“Never let them see you sweat,” a phrase which must have been coined by an individual who wasn’t working in the heat. Summertime entertaining is always a battle of keeping cool, and keeping the blinding and burning sweat out of your eyes.
I considered keeping cool like Jim McMahon and Walter Paton wearing head bands, but felt more like John McEnroe. Headbands are great for working out, but not for professional entertaining.
I used to use handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat from my brow, but found it time consuming digging it out of my pocket, then placing it back. I’m one of those individuals that feel that a sweat rag should be concealed, not on display for the world to see.
So on a hot 90-degree day I came up with this solution. Wear a bandana on my wrist. I took a cowboy bandana that I had from my son’s fifth birthday party and folded it several times until it was a long, rectangular scarf. I carefully wrapped it around my wrist and tucked the end into itself.
The bandana allowed me to wipe the sweat from my head, yet never slowed me down from twisting. Gone were the days of me stopping to get and replace a handkerchief! Now, it’s twist, wipe, and keep joking! One smooth motion.
When I was a clown, I found that on hot days I would eliminate the flesh color makeup. This allowed me to wipe the sweat off my face. Since I haven’t been a clown for over 25 years, the bandana trick is working very nicely.
Keep cool, keep twisting, and don’t be blinded by your sweat this summer.
Dale,
Great suggestion! I’ll remember it!
Suzanne
Great tip, Dale! I always keep a couple of hand towels handy. Wiping the sweat off my brow keeps me cool and looking good throughout the gig. And extra baby powder on my “sweat spots” helps too! Thanks for the tips.