount store. A “flying” table in the corner has been repaired with black tape. The main sign is made by a friend. The handful of costumes purchased on Vinted. You have to check the balloons, the bubble accessories, the magic box… “I’m a resourceful person, I’ve recovered a lot of second-hand equipment,” he says.
Don’t forget the remote control to activate, live from the stage, the playlist saved on the smartphone and the lights. “If I had to pay myself a technician, I would not pay myself,” he slips. “I produce myself, everything is bought in discount stores. It’s the D system, it requires a lot of personal investment, but it has become a game: how to put on a successful show with three pieces of string”.
The universe begins to take shape, but there is uncertainty. Will the public be present for the fifth of its eleven scheduled dates this summer? “For the moment, there are no reservations, but you always have to be ready…”, he sweeps away, continuing his installation. A few minutes from the show, we come to reassure him from the reception: 19 tickets sold, including a dozen children. Relief on the face, which must now be made up with light brush strokes. “I didn’t want the big red nose, it’s a bit old-fashioned, but something more modern,” he says in front of the mirror. Before going on stage, he adds: “People ask me: ‘but you’re going to do this all your life?’ I answer ‘well yes; you are going to be a banker until you retire”. And as long as I have the passion…”