“A loveable idiot, an obnoxious nuisance, and dramatic.”
That’s how Ben Hedrick describes their clown persona, aptly named Drama.
“Clowning is an art form where you essentially make yourself the butt of the joke,” they say.
You might spot Drama performing for tourists waiting in line for shuttles outside Harrigan Centennial Hall.
“It’s like having a captive audience,” Hedrick says. “It’s a lot of fun, and I’ll just walk up and down the length, telling the same five bad jokes, because it’s a different audience every time, and I’ve only got so many.”
When lines are long and slow, Drama serves as a distraction.
“I like to go out downtown, mostly when two criteria are met: when it’s a nice day out — because I don’t want to be out when it’s raining and windy and miserable — and if I have a day off from work, because it takes a while to put on the makeup and get all ready,” they say.
Before performing, Hedrick coats their face in white, adds black triangles above and below both eyes, and draws a red smile across their lips. They paint a bright red star over their right eye, in homage to one of their favorite artists.
“The star is a nod to Paul Stanley from Kiss, just because I’m a fan of classic rock,” Hedrick says.
Drama’s full get-up includes a thrifted red button-up and vertically striped tights. Red and black scrunchies on their wrists act like cuffs. They wear suspenders clipped onto a pair of bloomers Hedrick sewed themself.
They say they are aiming for a Shakespearean look because their clown name is Drama.
“I’m very into theater. I wanted to kind of embrace that with this clown character.”
20-year-old Hedrick remembers their first foray into theater. Despite the stage fright, they knew they found their calling after performing in a second grade play. And they’ve been stage acting ever since.
In middle school, Hedrick attended a two-week circus workshop at Sitka Fine Arts Camp, a yearly arts summer camp for kids from around the world. They say the first week was dedicated to showing the students things like clowning, juggling, and basic acrobatics. By the end of the second week, the campers had to choose one skill to showcase as a final performance.
“I noticed that nobody said that they were doing the Rolla Bolla,” Hedrick says.
That’s a wooden plank that rests on top of a rolling cylinder. It’s a prop used to boast one’s balancing skills. Hedrick says they initially went with the Rolla Bolla to be different, and the whole class — including the teacher — was shocked they didn’t choose clowning and was “practically yelling at me to change my answer.”
So they did, and they ended up performing a pretty memorable clowning routine.
“I didn’t think what I was doing was particularly special, but apparently my basic information on clowning that I already had struck a chord with people,” they say. “They enjoyed what I did, so that’s really where it started, and it laid dormant for a very long time.”
It wasn’t until last December that Hedrick, now in college, gave it another go.
“I was bored, wanted to pick it up, and I just really committed this time,” they say.
Hedrick began documenting their progress and performances on social media. Since starting their page at the end of last year, they surpassed 33,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok. One video got over 1.3 million views. They taught themself how to juggle and make a clown horn sound with just their voice.
“People have asked me several times if I’ve attended a clown college. I have not. It is harder to get into most clown colleges than Harvard.”
Instead, Hedrick studies theater and communications at the University of Alaska Fairbanks with the dream of becoming a professional actor one day. For now, though, they’re satisfied with the spotlight Drama has garnered.
“Clowning is a very cutthroat industry if you’re trying to get into it seriously. Luckily, I have been fortunate enough to be in places where clowns aren’t a widely discussed topic,” they say. “I’m the only clown in Sitka, as far as I’m aware.”
And Hedrick intends to be the town’s only clown for the foreseeable future.
