Send in the clowns
... well just one, a white-faced clown: Bozo the Clown.
Vance DeBar
(“Pinto”) Colvig was the first Bozo. DeBar was a newspaper cartoonist, did
voice characters for Disney and was a circus performer. As the voice of Bozo
the Clown, he introduced the first read-a-long children’s book, which sold over
a million copies.
Listen, can you
hear it?
Doot doot
do-do-do-do doot doot do do, doot doot do-do-do-do doot doot do do....
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, cast your eyes—here—in the centre ring.
Spotlights cross
and converge on a clarinet-playing clown whose eyes arch in perma-surprise over
a cherry-red ball of a nose as he plays off-key. His mock-concentration is
interrupted when the stadium breaks into thunderous applause. Laughter and
guffaws follow as the clown looks up, startled, his mouth a perfect “o”.
And, just as
quickly as he appeared, Bozo the Clown sneaks off conspicuously and re-appears,
when least expected, to provide hilarious respite.
In writing, the
dash becomes “Bozo the Clown”, interrupting the flow of a sentence, drawing all
eyes to himself before the sentence resumes its thought.
Dashes, like
clowns, break the momentum by drawing the reader’s eyes to “centre ring”. Look
at the sentence that begins, “And now, ladies and gentleman ... ” Where are your eyes drawn?
Exactly, to “here”.
But, if Bozo
appeared frequently, circus-goers might be saying, “Oh (yawn), there’s Bozo
again.” Soon he would just blend in with the rest of the circus or, worse, they
might be saying, “Get that clown out of here. He’s annoying.”
Too many dashes,
like too many clowns—or too much ice cream—can be too much of a good thing and
can lose their effectiveness.
There are several
examples of dashes in this clinic. Are your eyes drawn to them? That was the
intention. But, if you can use commas, to set something apart, or an aside (in
parenthesis), use those instead.
Commas provide for
smoother reading with a slight pause; parenthesis provide for a more intimate
feeling between writer and reader (as if letting readers in on a little secret,
or providing them with detail or clarification).
Occasionally
though, a “Bozo effect” is called for either singly (solo dash) or in pairs
(double dash). A solo dash can single-handedly stop a sentence and send it in
another direction—understand? The double dash is like a white-faced clown who
grabs your attention momentarily.
There are other
uses for the solo dash.
In dialogue, it can
signal an abrupt interruption:
“If I have to
tell you —”
“Tell me what?”
Or ...
“Don’t you dare
hit —”
Smack!
It may be employed
to show s-s-stumbling speech
or used — to — show —
hesitation.
It may also reveal
a scattered character. I think I left my keys in the car — no, in the house
— oh, dear!
Try incorporating the dash and, just for fun, check out www.clown-ministry.com.