Who are these clowns?

When Tommy and his clowns take the stage, the audience joins them in a dancing frenzy. Watch video »

We followed 'Tommy the Clown' and his friends, and got 'schooled.' Watch video »

What does 'krump' mean? 'Rocco the Clown' explains. Watch video »

I recently had the distinct pleasure of spending a day with some of Tommy the Clown's "hip-hop" clowns. Why distinct? Well, watching dancers this sick send kids screaming into the stratosphere is always a special thrill. It was well worth the drive to Diego-by-the-bay (we rolled down from L.A., as had Tommy and his crew a few days prior).

Plus, the guys (there were only dude clowns on this day) were genuinely amusing, which I guess you'd expect from clowns. Except these clowns got up at 4 a.m. to get into makeup, then did three performances at three different venues, punctuated by spontaneous, mid-traffic promotions for an upcoming show. They still managed to crack each other up (and everyone else within earshot) throughout the long day.

Rocco was the most polished speaker, whether to me, to the the camera, the girl he lollygagged with on the phone throughout an entire, interminable rush hour drive … In addition to being a kickin' clown dancer and krump maestro, Rocco is the makeup man (he regularly does most all their makeup).

Bug went from sleepy-cool to Mr. Entertainment throughout the day. His timing was impeccable and random, just like his dancing.

Lil' Tight, all of seventeen and seen-the-world, had a test at school in L.A. the next day so we gave him a lift back north that night. Talk about nerve. He slept the whole way! Okay, so he'd gotten up at 4 a.m. and did three shows and had to get up early the next day and take one of those No Kid Left Behind tests … Okay, I think I'd have slept, too.

Young acrobat Casper was Tommy's newest recruit and sort of on a trial run when we met him. He seemed determined that day to continue working with Tommy, and I'm not surprised to see him still doing so.

We got to see other members of Tommy's clown crew when they performed at USC. Tiny Mite just scares me. Her dancing is so powerful. Jazz, too, came with serious chops and sweet attitude. Popping fool Smurf proved to be a worthy Battlezone opponent for Rocco. Lil' Mama and Lil' Tommy rounded out Tommy's clown family with youthful awesomeness.

All in all, they're a clown crew to be reckoned with.