Brittany Allen began her journey in clowning in 2007 as a camper at Moose Camp, as part of her goal to become a clown working with sick children and children in need. She returned to Camp year after year, adding skills like magic, balloons, puppets, caring clowning and start the early morning Wake Up & Wiggles lab. Zoe has been on several mission trips to India and has been working as a hospital clown at Medical City Children’s Hospital, in Texas, using the healing power of laughter since 2009. In addition to her adventures in clowning, Brittany has a graphic design company where she works with clients to create marketing pieces that help them stand out in a crowded marketplace.

As one of our Clowning 101 instructors, Brittany's infectious energy and positive attitude help inspire and motivate new clowns. 

Annette has been a professions clown and clowning instructor for 40 years. She has won numerous awards in Make-up, Character, Skit, Face Painting and Balloon competitions at the Regional, National and World levels.  She is a pioneer in hospital clowning and its therapeutic benefits and has been recognized in many cancer publications for her work in the healing power of humor.

Annette is best known for founding Clowns Care, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to training and staffing clowns in hospitals throughout the State of Alabama.  She created and executed a weekly television show on closed circuit TV at UAB Hospital.  She has won numerous prestigious awards in the State of Alabama for her dedication and contributions made to hospitals and organizations throughout the State.

Annette has performed at Disney World with WCA.  She was selected to be an Ambassador of the United States on a People to People Ambassador Program and was one of seven from the U.S. sent on the first clowning delegation to China. 

In 2000 Annette was inducted into the Midwest Clown Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. 

Annette lectures throughout the year at several conventions and seminars around the country.  She has served on staff of Moosebuger Camp for several years and is very excited to be returning.

Entertaining fits this guy like a glove. That might be a glove puppet or a clown glove, because Christopher’s had a hand in both for over 50 years. 

He’s equally at home backstage as a builder, writer, or tech, or in front of the stage as a director, or off stage as an instructor, trainer, or goofball. Christopher attended Ringling’s famed Clown College (Class of ‘82, with Tricia) and traveled with the Circus for 9 years working on all 3 units, serving 4 of them as Boss Clown. He continued to do Special Events, Promotions, and PR for the Big Show, for another 20+ years. 

After traveling with the Circus, he co-founded Applause Unlimited, an entertainment company serving the greater Mid-Atlantic area, specializing in professional puppet shows, stilt walking, and clowning. Christopher is also the stilt trainer and a Talent Coordinator for Halloween Haunt at King’s Dominion. He's been a featured instructor at Ringling’s Clown College, Advance Studies in Clowning, numerous Puppetry Festivals, at Clown Conventions and Alleys across the country, and most importantly, here at Mooseburger Clown Arts Camp, teaching on many aspects of both clown and puppet arts. 

Tricia says that Christopher performs the most delightful and heartfelt rendition of “The Velveteen Rabbit” to ever grace a stage.

DJ Weiss has traveled around the world by circus train and cruise ship! He started clowning as a youth in the Twin Cities area and found his way to Moose Camp and into our hearts! He has clowned in Culpepper Merriweather Circus, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, and performed on one of the Royal Caribbean’s largest cruise ships. While with Ringling he performed in hospitals all over the US. Currently he is a road manager for one of the Disney on Ice tours. DJ is a versatile performer and make-up artist! 

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Fred Baisch is an award winning clown as well as an accomplished magician. We are thrilled that Fred takes time from his busy schedule to be with us at Moose Camp. Fred is a big part of our Dealer Room he brings a huge magic shop to Moose Camp along with everything you need in magic, balloons, puppets and more. Then he breaks out all of his personal favorites and trade secrets and hauls them up to the classroom to share in his comedy magic course.

Fred has been a perfect addition to Moose Camp. He fits in perfectly with his giving teaching style, his real love of being a clown himself, and his chance to mess around and laugh with all of us instead of being trapped in his huge magic shop! Fred is teaching the course on Comedy Magic, of course!

​Stacey Long Kuhn is a business owner and behavior analyst/school psychologist who works to help families impacted by Autism to find ways to learn skills and to grow and prosper as a family. She facilitates the training of other clinicians through one-on-one coaching and team building to support families in reaching these goals. Before this chapter of her life, she was Sugar Pop, part of the clown duo, “The Comedic Engineers.” Her partner in this endeavor was her father, Peachey Keene. For nearly 20 years they performed in their hometown and across the country. She stepped away from that life to follow a different path. Stacey says that “without a doubt, clowning made me who I am today. It taught me skills that I use day in and day out in my current profession: poise, creative thinking, humor as medicine, and so much more.” Stacey believes the passion for the art of clowning must be rekindled (as it was for her), free from stereotypes, stigma, and ridicule, so that young and old alike can be reminded of what a #realclown is all about! 

