WATERLOO -- It's a funny thing, clowning.

Despite the silliness, to clowns it's no laughing matter.

Besides a love of kids, Angela Boynton -- aka Mimi the Clown -- said the art of clowning requires discipline, energy and an ability to improvise. Because a group of kids count on her, she said not showing up isn't an option, even if she's sick. She has missed one show in her six-year career, and that was during a snow storm when she turned around part way rather than joining other motorists in the ditch.

The energy and improvisation, well, that comes with the territory.

"You have to have a lot of energy because you're going to be jumping around with a bunch of kids wearing three layers of clothes," said Boynton, who is a child care provider during the week.

It's not enough to be good with kids, though. A lot of work and training goes into being a successful clown. When Susan Wirtjes -- aka Sunshine the Clown -- enrolled in clown school in Maple Lake, Minn., the first things she learned in Clowning 101 were how to apply makeup (if you don't do it right, you'll frighten the children) and how to establish an identity.

"You walk in and say, 'I don't know who I am. How old am I? Am I a guy, a girl?" said Wirtjes, a lactation consultant at Covenant Medical Center in her day job.

In more advances classes, master clowns teach things like ballooning, face painting and magic.

The art of clowning is often passed down from clown to apprentice, which is how Boynton became a clown. Now the student is the teacher, and Boynton has trained her sister and mother. She also is teaching two people in the Cedar Valley. It's a good thing, too, because Boynton is soon moving from the area, leaving Wirtjes the only veteran local clown registered with Clowns of America International, a national clowning organization.

While Sunshine and Mimi take their responsibilities seriously, it's the goofy side of their weekend jobs that keeps their passion for clowning strong. Of course, the extra spending money doesn't hurt either.

Sunshine the Clown recently performed a birthday party for a neighbor across the street. When the children spotted her crossing the street, they rushed to the front lawn to greet her, screeching, "The clown is coming! The clown is coming!"

"'You know,' I thought, 'This is almost like being Santa,'" Wirtjes said.

When Mimi the Clown puts on a show, she enjoys approaching adults she knows and talking with them even if they don't recognize her.

"I just start talking to them, like 'Hi, how are you doing.' I like to mess with people that way," she said.

When performing for kids, she loves winning over the child who's afraid of her when she first arrives. If they're hanging on her leg by the time the party is over, she considers it a job well done.

Wirtjes employs a special strategy when dealing with frightened children. Whenever the scared child looks at her, she runs and hides.

"After awhile they say, 'What are you afraid of me for?'"

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.