J. P. Patches

Created by: Joe Towey

J.P. Patches was a clown portrayed by Seattle entertainer Chris Wedes. The J.P. Patches Show was one of the longer-running locally-produced children's television programs in the United States, having appeared on Seattle TV station KIRO channel 7 from 1958 to 1981. The show was live, unrehearsed improv with rarely more than two live actors on screen but with frequent contributions from the sound effects man and off-camera crew.

J.P. Patches hosted his show twice a day every weekday for 13 years, then for the next 8 years did the morning show only, and finally for the last 2 years appeared on Saturday mornings only—for a total of over 10,000 hours of on-air time. The show premiered on April 5…