- December 16, 2025
This summer, Sammy Vita and Lila Gay have been donning vibrant wigs, splashy outfits and painting their faces with an assortment of colors in preparation of an upcoming performance. The two children, along with several other local youth, are part of a troupe of young clowns learning the ways of comedy and showing it off before audiences with the Fantastic Clown Tastics.
The children have been participating in a week-long clown camp in Port Orange, which leads up to a performance from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, July 28, at the Port Orange Regional Library.
"I'm very exited because I just get to show the world how I act and I get to express myself," clown-in-training Gay said.
The 7-year-old has acted in other shows, including performances at the Daytona Playhouse. However, this will be her first time performing in front of an audience as a clown. Gay found out about the clown camp through a friend of her mother's who was teaching there.
Gay, who says she probably wants to be an actor one day, isn't nervous about the upcoming performance noting she has "a lot of experience with stage presence."
As for her clown name, Alpenglow, she got it from the ski trips her family takes, explaining it's from the glowing reflection on the snow when the sun sets over the mountains.
When the performance rolls around, and Lila becomes Alpenglow, the young clown has a few tricks up her sleeve to stay calm and put on a performance to make people laugh.
"One of my tricks is that I think I'm in a room by myself just trying to learn my lines without anybody," Gay said. "I'm just there rehearsing without anybody out there."
The aspiring actress's mother, Renee Gay, has enjoyed watching her daughter performing and learning through the camp.
"She loves it. It's fun and it teaches her stage presence and performing skills," she said. "As a mom you're always proud of your kids. She's funny and having a great time, you can't beat that."
Another proud mom is Joanne Vita, whose son, Sammy, has been participating in the clown camp and will be in the upcoming show with fellow clown Alpenglow. She noted her son usually gets nominated as the class clown or king of comedy at school making this an ideal choice for him.
"He makes me laugh every day, like where it's tears you're laughing so hard," Vita said. "He has always been a funny, comical child."
Sammy, who goes by the stage name Spaghetti Face, found out about clown camp from his friend, whose clown name is Meatball. Once Sammy had joined, he decided to use his friend as inspiration and settled on Spaghetti Face as his clown name.
When asked what the hardest part about being a clown is, Sammy responded it was getting into the clown suit. What he likes most? Just making people laugh.
Now that the clown known as Spaghetti Face has suited up in the clown outfit and learned what makes people chuckle, he wants to keep on being a clown and, one day, be an actor. In the meantime, he has a performance to get ready for.
"You have to face the audience whenever you're doing a performance and try to be funny," he said, adding, "it's fun."
