Puddles (photo courtesy H*MAC)
There’s just something about a sad clown.
The melancholy man behind the mask long has been a cultural staple, seen in everything from opera to “Seinfeld.”
This weekend, one of the nation’s best-known sad clowns makes a stop in Harrisburg, as singer and musician Mike Geier brings his “Puddles Pity Party” to H*MAC.
“Puddles gives an emotive performance that resonates with all kinds of folks,” says Geier on the Puddles website, speaking on behalf of his often silent, deeply talented alter ego, a 7-foot-tall crooning clown.
There’s a good chance you’ve already seen and heard Puddles, as he’s been hard at work entertaining audiences for over a decade.
Puddles first hit the national stage during the 2010 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live tour and began to play in clubs around the country. In 2013, he recorded a version of the Lorde hit, “Royals” with Postmodern Jukebox, a video that went viral.
However, for much of the country, Puddles became an absurdist phenomenon during season 12 of “America’s Got Talent,” when he reached the quarter finals and then returned for AGT’s “The Champions 2020.”
More recently, he’s produced more than dozen episodes of the online musical variety series, the “Still Sequestered Show,” which ran during the pandemic and featured such major guest star as Jack Black, Weird Al Yankovic and Penn Jillette.
“There’s something about a giant sad singing clown that comforts us, let’s us know it’s OK to feel, to show our feelings,” Geier says.
Puddles Pity Party takes place May 7, beginning at 7 p.m., at H*MAC, 1110 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For event information and tickets, visit their website. Click here to visit the Puddles Pity Party website.
