Opening Doorz

By Roshni D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | March 08, 2021

International Women’s Day Special

Roshni D’Souza, a Chartered Accountant by profession, decided to laugh all the way into her marriage when she married Martin D’Souza, an International Clown

On International Women’s Day, Roshni throws light (pun intended) on the man who also messes up her kitchen when he is not juggling the many hats he wears. She talks about her life, her dreams, and her business with her ‘Clown’.

Opening Doorz to the Mad Hatters of Lighthouse Entertainment.

The Clown, the CA, the MBA, the Mad Hatters…

“Be careful what you wish for, least your wish be fulfilled.” This is absolutely true. I have always prayed for good health and happiness. I have been blessed with Happiness and abundance–God ensured I married a clown!

Jokes apart, this is a question I have often been asked, ‘Why did you marry a clown?’ The curiosity stems from the fact that those close to me know me as a studious, intelligent, somewhat introverted person. Having completed my Chartered Accountancy, all I wanted in life was to just do well.

Martin ‘Flubber’ D’Souza, (Flubber is his stage name) and I are good friends first and I think that is what has kept us together to date. We are constantly motivating and supporting each other. We are both positive individuals who believe in ‘Celebrating Life’. That does not mean our life is always a bed of roses, but having a positive attitude has helped us sail through some storms.

Martin D’Souza, the juggler…

Martin was already juggling a couple of hats before we got married. He was an established wedding compere, Editor, and publisher of the only Catholic Wedding Directory in Mumbai, Silver Pages, and was also running an advertising and branding agency, ‘Pierce Communications’. Apart from this, he was managing one of Mumbai’s leading kid’s entertainment and party planning company, ‘Mad Hatters’, and of course clowning around professionally.

Why would a B.Sc (Physics) and an MBA in Marketing want to take up clowning as a career? While in college, Martin was compering at weddings and birthday parties. One day, a client asked him if he would ‘dress’ as a clown for a circus theme party. Curiosity got the better of him and he gave it a shot. The kids and adults loved him. On receiving an overwhelming response to his debut show, he decided to explore clowning as a serious business.

Learning to be a serious Clown

His journey began, with experimenting with water colours for make-up and some bright mismatched coloured outfits as costumes. He would spend hours researching the art of clowning from books and also write emails to Clowns all across the world. His frequent emails and letters resulted in him being granted a Scholarship to attend Clown Education in the USA. I vividly remember travelling by road from Chicago to the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, to drop him at his University. He was very excited to meet ‘real clowns’ for the first time in his life. He became the only certified professional clown in our country.

There was no looking back. Flubber grew and evolved with every year of our married life. He began travelling, performing, and teaching in different countries. He was the Regional Director of West Asia and the Middle East and then the Vice President of the World Clown Association (WCA). He received the ‘Clown of the Year Award’ for being the best clown internationally by WCA in 2016. He recently won the ‘Most Engaging Entertainer/Live Performer of The Year 2020’ by EEMA (Event and Entertainment Management Association) in India.

Clowns are clowns, they are not clowns!

Clowns believe in having a ‘Heart’ of a clown. They don’t act like one, they ARE clowns. That’s the difference between a real clown and someone who just puts on some make-up. It is a false notion that they ‘laugh on stage but are sad inside’. Martin believes you cannot spread happiness if we ourselves are depressed. At times, there are challenges, especially when things may go wrong just before you get on stage. However, if you are focused and passionate about what you do you live the moment and that’s what having a ‘Heart of a Clown’ is all about—you are in character and not an actor!

Martin has brought respectability to the word ‘Clown’.  I am privileged to travel internationally and learn the art of Clowning from experienced and renowned teachers. This has helped us train and mentor youth in entertainment, personality-building, and leadership. While Martin focuses on character and skill training, I take care of the other aspects of training.

When not clowning or working, we both love to travel. Beaches are our favourite for a quick getaway. Martin is always surrounded by people; people love to be around him and he loves to be around them. But yes, when we are at home, we are the center of attention for each other. He loves to cook and try out different dishes for me [he is an excellent cook, I must say] and I try not to grumble in a messed-up kitchen.

Our vision in life is to provide high quality clean wholesome edutainment and happiness to families across the world.

Looking back, I’m glad I married a clown.

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