Richard Snowberg (December 23, 1941 – March 19, 2023 ) – Snowflake
I met Dr. Richard Snowberg when my wife & I attended Clown Camp ® at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse in 1998. Unfortunately, Dr. Snowberg, the founder of Clown Camp, was not able to participate that year, as he had to teach classes that week. Yes, he was a professor at the UW-La Crosse. He made time in his busy schedule to hold a late-night session on caring clowning anyway. It lasted past midnight as I recall. That illustrates his character very well, in my opinion. He went the extra mile to help other clowns be better prepared.
In addition to his work with Clown Camp ® for the past 23 years, Richard Snowberg is an award-winning clown, educator. He’s also the author of five books on clowning, including contributing to my all-time favorite, Creative Clowning. He was Inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame in 1999, and former President of the World Clown Association.
Clowning
Richard Snowberg began performing as a magician, turning to clowning in 1975. He originally created Snowflake, his whiteface character around that time. In more recent years he has added a new auguste character, Snowflake Junior, which has since become his main character.
When Richard Snowberg first started clowning, there were few books available for teaching the elements of clowning. So, when he started classes to teach other clowns, he wrote his own. These include:
- Clowning For Children
- Clowning Wherever We Can
- Just For Laughs Clown Routines
- The Clown in You – A Basic Textbook
- The Caring Clowns.
Caring clowning is the area of clowning where Richard Snowberg’s heart lies, as the anecdote above shows.
In addition to founding and running Clown Camp ®, his writing, and performances, Richard Snowberg also was involved in establishing Wishland Pony Express, a local ‘make-a-wish’ style organization for chronically and terminally ill children. The organization is supported by donations from clowns.