Naked Clown Hits Times Square
When the temperature dips below freezing the only thing that gets bigger on a man is his goose bumps -- but that didn't stop San Francisco's intrepid Naked Clown.
Chad Benjamin Potter, one of the greasepaint geniuses behind the Naked Clown Calendar, met me on 42nd St. Monday, determined to strip down to his spangled undies and frolic in Manhattan's Times Square.
This was more than just a social visit. San Francisco's Clown Conservatory launched the Naked Clown Calendar to benefit people with MS, and they're doing it in honor of the school's co-founder, Judy Finelli, who is stricken with the disease.
"I've got to find the Naked Cowboy," Potter told me, before dropping trou and juggling in front of Broadway's famous George M. Cohan statue -- with just a thin piece of cardboard over his crotch.
Just moments earlier, I freaked out onetime 'N Sync heartthrob Joey Fatone by bringing my clown-friend to his latest gig -- emceeing the opening of deluxe public restrooms sponsored by Charmin for holiday shoppers. (And if that isn't a sign that the boy band era is over, I don't know what is.)
As Charmin's "King of the Thrown," Fatone wasn't about to let his "ceremonial first flush" be upstaged by a half-dressed Bozo. Feeling pressure from his publicists, we left.
Back out on the street, and still there was no sign of the Naked Cowboy. But Artie Lang and Howard Stern Show producers suddenly encircled us, begging the Naked Clown to show New Yorkers the Full Greasepaint Monty.
One rotund Howard TV producer even pulled down his pants. And, for one psychologically scaring moment, he flashed an X-rated part of his anatomy on a crowded Seventh Avenue.
Finally, the Naked Cowboy showed up, and with Thanksgiving approaching, and Times Square abuzz, two of America's most famous extroverts reveled in their nudity.
We finished the day at WOR Radio studios, explaining ourselves on Joey Reynolds' radio show. Lucky for me -- and the City of New York -- I didn't have to take anything off.
Photo © Buck Wolf
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Comments
This was hilarious!
Thanks, man!