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Steamboat Springs — If clowns are wearing rainbow wigs or have painted their upper lips, they are considered amateurs.

"The reason why the top lip is not painted is to create a smile that you can see from far away. If you see a clown with red on their top lip, they haven't been a trained clown," said Susan Merrill, a professional clown. "A truly trained clown went to clown school."

Merrill attended continuing education classes at age 39 in Chicago to learn how to perform as a clown. In the past eight years, she has attended conferences and workshops to keep current with trends in the industry.

"At 39, I was a baby," she said. "A lot of people who start clowning start when they are between 50 and 60 - after retirement - because they just wanted to do something they always enjoyed."

Becoming a clown was a completely natural progression for Merrill.

"I've been on stage since I was 3, and my mom and dad were professional singers," she said. "Performing arts is part of my life, and becoming a clown was a piece of cake."

Merrill has developed four characters, each with a different personality and performance. Their names are Watoosie, Nutsy, Yee-ha! and Lasso, and each can perform at churches, libraries, day care centers, festivals, nursing homes, retirement centers and birthday parties.

"For parties, I do a magic show, games and balloon animals within an hour for 15 to 20 kids," Merrill said. "I can make about 30 balloon animals. The reason I don't do more is I have to be quick and have to get them done within a minute."

It takes Merrill 45 minutes to one hour to put on her make-up when she gets into character.

"From the moment Watoosie came through the front door, she became Watoosie," said Molly Ray. Watoosie performed at her 3-year-old daughter's birthday party in October. "She's pretty much Watoosie out of costume, too. She was definitely destined to be a clown."

The 20 children who attended McKenna Ray's party were mesmerized by Watoosie's performance.

"Their eyes were just glued on her, and all the parents sitting around were amazed that their eyes were glued on something," Ray said. "That's pretty good for 3-year-olds. She is just vibrant and vivacious, fun-loving and talented."

McKenna got another chance to see Watoosie perform at the Steamboat Christian Center.

"She gave me her heart," McKenna said. "She made me a balloon hat. I love her."

Her Easter performance at the church gave children positive messages in an entertaining way.

"She did a song skit about being friends and whether you are wide or skinny - no matter what you do or look like - you can be a friend," said LaTysha Ross, the children's pastor at the Steamboat Christian Center. "People were enthralled by her and watching her intensely. She did a 10-minute clown bit and blew everybody's mind."

But not everyone appreciates clowns. The fear of clowns is called coulrophobia.

"It's a normal phobia, like I'm scared of spiders. If I see one, I'm in the next county," Merrill said. "A lot of children have a fear of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny because they are huge to them, because they are little people."

Merrill is very sensitive to this fear and has learned how to deal with it.

"I lose eye contact immediately and take a step away," she said. "That automatically gives them a chance to breathe. Once they see I'm having fun with all the kids, and I make mistakes and am funny and make balloon animals, they usually overcome their fear within minutes."