'Louby Lou' shares reality of life as a clown

For almost three decades, Lucy Wilkinson has dedicated her life to making children laugh as a professional clown.

Lucy, better known as "Louby Lou", said her passion for clown life began when she started helping her father Arnold Cheetham, aka Trumble the Clown, at local shows as a child.

"I fell in love with the laughter, joy and magic that came from entertaining kids," she said. "It was back then that I knew this was my calling."

The father-daughter entertainment duo from Wigan is the focus of a new short documentary film Where Laughter Lives, which tells the story of life of the clowning family across the decades.

"I've been clowning with my dad since the age of six years old," said Lucy.

"The memories of going along to clown shows - three on a Saturday, three on a Sunday.

"He was always on the road, performing at parties and events across the country, and I often tagged along as his little helper and apprentice clown."

By the time Lucy was 18, she started performing solo at small parties and local events.

In 1997, she trained with the Theodora Children's Trust and became the first "Clown Doctor" at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

"It is real magic work, really special work," she said.

"I've been fortunate that I got to train as a clown doctor and I'm able to bring joy and laughter to sick children and their families during difficult times".

Arnold, who spent over 50 years performing as Trumble the Clown and taught Lucy the ropes, said he was "immensely proud" of his daughter.

"She works just as hard, if not harder at it than I did," he said.

"Sometimes people think you just roll up and do it. There's a lot of research going into it. I'm very proud of her."

Lucy said she hoped her family's story would help to inspire more people to consider becoming a clown.

"There is a new world of kids loving clowns," she said. "And there's not many around."

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