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About 
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Gilbert first appeared in 1996 after attending a series of Clown workshops by "Roly" Bain (co-founder of Holy Fools). They, together with a number of other new clowns (also trained by Roly) formed the Harum Scare'm Clown Troupe which performed with Roly at a televised event in Salisbury Cathedral. They then went with Roly to a Christian arts festival called "Greenbelt". After Roly had completed their training the Harum Scare'm Clown Troupe continued performing for a short time but later disbanded leaving Candy & Gilbert to continue on their own.
Candy & Gilbert were clowns in love, who's opposite characters often caused mayhem in their communication but it never disrupted their love for each other. Gilbert was the 'macho' leader (thick and insensitive) type personality, while Candy was the 'Baby doll (giggly and girly) type personality. Gilbert's selfishness and greed for the limelight often led to his own downfall, while Candy's gentle playfulness always won out in the end. Unfortunately Candy was forced to give up clowning for a time due to ill health. Gilbert continued to clown on his own and is now Chief Clown for
clowns. Gilbert's daughter 'Sally Von' sometimes joins him and together they become 'Gilbert & Sally Von'. Candy occasionally joins Gilbert and/or Sally Von.
It was at one of Roly's workshops that Gilbert's name first appeared. Everybody had to find a hat and a nose from a pile on the floor and were given a couple of minutes to create an identity. Geoff picked up a bowler hat, a posh nose and borrowed an umbrella. He said that he was Gilbert from Guildford who worked in the city. The name Gilbert stuck and became the catalyst for the discovery of Gilbert's character. Gilbert (the Clown) was born!
Gilbert believes that clowning can effectively communicate the relevance of Jesus Christ to both children and adults alike. His solo routines combine humour, tricks, juggling and illusions to gently convey the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening way.
Gilbert is available for parties, fairs, guest services, outreaches, Sunday schools and children's clubs. Please book through the
The Person behind the make-up
Geoff works in the pathology department of Salisbury District Hospital. His hobbies and activities outside clowning include writing websites, desk top publishing, making and using puppets, acting, and helping people overcome addiction. In the past Geoff has battled and overcome both his own past addictions and dyslexia through the help of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the power of God.
Geoff does not consider himself 'religious' but his relationship with God is the driving force behind his life. He believes that true Christianity is about being relevant to the local community and has nothing to do with rituals or boring hymns.
Geoff says . . .
People often tell me that having a faith in God is a crutch that only weak people need. My relationship with God has forced me to face and come to terms with parts of my character I would never have dared to face otherwise.
Living the Christian life is a very difficult thing to do. In many ways it is like entering a boxing ring with one arm tied behind your back. It is easy to live life by your own set of standards (you can always change them), but to live your life according to the pre-set and unchanging standard written in the bible is much more difficult.
The Bible says 'The wage of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.' The death talked about here is not the physical death we all experience but a spiritual death. This is an eternal existence completely cut off from God which is described in the Bible as a lake of burning sulphur. This death is earned by going your own way and living according to your own standards. While we are living our own way we are earning eternal punishment.
If we are to receive Gods free gift of eternal life then we need to turn away from living our own way and live according to the Bible (This is called repentance). We also need to understand that all sin has to be punished. It is a wage. It has to be accounted for. That is why God sent his Son to become man.
Jesus never sinned and could not physically die because physical death only came into being because Man sinned. Because he never sinned, death had no legal claim to his physical body. The only way that his body could die was if he had either sinned himself or accepted the sin of another and died in their place. The amount of sin was irrelevant.
Jesus accepted the sin of all the world upon his body. By his death on the cross your sin, my sin and everyone elses sin was paid for all time! Having died through our sin, there was still the fact that his body had never actually sinned. It was for this reason that Jesus was able to reclaim his physical body.
Having paid the price for our sin, Jesus won the victory over sin and death because death could not hold a body that had never actually sinned. He was resurected and appeared to many people and then ascended into heaven to be with god in his physical body.
Although our sin has already been paid for, we still need to actively receive it. We cannot continue to actively earn the wages of sin and receive eternal life. We need to actively receive gods free gift through believing God's word and applying it to our lives. This is done by repentance and by asking Jesus into our lives as both Lord and saviour.
If you want to receive God's free gift then please use the prayer below or make up your own with the same meaning. Remember these are not just some words to say but are a commitment on your part to live life God's way. He does not expect you to become immediately perfect, but he does expect you to make a consistant effort to live His way.
Lord God.
I have sinned against you and against my fellow man.
In thought, in word and in deed.
I am truly sorry and I turn away from my sin.
I ask you Lord Jesus to cleanse me of my sin
and to come into my life as my Lord,
as my Saviour and as my friend.
Amen.
(Amen means may it be so)