Clowning around has grown into a thriving business for area man
Mitch Dicker, who started as Dweedle the Clown, launched his clown business when he was 16.
Now, at the age of 33, he owns four warehouses and provides entertainment across the country for about 3,000 parties a year.
Dicker, a resident of Buffalo Grove, owns Celebration Authority/Clowning Around, a full-service entertainment company specializing in event planning.
Dicker, who operates his business in Mundelein, provides a wide array of services for corporate picnics, school fun fairs, grand openings and home parties, including bar/bat mitzvahs, retirement parties and graduations.
Growing up in Skokie, Dicker learned about clowning while in Boy Scouts. He saw the opportunity to make some money on the weekends by entertaining guests at local birthday parties. After graduating from Niles North High School, he attended college at Northeastern Illinois University for a degree in special education.
He kept the business going and hired his sister, Mindy, to help it grow. While in college he met Suzanne, who helped out clowning and was known as Soozee the Clown. The couple later married and are raising two children, Joshua, 6, and Marissa, 3, in Buffalo Grove. Suzanne now trains all the clowns.
As the clown business grew, customers began requesting other entertainment facets, such as moonwalks, inflatable games, bungee jumps, popcorn machines and DJ equipment.
"I just kept adding," Dicker said. Just this week someone asked for an inflatable movie screen for outdoors. He bought a 14-by-24-foot inflatable screen similar to a drive-in movie that's now available for rental.
The entrepreneur owns several hundred moonwalks and inflatable attractions. Tents, chairs and tables for parties are also part of the mix.
While he still handles some smaller parties, his primary focus is on corporate events. One of the larger events he handled had 13,000 people. Dicker is also well known among colleges and universities.
"I'm a one-stop party shop," he said.
When starting out as a volunteer clown at hospitals and facilities specializing in children with special needs, he never expected the business would turn into what it is today. "My goal was to do this full time. I didn't think the dynamics of the company would be as they are," Dicker said.
He believes a key that has driven his company has been his outgoing energetic and enthusiastic personality. He adds that making all his customers smile is important.
For more, call (847) 566-3006 or visit www.celebrationauthority.com.
A good cause: It's All About You Hair salon in Arlington Heights hosts a cut-a-thon this month. Kim Kopija, owner of the business at 907 W. Rand Road, said the event benefits the Arthritis Foundation. It runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 26.
The cut-a-thon is for new clients. Children's cuts are $10, men's cuts $15 and women's cuts are $20. For more, call (847) 392-9400.