The Joker 2008

As stated by my lovely wife I DO LOVE HALLOWEEN. I have always enjoyed doing something elaborate for a costume or setting up a spooky front door. The last couple years I have done both. This year since the hype was all over Heath Ledger's protrayal of The Joker in the Dark Knight, my mind was set. I started looking for the costume (authentic pieces) and was finding it was going to cost alot. The shirt had a unique pattern on it and people were selling it for about $150-200. The tie and socks were about $50-75 and the rest just kept adding up. Annie gave me the idea (and permission) to go dressed as The "Nurse" Joker, and I was all over that, since it was one piece costume, not alot of cost involved. But then a little snag developed, I could not find one long enough for me. So we were back to square one.

One evening we were enjoying a night out up at The Gateway and we walked by Hot Topic, and decided to go see if they had a nurse outfit. They did, on the ladies side, but it was a little too sexy, so I walked over to the guys side, and HOLY SNIKES - they had the shirt, tie and socks for about $50. I found the rest at a steal or made it myself (I made the pattern and my mom sewed it)

So with alot of events this year for me to DJ, I was going to have fun in costume and character. I watched clips of The Dark Knight and tried my best to mimic Heath, and some people think I did it VERY well. I would be willing to (attempt) take his place is the third film if they would but pay off our debt and buy a nice house (nothing too fancy - just nice)

My first gig (Saturday) was a Young Single Adult dance up Hobble Creek Canyon at the BYU Lodge. That night I had Annie apply some liquid latex scars and then do up my makeup. It turned out really good. All through the night I was saying lines from the movie creeping people out. I did run into one issue, they served pizza and soda and with every bite, I felt the scars peeling away. So I decided to forego the food and that was a chore. During the prize raffle I was busting up so bad, I had to hold the scars from peeling anymore. So new rule - No eating or laughing - RIGHT!

My next gig was an annual gig I have done for the last few years. Since I am their exclusive DJ, Wadley Farms has me DJ their annual Family Halloween Party. So (Monday) Annie was back at putting on the makeup and latex scars again. She did another awesome job doing so. The family invites other family members and they throw a VERY fun party and then have me run the music and MCing. There were a couple of Jokers, but seriously - MINE ROCKED! and it only got better with each application. They invited us to join them and we had fun celebrating halloween with their family.

I am one of the local Cubmasters here in American Fork and the theme this month was "Books". The boys were suppose to come dressed as a character from a book, tell about their favorite book, and what book they were reading right now. Well, correct me if I am wrong, but is The Joker not a villian of Batman and is Batman not in comic "BOOKS". So through out the night, I was again using lines from the movie to entertain the boys. Dont worry I did not do any magic tricks. The picture I posted for this event was taken after Pack Meeting on my way home. It was taken with a cellphone camera with it's tiny flash, so the creepiness really came out.

Thinking back I cant help but think that this costume got used alot already and I am not done yet. Thursday I had to DJ a Jr High School dance, and you'll never guess what I wore. Since it was just a quick event, I didn't want to go all out on the latex so I just did plain makeup. Still freaky - still ROCKED! I have been watching some videos on the internet on HOW TO get it done fast and easy, tricks and tips and I heard about this stuff called Rigid Collodion. I decided to go by TaylorMaid in Provo on my way home and pick some up for my next application. So over the course of 6 days / 4 applications - I finally got it down to a science and WOW! I thought my first attempts were good - not even close. So this image is of just the makeup version of the scarring.

As some of you know I work the grave shift and so Thursday night I reapplied the makeup and wore it to work. That way I would be in costume when day shift showed up on Halloween. man did I creep out the people I work with too. I stuck around to show a few of them. Last year there were a couple of people that were disappointed with me for not dressing up last year, so this year I had to show them this year's costume. I will include a couple of the rigid collodion shots before makeup is applied. It goes on wet and as it dries it pulls your skin in and creates very realistic scars.

And now on to Halloween night...boy did I have fun. I set up my Black lights, flaming couldrons, tombstones and then sat on the porch and waited for the kids to come...they didn't.

And just so you guys know...I am so in love with my sweet wife. She helped with this costume so much and I had fun sending time with her this halloween season. I am SO looking forward to AN AWESOME THANKSGIVING and CHRISTMAS with someone I love so much. My life is so amazing and it is only getting more amazing as our days together go by. Annie - I love you!