With 40 years of experience, motivated by his passion for clowning, he became a pioneer in San Luis Potosí and was named King of Clowns in several cities in the country.
With slow but firm steps, Zampabollos the clown continues walking the streets of San Luis Potosí. Fans who witnessed his show at their childhood parties or saw him on the TV show Burbujitas, always ask him for a photo.
Between his smile made up with black and white makeup, his characteristic red nose, and jokes that make children and adults laugh, Zampabollos hides an endless number of stories, which he keeps in his heart because, after 40 years of experience, those experiences are his driving force to continue practicing the art of being a clown in San Luis Potosí.
Felipe is the real name of the man who has given life to Zampabollos for four decades, his story, as he stated in an interview in the city of San Luis Potosí, was due to the chances of life, since at first, he began working as a carpenter and later in the Industrial Zone, to earn money to feed his family.
“Reality was a blessing from God,” said Zampabollos, as he explained that while working in the Industrial Zone, he ventured into the world of acting and improvisation, first in the representation of the Passion of Christ in San Juan de Guadalupe, where lived, to replace the one who played the role of Judas.
Later he participated in a Pastorela performance with another actor where the main characters were called “ Zampabollos and Polvorín, the liveliest and the silliest”, where the body expressions and gestures he made within the performance made the audience laugh constantly.
However, his first opportunity as a clown was at the Primavera Potosina festival in Villa de Reyes, where he made children and adults laugh by interpreting the voices and movements of Clavillazo, Resortes, and Cantinflas.
Later he made his own costume with old and discarded curtains from the Church of San Francisco, he made himself some clown shoes too, and he got a red plastic nose to venture into the world of clowning, where for his next performances he had to pay “a lot of money.” and a gift” to the party so that they would let him perform.
“I am the clown Zampabollos, one of the oldest of the group of clowns here, when I started there were no clowns in San Luis Potosí. I am one of the icons, when I started I painted myself with white and shoe grease, I paid people to invite me and let me work,” he pointed out.
Over time he became better known and now he was paid to entertain children’s parties or he was invited to television programs that opened doors for him at the national level, because at clown conventions he raised the name of < /span>being recognized as the King of Clowns in Zacatecas, Sinaloa, Mexico City, Puebla, among others.
The Zampabollos Clown and Covid-19
In recent years, Clown Zampabollos has undergone surgery on several occasions, for example: he had knee surgery, he was hospitalized for COVID-19, where he only saw people in his medical ward die, in addition to heart surgery, which has limited him from continuing with his presentations.
He highlighted that during the pandemic, in which he and his fellow clowns had to stop their activities, he suffered a lot for not continuing with his greatest passion in life, sadness that had to be treated by a psychologist to cope with reality.
Do you think I’m going to leave it? She commented with a voice tinged with pride and melancholy, after saying that his doctors had advised him to retire and leave his character aside since he could even die young if he refused.
Even with his health complications, Zampabollos only answered the question with a resounding no: “I can’t retire anymore, the mood is too much, now it is very difficult to get out of my life.
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Source: El Universal