Sandy Kephart is an Alumni that just can’t get enough of the Mooseburger Camp wacky (dysfunctional?) family and keeps coming back. 

She was first introduced to clowning as a college Art student where, in a design class, the students were challenged to design their face considering bone structure and muscle movement.  Little did Sandy realize at the time what doors a red nose and a kind heart would open. She is most recognized for her compassion and creative approach to ministry, teaching, children’s programming, clowning, and airbrush face painting.  Sandy is an advocate for children and it is her mission to inspire children to be creative, embrace their unique talents and gifts, and to challenge them to use those gifts to serve God and others. 

She works full time in Children’s Ministry at her local church and in the Christian church at large during her mission trips to India. Through Maizy, Sandy touches lives of children around the world with love and hope

Tricia Manuel is the unmistakable Pricilla Mooseburger. She got her start in clowning in the 1980s with Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus and Disneyland. She went on to create the costume company Pricilla Mooseburger Originals. After coming back from the circus, she found that the world needed a fresh take on how to train clowns; a clown school where they could go for a week and move toward new levels of humor and joy. 

She wanted to create a place where a beginner would get a holistic start on clowning with all its parts, not just a nice makeup. With the world-class Ringling Clown College program defunct, she began a plan for Mooseburger Clown Arts Education in 1994. It was the first clown training program to teach every style of clowning based on choosing one specific area on which to focus. Mooseburger Clown Camp as we currently hold it began in 1996 and keeps getting better every year! 

Tricia loves teaching Clown Arts and considers it a vocation, not simply a profession. There is nothing more exciting than watching students and customers discover new things in themselves! While she loves going out to clown, she knows that she touches more people through the clowns she teaches than she could by clowning on her own. Tricia gives 100% of herself to her students and they in turn share the love of laughter with the world.

Sean Carlock has been entertaining since age six. Theater, Magic, and — in the last decade — Clowning have always been his passion. The only thing he loves more than Clowning is talking about and teaching Clowning to others. Sean grew so much in his skills since his first visit to Moose Camp as a Camper that we just had to have him as part of our staff.

Sean draws from his magic and theater background as well as his time as a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clown and as his time as clown mascot for an international fast food chain to bring you his spin on the world of clowning. Sean currently taps into his clown and entertainment skills to present science in a fun filled way at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, AK.

Karen Hoyer’s mission in life is to bring laughter and a sense of humor to every situation she encounters.  She performs as Dr. Dot, the Chief Bonehead of La Rabida Hospital under the auspices of Healthy Humor, after over 17 years with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit.  She appears as a variety of eccentric characters in nursing homes with Vaudeville Chicago and she directs The Chicago Senior Clown Troupe for city’s Department of Aging.  She is a co-founder of the quarterly variety show Vaudeville at Six Corners which gives her an opportunity to share her skills in mime, mask, music, dance and puppetry.  Karen has taught hundreds of workshops at the elementary, high school and college level, including at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College!

Director of the Red Nose Reader. 

Jane Kinney attended Mooseburger Clown Camp for the first time in 2009. She arrived as Mrs. Kinney, first grade teacher and departed as Ladybug the Clown, first grade teacher! Upon returning home she began weekly visits to senior care facilities to offer a moments of joy, delight, tenderness, and comfort to residents, their families, and staff, through humor, loving kindness, and a playful presence. She also began the Silly Nilly Clown Club in her school for 4th and 5th graders to learn the art of clowning. For the next six years the group entertained in Senior Care Facilities and their school. Ladybug continued to attend Moose Camp summer after summer and upon her retirement from teaching, she added Caring Clown visits at UW Children’s Hospital in Madison, and holiday shows at Senior and Memory Care Centers. Still having the teaching bug in her, Ladybug began performing shows on Fire Safety, Kindness, and Read Across America in schools to bring smiles and laughter to children of all ages. Her entertaining programs encourage and educate using humor, music, puppets, whimsical magic, and storytelling. When Pricilla introduced Red Nose Readers in 2019, Jane joyously jumped on board and continues to share the wonderful world of clowning, literacy, and kindness with kids everywhere.

Julia Bothun grew up surrounded by performers (she is the daughter of Tricia Manuel, after all), so it’s no surprise that she should take to clowning like a duck to water. With a childhood steeped in circus lore, Julia worked hard to discover her own voice and character. She developed a love for playing music and singing as well as clowning. After high school, Julia toured with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus for three years. Not one to stay inactive for long, she now assists her mother with curriculum planning, gag writing, clown conventions, and working with the local clown club.