This strange looking character is actually Barney Baloney - a clown (in every sense). Why the sad face, you probably haven't asked? Well, Mr Baloney has been forced to stick with the juggling after been refused insurance if his act includes the dangerous activity of blowing bubbles. You can just picture the scenario – reckless clown blows bubbles. Child gets excited. Child slips on bubbles. Now, I have very little clowning experience, but as a youngster I did blow a few bubbles. What sort of freak accident would it have to be for a child to actually manage to slip in one of these harmless, minute pockets of air and washing up liquid? Has this ever happened before?
I refer back to Mr Boris Johnson who has been warning lately of the ever growing trend towards risk aversion in our society. Health and safety is beginning to rule this country and it is seeping in to every single crevice of society. This is what happens when a government legislates on every single imaginable act we undertake; it creates a society so reliant on laws and in fear of them, no one is willing to take a risk - however small. It is time we lived a little and stop letting bureaucracy rule our daily lives. Kids slip over - it happens, bubbles or no bubbles!