A jester-shaped void exists in every classroom of students with a hankering to be filled.
Not that I encouraged comics, but many enterprising clowns come to mind: the most memorable being Nick.
For starters, take Carl. Someone, anyone, please take Carl. OK, so chuckle we did at times, and in the words of Banjo P1, ‘He was a humorist of note and keen at repartee.’ And yes, I understand that sit-down comedians must practice their lines, but not several times a day, and not in my chalk space.
‘Carl, think before you speak. One comic comment per lesson, no more, OR ELSE! Comprende?’
Nathan had a habit of coming to class on wheels. When his computer session had concluded, he would zip down the hall on his five-wheel jalopy, schoolbag on his knees, and into my mathematics lesson. That is until the not-so-amused IT teacher appeared to retrieve her computer room chair. It was a mistake to tell his Year-Eleven group about outback Geoff from the seventies (MY CALCULATOR TELLS PORKIES) who pronounced ‘12’ as ‘twerrve’. From then on, Nathan picked up the ‘twerrve’ baton, much to the amusement of his peers.
I recall the pint-sized, twinkle-eyed, mischief-maker Ryan who squeezed himself into the textbook cupboard much to the delight of all and Albert’s entertaining steam-train noises. Alistair, when admonished, would cower and throw his arm over his head as if about to be beaten, bringing a nervous giggle from his mates and a wry smile from his senior class teacher. ‘Tis true, classroom jokers are legion.
Finally, let me introduce―drrrrrum roll please―Nicko: tall, strapping, fair and freckled. The uno numero, the Superman on stilts, the juggling genius, the articulate artiste, the face-painter fantastique: the Krusty of all Klowns. (And my sincere apologies for waxing lyrical again.)
You might have gleaned from that introduction that Nick was a professional clown. In the early eighties, our small outback community had sponsored him to participate in a cultural event. Part of his brief was to share his skills during timetabled classroom lessons: a unique opportunity for any school, and a buzz for the students and er, well, even the staff.
Years later, my role as a year adviser inspired me to share my meagre juggling skills with an enthusiastic group of new Year Seven students: esprit de corps and all that. It became clear that I was no Nick as, despite an impressive box of coloured sock balls, frustrated children left the group in droves.
And despite the passage of forty years, I occasionally grab those coloured juggling balls. Alas, my fine motor skills are not what they used to be.
‘Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at.’ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832: German Playwright, Poet and Novelist.
1‘Banjo P’ was the Australian poet Banjo Patterson (1864-1941). This quote is from The Man from Ironbark.