With a big red nose, a pair of
large clunky shoes, and a
bright smile, junior Chaz Am-
it-Guite enters the stage juggling three
clubs while balancing on their unicycle.
For Amit-Guite, being a clown isn’t a
joke; it’s a major part of who they are.
Since a young age, Amit-Guite has loved
to entertain. They said that Clowning,
which they have been doing for almost
three years, is a great way to put their love
of entertaining into something else they
enjoy: being goofy.
“Clowning is a very big umbrella of
things, for me personally it’s a blend of
drag and being a clown,” Amit-Guite
said. “ For me, clowning isn’t even about
being a clown but performing, it’s the ve-
hicle to perform.”
Amit-Guite said that they are fully self-
taught with juggling, clubs, and their
makeup. It took a bit of practice to figure
out what they wanted to do with it and
they don’t have a teacher or use online
classes.
“I love tricks that involve juggling and
balancing,” Amit-Guite said. “I’ve been
procrastinating on learning to unicycle
and juggle at the same time”
For Amit-Guite, clowning goes beyond
leisure. They said that they have an al-
most ritual— if they ever need to pro-
cess anything they go on a balance board
or they’ll juggle to brainstorm or think
through things.
“The earliest Halloween I can remem-
ber was the first time I ever dressed up
as a clown,” Amit-Guite said. “ I start-
ed actually being interested in clowning
when my Acting teacher, Kim Taylor, ap-
proached me to do a juggling act in the
first Phantasmagoria Talent Show.”
Amit-Guite said that while they knew
how to juggle before the talent show, they
worked hard to learn new clowning skills
to perform.
“Chaz is fully committed to their clown-
ing,“ said acting teacher Kimberly Taylor.
“They have amazing stage makeup, real-
ly great physicality, and is an incredible
juggler.”
Taylor said that they not only are talent-
ed but one thing that she really admires is
Chaz Amit-Guite juggles three batons
while performing in Phantasmagoria
back in 2023.
Photo courtesy of Sohrab Ford
Chaz’s dedication to clowning. She said
they are always working hard on perfect-
ing their skills and tricks.
“It was so fun to do a performance with
a student and particularly a student as tal-
ented as Chaz is in this field,” Taylor said.
“ I felt honored to be on stage with them.”
Phantasmagoria production team mem-
ber senior Mary Schickedanz said that
Phantasmagoria is a talent show put on
every year in the spring the advanced act-
ing class directs and produces the talent
show. They have set skits the class puts
on but also hold auditions for acts,
“When Chaz auditioned we immedi-
ately knew they had to be in the show,”
Schickedanz said. “They have such a
unique talent, and are so good at what
they do.”
Schickedanz also said that Chaz’s ded-
ication to their skill was incredibly ad-
mirable and showed through in their
performance. She said that Chaz’s stage
presence was what made their act so in-
credible.
“For me, it’s all about expressing myself,
showing the world what I can and enjoy
[doing],” Amit-Guite said. “To be honest
it is a lot about attention, and it’s a very
eye-catching talent, but most importantly
is fun to do and gives me a way to connect
with people through humor.”
Amit-Guite said they’re very excited
about Phantasmagoria this year and hope
that many people will come to watch.
“ I have something really special in store
for this year’s phantasmagoria,” Am-
it-Guite said. “It will blow the competi-
tion away.”
