Do you like to laugh? Not only is he the funniest clown in the Smokies, but he is also the most recent inductee into the International Clown Hall of Fame.

For over a decade Elwood Smooch was Dollywood's most popular musical/comedy clown. Millions more know him as Billy Baker, a cornfield regular on the Hee Haw television show, or as a featured clown with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. This multi-talented singer, dancer and physical comedian has now created his own original, award winning musical Smoky Mountain family production that's full of hayseed hilarity and rollicking family fun. As a multi-character rubber faced, baggy pants comedian, he has become a hero to all who come to see him work his laughing magic. Oh yes, he sings too! Wait until you hear this clown sing. Billy Baker is also the owner, producer, director and writer of The Ole Smoky Hoedown.

You can't meet Elwood Smooch without saying hello to "Shakes". Billy Baker's beloved little chihuahua is more than the mascot of the Ole Smoky Hoedown, he's been crossing the stage of the show before he was born. You see, his mama, "Cricket" was our first little dog and worked right up to his delivery. During the day, you might meet "Shakes" around the Box Office as you purchase your tickets. At night, as performers come into the theater, "Shakes" is busy making sure they made it. After the show begins, he's in his bed beside Elwood Smooch's old performing theatrical trunk awaiting his time in the spotlight. He genuinely knows when it's time to perform and lights up when it's his time to bring the house down with laughter. He was born on Halloween night in 1997.