News Release: 1/30/2025

Jackie Reynolds, a.k.a. Bee Bee the Clown, of Milan, has been selected as “2025 Clown of the Year” by Clowns of America International, Inc. (COAI). This honor recognizes her career as a clown and multitalented entertainer along with her work as a teacher of clown arts on a local, and national level. The popular Dutchess County resident began in 1992 as a self-taught clown and is celebrating her 33^th anniversary of lacing up her first pair of big red clown shoes. Since switching careers from a chemical engineer making photographic film at Polaroid, Jackie Reynolds is a true variety artist. In additional to Bee Bee the Clown, she entertains audiences of all ages as Mrs. Santa Claus, and Jackie the Magician.
After more than three decades of entertaining for events throughout the Hudson Valley, Bee Bee the Clown has a significant fan following. She creates shows with a mix of her award winning clowning, magic, ventriloquism, balloon twisting, and juggling. She is also a story and joke teller, face painter, and a children’s author and illustrator.
She has won awards for ventriloquism, makeup/costume and balloon sculpture at national conventions for Clowns of America International (COAI) and the World Clown Association (WCA). She was the opening act in Atlanta in 2022 for Misha Usov, (previously with Cirque du Soleil) at the COAI national convention, with her original stage show “CROW,” about a rooster with a sore throat who needed to wake up the sun.
Jackie entertains at over 150 events each year. Diverse “hometown” venues, with people of all ages in the audience are true comfort zones for her characters. She combines humorous skills to perform at community day events, school and library shows, clown skills workshops, and summer camps. She brings her charming presence to daycares for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary school kids, to birthday parties and special needs communities, to senior centers and after-dinner engagements.
She teaches a variety of classes at regional and national gatherings of profession clowns and entertainers, with upcoming events for WCA in Dallas, COAI in Denver, Mid-Atlantic Clown Association (MACA) in Harrisburg, Mooseburger Clown Arts in Minnesota, and NCI, the Northeast Clown Institute in Plymouth, MA.
She says, “My work creates connection with people. The magic of laugher is universal with moments of mirth and happy surprise. Bee Bee the Clown creates joy in the world one funny conversation, or amusing clown bit at a time.”
“Recently I opened an email from a mom asking to schedule a birthday party. The email began with the words: ‘We attended a birthday party at the Hudson Valley Airport back in March, and my 6 year old son with Autism… fell in LOVE with your presence.’ That sentence stopped me… He had sensed something beyond my person, and recognized my clown… This validation is very meaningful to me.”
“Once, after Bee Bee’s show in Woodstock, NY an older gentleman shook my hand and said to me, ‘You do justice to the Art of Clowning.’ This interaction was very re-affirming as a person who cares deeply about the value of what clowning can bring to the world.”
She says, “It is a gift for people to laugh. My work as a clown, and as an entertainer, creates space for people to forget for a few minutes their concerns and the things that make their lives complicated. Plus, for kids, or grownups, most of this material is just really funny! Even without their big shoes and red nose,” she says, “you can tell a real clown, because it is about their heart.”
Upcoming events open to the public, with Bee Bee the Clown include Spring Fest at Poughkeepsie Plaza Mall on April 13, Maifest at Germania of Poughkeepsie on May 17 and 18, and Hyde Park Community Day on September 13. Check her website for other shows and for more info about her children’s books: https://beebeetheclown.com/.  To schedule a performance for your family event, group, or organization email Reynolds at beebeetheclown@frontiernet.net.
Social media links are:
https://beebeetheclown.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@jackiereynolds4826
https://www.instagram.com/beebeejackiethemagician/
https://www.facebook.com/BeeBeeTheClown