Best Day Ever: Clown prince Angel Ocasio
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Portland's clown prince on parade. Photo: Courtesy of Angel Ocasio
Right now is the best time of year to spot Angel Ocasio. Although his formal title is Rose Festival artistic director, he's better known as the festival's clown prince.
His best Portland day is always Rose Festival opening day. In his words:
- I start the day early, being interviewed about the Rose Festival and what we have in store for the upcoming three weeks.
- Then I hang out in the office taking care of stuff until 5pm, when we officially cut the ribbon opening up CityFair. I'm joined by amazing clowns, the Rose Festival Court, and other Rose Festival dignitaries.
- Once we are open, I stroll around the park greeting folks and get ready to be a part of the fireworks presentation.
- After the fireworks, and just having put in close to 20 hours of work, I go home, sleep for a day, and then go back to work.
Angel's best days the rest of the year are decidedly calmer:
☕ Morning: I have a pretty simple breakfast: coffee and toast with peanut butter, sometimes jam. The first thing I do is check my emails for bookings and get ready for my day, whatever that brings.
- I play the ukulele so I like to take some time to work on it. There are so many wonderful songs out there — I find that the ukulele lends itself to all types of music genres. My favorite is jazz.
🍗 Lunch: If I go out to eat, I like Mexican and Chinese food. My favorite is rice with a protein. One of my favorite restaurants is Du's Grill — great teriyaki chicken.
🤹 Afternoon: If I'm not doing a show, I'm sitting on my back deck working on several things, like my ukulele, or a routine for my show.
- I also like to read, mostly biographies of other entertainers like Charlie Chaplin.
🐟 Dinner: Seafood is always nice, except I can't do shellfish — allergies. Bummer. I do love me some salmon, though.
📺 Evening: I like to spend time with my family, and watch TV.
- I like documentaries, mostly on entertainers or history.
Outside Rose Festival time, Angel performs and teaches clowning and comedy.
He also dreamt up the legend of the Rose Festival's crown prince as a children's story.