J.P. still clowning around

SEATTLE – For decades, he delighted fans as the starring clown in “The J.P Patches Show,” one of the longest-running local live TV shows in the country.

Now Chris Wedes, 79, is battling blood cancer.

In the 26 years since his Emmy-winning show went off the air, Wedes has remained a well-loved fixture at parades, parties, hospitals and community events, greeted by nostalgic legions of baby boomer “Patches Pals,” their children and grandchildren. The clown in the whiteface and red rubber nose, patched yellow coat and rumpled black hat is a Seattle cultural icon, with a movement afoot to raise a statue in his honor.

But dialysis treatments Wedes needs three times a week have slowed him down. He first canceled an appearance at the Seattle Aquarium for the annual Trick or Treat on the Waterfront, then showed up after all, saying he hopes his health will allow him to make future events.

“They say it’s controllable,” Wedes said as devoted followers lined up to get his autograph Sunday. “I’m feeling a lot better than I was a few months ago.”

“The J.P. Patches Show” aired on KIRO Television from February 1958 until September 1981, for many years before and after school, five days a week. At its peak, more than 100,000 kids a day would tune in for the antics of Julius Pierpont Patches, the former star of the Ding-A-Ling Circus who retired to become mayor of Seattle’s city dump.

J.P. would invite kiddie viewers into his ramshackle home, show cartoons and weave an elaborate, whacky world of adventures that included such characters as Ketchikan the Animal Man, Boris S. Wort, the second-meanest man in the world, and Gertrude, J.P.’s brawny girlfriend with the 5 o’clock shadow.

Pies frequently were thrown. Things exploded. Prat falls were countless. The cast ad-libbed every show rather than using a script, which appealed to kids and adults alike.

“Why is there the eternal appeal? You never knew what was going to happen on the show, and every day, there were things that didn’t work, and there were jokes that were so good the director would be laughing, and the camera would be shaking because the cameraman was laughing. Nothing would happen for five minutes because everyone was in stitches,” Rin Jones, 65, said as he checked out a merchandise table at Sunday’s event.

Jones said he couldn’t wait to get home from school to see the afternoon Patches program. “Even when I was in college, I’d try to be near a TV in the afternoon. It was the interplay, the interaction and the humor.”

Wedes posed Sunday for pictures with kids – plenty of grown men and women, too. He autographed shirts and bobblehead dolls as fans bought J.P. Patches merchandise from the signing table. Wedes said he has been astounded at the popularity of the Patches character. “It amazes me,” he said.

Yvonne Larsen, 49, drove 150 miles from Wenatchee to get her picture taken with the clown she said had been part of her life nearly every day while she was growing up. “I’d kiss you, but I’d ruin your makeup,” Larsen said.

Scott Cokeley Jr., 6, came more than 100 miles from Hoquiam and wore his own homemade J.P. Patches outfit, complete with red nose, blue cheeks, one red sneaker and one blue sandal, topped off with his dad’s yellow slicker.

He was too young ever to have seen the show on TV, but his dad showed him videos of the programs. “I like the sets,” he said. “They’re made of wood.”