Paul Drinkwater/NBC According to Star Magazine, Simon Cowell can be a real goofball. He reportedly dressed up like a clown and put on a little show to entertain sick children during a hospital charity event. A source told the magazine that "nobody knew it was Simon." Cowell got so into character that he was "inhaling helium from a balloon so that he could talk funny." In an interesting twist, Paula Abdul was down the street at a friend's house inhaling the fun out of whipped cream cans so that she could function.