Entertainment is One 'Clown' Away

Gary Pincus first started out working at a plumbing company before a friend of his suggested he go into the entertainment industry in part because of his bubbly personality and love for talking. Now he is the president of Send in the Clowns and 100% Fun, both of which specialize in events for all occasions.

Pincus, married with three children, loves his job. He comes in at 9 a.m. and isn’t in a rush to leave. He works seven days a week and is a self-described workaholic.

“It’s a lot of hours, but it’s a lot of fun,” Pincus said. “It’s rewarding to come to work every day and you’re happy.”

Pincus started out doing clown shows on the weekends and with that came good money and a growing popularity that landed him a job in the business, which he built up to what it is today.

“I started getting into the dee-jaying and I started getting into the rides and the tents and the tables and the chairs…and 20 years later this is where I am,” Pincus said.

The company’s popularity grew so much that is the official party provider of both the New York Mets and New York Islanders.

“I used to do the Mets Fantasy Game, I still do, and from doing a party every so often, I became buddies with them,” Pincus said. "Now I do all the players' parties, I do their family day parties, I do the parites at Citi Field and it became a big thing.”

Send in the Clowns and 100% Fun average about 100 parties per week. Those parties range from bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, anniversary parties, birthdays, kids’ carnivals, holiday parties, weddings, backyard parties and more.

Pincus said the most popular request is for inflatable rides and mechanicals for children and photo booths for teenagers and adults.

“I own over 100 [inflatable rides] so they love it,” Pincus said. “And then you got the little kids who like princess parties or face painting and balloon parties and when you do communions they like the magicians.”  

Send in the Clowns also does carnival quarter rides, dunk tanks, euro-bungee’s, rock climbing, carnival games, food concessions and full-service arcades.

“It’s crazy isn’t it?” Pincus asked. “All this stuff?”

Pincus’s office is in the back of a warehouse where all his merchandise is piled up in rows and on the ground of the whole area. His office is filled with pictures of his family and him with Mets and Islanders players. He has hundreds of bobble-heads on one shelf and tons of clowns on another.

Describing the charitable aspect of his company, Pincus said, “We give back too. We do the Ronald McDonald House, we do a lot of charities and a lot of foundations. We auction off parties, which is my way of giving back too.”

Pincus and his employees strive to make sure every customer is reassured up until the day of their party that everything will be alright.

“You gotta love people and be a people-person and a party person,” Pincus said. “You gotta just have a good time out there…I love it here. I love dealing with the customers and just making sure that everybody is happy. It’s not about the money, it’s that everybody is happy.”

To learn more about Send in the Clowns, visit www.sendintheclowns.com.