20 - Sunday, April 29, 1990 - North Shore News CHRISSY’S ULTIMATE IN CHILDREN’S WEAR INFANT TO TEENS < ¢ ¢ & SS S 4 F Pa s* SF. SS ee ¢ & = yn s ws ¢ Se 1463 BELLEVUE AVE., WEST VANCOUVER SCOUTS CANADA INFORMATION HOT LINE 879-5721 WHAT DOES a clown carry at all times? A deck of cards, certainly. Silk handkerchiefs, possibly. But a Colors available. white blue, pink, brown, jade. a 6-12 | 499 L Kobbler. Children’s Shoes - -2027 Park Royal South 926-1616 | < . Lynn Valley Centre 985-5508 - IX sizzling reeCentre locations in North Vancouver. cellular phone? Well, if that clown’s name is Randy Charach, very definitely. As the owner of Funtime Ex- press, a North Vancouver-based entertainment agency, Charach, 27, is one clown who’s in hot de- mand and always on the run. He specializes in providing children’s entertainment, by way of his own MagiComedy act or by booking out jugglers, balloon artists, face painters and other clowns. His customers range from parents planning a birthday party to stage shows for thousands of people. In his career, which began at the age of 12, he has not had too many bizarre experiences. But he did hear about the adventure of a balloon artist colleague who was asked to entertain at a children’s party in Detroit. Upon arriving, the artist found his entire audience was composed of 20 ‘kids’? — of the Cabbage Patch variety. After telling him how much they had enjoyed the clown, who had just left, their owner, an elderly lady, left the celebrants in the balloon artist’s care and he dutifully performed his show for them, making sure to give an extra-special balloon to the birthday “‘girl.”” Charach says that the excesses sometimes found in the United States — where some parents will pay between $10,000 and $20,000 on a children’s party — are very rarely found in the Lower Mainland. ERVING up outstanding summer excitement July 2 - August 31. IGN up daily or weekly; fuli days or half days. EE you there. Call 987-PLAY for all the details. IMPLY sun-sational! NEWS phote Terry Peters SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Casey is feeling lighter than air, thanks to North Vancouver magician Randy Charach. Charach has been performing for audiences large and sn:all for severai years, and has advice for parents on how to plan the best child’s birthday party ever. Even Cabbage Patch Kids like to have fun In fact, most of his props are very un-exotic — most of them consist of everyday equipment such as blenders and lawn darts. One of his most popular tricks re- quires a dollar bill from the au- dience, which is signed and later ends up in the middle of a lemon. Charach has the following ad- vice for parents planning 2 party for their child. If the children at the party are under five years old, he recom- mends keeping the magic simple, and concentrating on ‘clowning around” with face painting and balloon animals. He says it is a good idea to leave the entertainment for the end of the party —- start with mingling, have lunch or snacks and cake, Open presents then cap things off with the entertainment. Prices for simple entertainment start at $75. The price will rise ac- cording to the number and calibre of the entertainers and whether or not gifts for the children are in- cluded as part of the package. Although Charach has perform- ed at every major city across Canada, entertained in foreign lands such as Singapore and last year logged over 300 appearances, he is far from being jaded. On the contrary, he says, “‘I enjoy it more and more each day. It’s just great to watch the expressions on the kids’ faces.”’ For more information, call Fun- time Express at 986-2442, or, after May 1, 732-1235.