Lecturers

2023 Lecturers

Kelly Ballagh

“Corporate entertainer, clown, actor, comedian, artist, and all around good guy”

Kelly Ballagh – Growing up in California, Kelly was a very shy kid. Nobody who meets him today believes that, but he swears it’s true! Then came the slow, progressive slide into the comedic arts. First came art. Kelly would spend Sunday mornings in church drawing whatever came to mind inside his sketchbooks. He chooses to think that it was divine guidance at work. God does work in mysterious ways, right? Then, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus came into the picture. During his travels Kelly met some Ringling clowns, who saw the potential “clown” within him. Long story short… Kelly was offered the chance to literally “run away and join the circus”, and he did! During his 3-ring career, Kelly eventually became Boss Clown for the Red Unit, training, managing, and organizing all the clowns on the show. That’s right… I said “organizing” clowns! You think herding cats is tough? Today Kelly is a corporate entertainer, clown, actor, physical comedian, artist and all-around good guy.

MARICELA & FRIENDS

“Give the Gift of Laughter”

Born and raised in San José, Costa Rica, Maricela Carelock began singing, playing the twelve-string guitar, and writing songs at an early age. She has been in the United States since 1989 and as a mother of eight, Maricela soon discovered that she was created to inspire joy, hope, and love in the lives of others. Based out of Carrollton, Texas, Maricela has traveled across the globe entertaining, inspiring, and educating both children and adults alike with her uplifting songs, ventriloquism, and joyful puppets. Maricela’s bilingual shows encourage good morals, love, friendship, respect, health, obedience, excellence, and self-esteem. She has written songs for every occasion and her friends –the puppets– are almost REAL!

Toty and Andy

El Duo Toty y Andy saben entretener a toda la familia con diversion cirquense pura y comedia infantil en donde los niños tendran mucha risas y una experienca unica

Toty and Andy are clowns originating in Mexico City. They specialize in family entertainment for all types of events, from Schools to Corporate events and from Television and Live Circus. Toty has been studying and working as a professional clown for two decades and before that worked with the Mexico City Children’s Theater in acting, dance and clowning. In 2011 Toty won the award for Clown of the Year by the TCA (Texas Clown Association). Andy has been working as a clown since the age of 3 alongside his Dad. Andy is versatile with many talents. He plays the trombone and trumpet and is a great juggler. He has won many awards with his talents and skits. The Duo has performed with the Carson & Barnes Circus and the Shrine Circus. Throughout the years, they also have won many awards at the TCA conventions in the categories of costume, makeup, and skits. The clown duo knows how to entertain the entire family with pure circus fun and kid-friendly comedy and bring laughter and unique experience to the community.

Balloons with Terri Stokes

Teri Stokes is a certified balloon artist from Kingwood, Texas with over twenty years of experience. She is an international award-winning balloon artist, a face painter, a professional balloon instructor for Qualatex Balloons and a professional clown.

Teri is a past winner of “All around clown” at TCA and she loves traveling, friends, competing, and transforming a room with her art. You can find Teri’s masterpieces in the lobby of the hotel during the convention and learn from her mastery in workshops and JAMS.

Bronson Chadwick

Hocus Focus: The Organic Approach to Magic,

In his brand new lecture, Bronson teaches how to perform truly remarkable magic for family audiences and how to create your own magic that is unique to your clowning character so you’ll never be handicapped in performing “pre-packaged” presentations. While a native Fort Worthian, Bronson has worked extensively across the United States and abroad. Bronson and his wife now reside in sunny Midland, Texas. To date he’s entertained over 1,000,000 people.

Storytelling with Margaret Clauder

Margaret Clauder is a costumed storyteller, which means she assumes a character in which to tell her stories. Her characters varied but they include: Mother Goose, THE Bookworm, Masai Maggie, Mother Nature, Singing Bird the Native American, Patchy the Scarecrow, Mrs. Claus and more. Not just a storyteller, but also a puppeteer, ventriloquist, comedian and magician, Margaret will weave all of those skills into her program as she engages her audience and keeps them laughing with her comedy. She has performed for schools and libraries all over Texas and has also toured the US many times.