September 14, 2006

Mark Alexander, the owner of 2 Clowns Mowing, recently drew to town Canadian documentary filmmakers who are including him and his business in a film on lawns.

By Virgil Hervey

You may have seen the 2 Clowns Mowing truck around town; it’s the one with two cows dressed as clowns on the roof. Or perhaps you’ve seen Biz the Clown entertaining children in front of Tom’s Market on a Saturday afternoon. The guy with the bulbous red nose is Mark Alexander, the owner and half the manpower of 2 Clowns Mowing, and soon you may see him on the big screen.

Two weeks ago a Canadian filmmaking crew visited town to get footage of 2 Clowns Mowing for a documentary. The film’s working title is “American Savanna,” and it’s about lawns, more specifically, according to codirector Jean-Francois Méan, “lawns as an expression of American culture.” The filmmakers hope the documentary will be shown on Canadian TV, on cable TV in this country and at international festivals.

Thus far, the venture has taken the filmmakers as far and wide as Mt. Vernon, Va., where they filmed a lawn historian; Las Vegas, Nev.; Levittown, N.Y.; and Yellow Springs. Their next stop, according to the filmmakers, is the U.S. Lawnmower Racing Championships in Mansfield, Ohio.

According to Méan, he and co-director/cameraman Ian Lagarde met Alexander at a mowing expo in Louisville, Ky., last October, where they were looking for ideas for their film. Almost a year later, the crew of five French Canadians met up with Alexander and his helper, Rob Hoffman, around noon in front of Current Cuisine.

Soon they were all off in a misting rain to Kingsfield Court, where Alexander had a number of lawns to mow. In a surreal scene at the first house, Alexander, decked out in baggy clown pants and a red nose, proceeded to the backyard and was soon followed by the five-person crew, seemingly all connected by wires, as he rode the yard on his mower.

Alexander got the idea for the name of his business from the time he and his friend, Rocky Jones, were rebuilding an old truck 10 years ago, he said in an interview. On a whim, they started referring to themselves as “two clowns working on an old truck.” Rocky passed away a year ago in January, and when Alexander started his lawn-mowing business, he decided to honor his friend by calling it 2 Clowns Mowing, he said.

One year later, the name’s promise was fulfilled when Alexander hired his recently retired brother-in-law, Rob Hoffman, to man the second mower. Before that, Alexander, a lifelong resident of Yellow Springs, had relied on occasional help from students at Cedarville University. In addition to mowing, they do tree work, tilling, and snowplowing, he said.

2 Clowns Mowing also fits the business because Alexander is, in fact, a clown. Ten years ago he took an adult education class in clowning in Fairborn, he said, and since then he has often appeared around town as his alter ego, Biz. It seemed natural, he said, to combine his hobby with his work.

Six years ago, he purchased the first of his cow statues at an auction at Young’s Jersey Dairy. He said the cow sat in his living room for five years before being perched atop the 2 Clowns truck. The second cow was purchased at Young’s auction just last year.

“I decided my cow was getting lonely,” he said.

Alexander added that despite the clown accoutrements, he is serious about the lawn care business.

“We’re local and we try to do a good job for people,” he said. “We need to retain our customers.”

Asked about his newfound stardom, Alexander said, “It was pretty cool, them pickin’ me and everything.”