Real clowns don’t scare, Puddles says

Puddles the Clown says he’s trying not to take this “creepy clown” trend personally.

Brian Proffitt, a 35-year-old Wichita man who portrays Puddles the Clown at birthday parties, school fun nights and other events, said scary-clown accounts on social media that frighten or threaten schools give legitimate clowns a bad rap.

“These people are not clowns. They’re – I don’t even know how you would describe them. They’re not clowns, though,” Proffitt said. “They’re people dressing up to scare people.

“If someone puts on a hockey mask and runs around scaring someone, you wouldn’t say every hockey player is scary.”

The nationwide “creepy clown” phenomenon made its way to the Wichita area this week, when Wichita district officials received word of threats on social media and increased security around several schools. One juvenile was arrested and others were questioned for posting threats or intimidating clown-related photos.

Proffitt, who has worked as a professional clown in Wichita for more than 15 years, said he doesn’t expect recent events to hamper business.

“I haven’t noticed anything different in the number of bookings I get or anything along those lines,” he said.

He said he’ll continue to don his red nose, orange hair, giant shoes and blue floppy hat and entertain Wichita-area youngsters. Clown phobias and creepy-clown tactics pop up regularly, he said, especially around Halloween.

“There’s nothing I can really do about it except continue to do a great job,” he said.

“I try to think of positive things, like the little girl who came up to me recently and said she liked me more than kitties.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Real clowns don’t scare, Puddles says."