By Dustin Brown
Cyrus Zavieh is in the business of smiles.
By day the 33-year-old College Point resident is a patient representative at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he helps people out with problems ranging from language translation to questions about hospital services.
But on the weekends he is Cido (pronounced “SEE-do”) the Clown, a red-nosed, blue-mouthed entertainer who can’t help but turn into the life of every party he stumbles across.
He does a lot of stumbling. Cido’s calendar is booked solid with eight to nine party appearances a weekend, taking him from Bayside to Corona and across the city as he performs his hourlong shtick for birthday parties, charities and anyone who’s looking for some cheer.
But entertaining children is more than simply clowning around. It’s a responsibility Cido never takes lightly, even when he is staring out from beneath his thick layer of clown makeup.
“When a clown comes into a room, you’ve got to bring joy into a room,” Cido said. “Anyone can put on that costume, but can you do that, can you put joy into that room?”
He certainly can. When Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped by Queens Hospital Center on Christmas Eve to read “The Night Before Christmas,” Cido couldn’t help but upstage him as he warmed up the crowd with carols and then wowed them by making a pigeon appear out of midair.
Cyrus the Man became Cido the Clown about seven years ago, when he watched a clown at Flushing Meadows Corona Park making balloon animals for a crowd of kids. He introduced himself and she soon became his mentor.
“It was such an exciting field, seeing children’s smiles,” Cido said. “For me there’s no greater job in life than seeing a smile on a kid’s face.”
Another clown Cido met, “Pachote,” gave him a clown makeover to produce the look he still has today, which gave him a more professional air as he began performing his act in front of children, adapting it into something all his own.
“I hit a lot of conventions — clown conventions,” he said. “People laugh about that. They’re like, ‘They even exist?’ I get a lot of schooling from that, I take a lot of classes.”
Cido is also certified by the World Clown Association and Clowns of America International.
His clown name is based on a nickname that has stuck with him since childhood. But sometimes the boundary between Cyrus and Cido can get a bit blurry.
“If I’m taking a picture with someone, sometimes I won’t realize that I’m not in my clown costume and I’ll do my clown poses and people will look at me like, ‘What is this guy, crazy?’” he said.
That’s a habit that also comes in handy for a fellow who works in a hospital, where he can donate his services much the way he donates his time to charities.
“For holidays, for Easter or whatever, I’ll grab a group of clowns together, we’ll go upstairs and we’ll entertain children at the hospital,” Cido said. “I’m a people person. Whether it’s the patients, whether it’s the kids, no matter what, I’m always there to help.”
In the end, there’s simply not much difference between Cyrus and Cido.
“I think the clown allows me to be the person that I really am,” said Cido — or is it Cyrus? “The clown allows me to be that funny, happy person. It lets me be the person that I really want to be. If I could bring smiles into the world, that’s what I really want.”
To book Cido for an event, reach him at 917-835-5535 or check out his website at www.cidoclown.com.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
