Zajac, Mary K.

Digital Commons @ UM Law

Throughout his professional life, CharlesTatelbaum ’66 has worn many hats. The attorneyfor Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, has appeared ontelevision and radio as a bankruptcy expert, chaired theboards of the local PBS and NPR stations in his adoptedhome of Fort Lauderdale, and written a wine column forthe Fort Lauderdale Tower Club newsletter. He is also thepersonal representative and trustee of the estate of BaltimoreColts legend Johnny Unitas.But on November 24, 2011, Tatelbaum donned a newchapeau—this one shaped like a pat of butter—and addedprofessional clowning to his resume as he strolled down theMacy’s Thanksgiving Day parade route wearing a red-and-white checked suit resembling a picnic cloth and carryinga five-foot-wide piece of toast. Tatelbaum’s spot in the paradewas just behind the Pillsbury Doughboy. Throughout theparade route, he and the other breakfast clowns (includinghis wife, Kitty, who was dressed as a stick of butter)performed three dance routines for parade onlookers.“You don’t expect that from your lawyer,” concedesTatelbaum. “But it doesn’t take away from my professional-ism to throw in a little humor.”Tatelbaum’s opportunity to learn professional clowningcame after he won a substantial case for Macy’s, and thedepartment store offered to send him and his wife to theBig Apple Circus Clown U. Tatelbaum jumped at thischance, not surprising for someone who changes his voice-mail every day to include not only his whereabouts, buta quirky “on this day in history” fun fact (the day we spokecommemorates the date when Vaseline was trademarked,he pointed out).Tatelbaum has “always loved clowning around,” he says,but at Clown U he learned the essentials of good clowning:making faces and strange noises, how to dress and do make-up, how to act silly, and how to approach a reluctant childor anyone who might be frightened of clowns (“Big smiles,and put your hands up in the air, sort of like high fives,”he explains).Since Thanksgiving, Tatelbaum has performed in severalcharity events for children, but he’s also taken some ofwhat he learned at Clown U back to the courtroom. Clowntraining, says Tatelbaum, has taught him another level ofsensitivity, and in jury trials, for instance, he says, his clowntraining, “helps me relate to jurors more. It taught me howto read faces better.”Mostly, though, clowning allows Tatelbaum the particularsensation of bringing joy to people. “With what I do fora living, I never meet happy people,” he says. “I representcreditors, people who have lost money. If I do my job,I bring them back to even, and they still have to pay me.”“At the parade or at an event,” he continues, “people arealready happy, and it’s my job to make them happier. Whenyou walk by 3.5 million people cheering you and calling out,‘You look like whole wheat toast!’ or ‘You look pretty rye!’there’s no way to describe the high you get from it.”Tatelbaum and his wife are already planning for this year’sparade when they’ll go to New York a week early to preparethemselves by walking 10 miles a day (the 3½-mile paraderoute can stretch to five miles with all the crisscrossing acrossstreets) and getting acclimated to the cooler weather.“I love my work and I want to practice law for another10 to 15 years,” says Tatelbaum, who is 69. “But lawyering ismy job; it’s not my life. Clowning lets you know that anappropriate sense of humor at an appropriate time is good.It helps me stay away from being too serious.” MARYLAND CAREY LAW 2012 50AroundClowningBy Mary K. Zajac| ALUMNICharles Tatelbaum ’66Tatelbaum at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.1Zajac: Clowning AroundPublished by DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law, 2012

Clowning Around

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