Hollywood Clown

An inside look into the competitive and political world of children's birthday parties of Hollywood's rich and famous

Non-Fiction - General
254 Pages
Reviewed on 05/21/2015
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Author Biography

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jason. I moved to L.A. in 1992 like so many other people on the planet do every year to pursue a career in acting. I learned the hard way that you have to have at least 3 or more other jobs that you excel at to survive here in the big city while you chase the golden ring trying to “Hit It Big”. It’s extremely difficult to find any type of work out here that gives you the flexibility to take the time off, sometimes at a moments notice, to go to auditions and if you’re really lucky, the occasional acting gig. I didn’t want to be the stereotypical actor/waiter and years after living out here I fell into doing kid’s birthday parties.

I never realized that the competitive and political world of kid’s parties existed until I was in it. While hanging out with friends I often reach into my grab bag of stories and pull out one I think they would enjoy or not believe. I’ve had many a people ask, “How do you remember all these stories?” I tell them it’s simple; I’ve been keeping a journal since I was 18 years old and I have every party I’ve ever done written down. After telling the stories for years a few friends suggested I share some of my experiences with the world and thus I started to write “Hollywood Clown”.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Roy T. James for Readers' Favorite

Hollywood Clown by Jason Lassen begins with a birthday party, with the author in the company of Robert De Niro, whose son’s birthday is the celebration. After lengthy preparation about the games to play, costumes to wear and styles to conduct, the author find himself in the center of children’s parties of high society, and conducts party after party, keeping the children and the adults always entertained. Some of them say in the beginning itself, “I don’t care what you do; just make sure you keep the kids upstairs so they don’t bother the adults.” Sometimes the mess created becomes too much and the ‘entertainer’ himself will be forced to clear up, with little help from the host.

Hollywood Clown by Jason Lassen is a commentary on the difficulties a costumed entertainer has to undergo to turn himself into an attraction at any gathering, while making the costume and the man behind the costume retain an enigmatic appeal for kids. The many and varied tricks one has to use to achieve this, devising new ways to keep the children at bay while keeping their parents largely undisturbed, all the while seeing that the party does not cross the limits of decent behavior, adds certain challenges to this, making it into a serious affair. The fun and enjoyment of the kids, the unexpected, sometimes shocking demands from the children, especially when in the robes of Santa Claus, and the reactions of relief from those grown ups turn this into a good read.