A CLOWN- ENTERTAINMENT FOR EVERYONE……

A clown is a kind of entertainer, or performance artist, who performs physical comedy and stunts to amuse others. They usually wear grease paint makeup that hides their real face, a large wig with brightly-colored hair, and baggy, padded clothing. Jokers pretend to be clumsy, but must be agile and athletic in real life, to perform their job well. Other names for clowns are buffoon, jester, fool, conjurer, mirth maker, tumbler, gleeman, mime, actor, harlequin, merry counselor, comic, and puppeteer. Even though there are many types of clowns, each clown develops a face, meaning a personality. A clown's face, once created, becomes the clown's unique personal property.

A Clown

CLOWNING TERMINOLOGY

Skills

In the circus, a clown might perform another circus role:

1. Walk a tightrope, a highwire, a slack rope or a piece of rope on the ground.
2. Ride a horse, a zebra, a donkey, an elephant or even an ostrich.
3. Substitute himself in the role of "lion tamer".
4. Act as "emcee", from M.C. or Master of Ceremonies, the preferred term for a clown taking on the role of "Ringmaster".
5. "Sit in" with the orchestra, perhaps in a "pin spot" in the center ring, or from a seat in the audience.
6. Anything any other circus performer might do. It is not uncommon for an acrobat, a horse-back rider or a lion tamer to secretly stand in for the clown, the "switch" taking place in a brief moment offstage.

Gags, bits and business

Business — the individual motions the clown uses, often used to express the clown's character.

Gag — very short piece of clown comedy that, when repeated within a "bit" or "routine," may become a running gag. Gags are, loosely, the jokes clowns play on each other. A gag may have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Gags can also refer to the prop stunts/tricks or the stunts that clowns use, such as a squirting flower.

Bit — the clown's sketch or routine, made up of one or more "gags" either worked out and timed before going on stage, or impromptu bits composed of familiar improvisational material.

Menu

Entrée — clowning acts lasting 5–10 minutes. Typically made up of various gags and bits, usually within a clowning framework. Entrées almost always end with a "blow-off" — the comedic ending of a show segment, "bit," "gag," "stunt," or "routine."

Side dish — shorter feature act. Side dishes are essentially shorter versions of the "entrée," typically lasting 1–3 minutes. Typically made up of various "gags" and "bits," side dishes are usually within a clowning framework. Side dishes almost always end with a "blow-off."

A  Real Life Story Of  A Clown

After meeting the real life clown, exploring his life which seems to be happy in front of the audience but in reality has many bitter experiences. This person as a clown put all his worries apart and make other laugh and bring smile to their faces, no matter in how deep trouble he is in his real life. 

A Real Life Clown

CLOWN- IN THE MAKING

The Mirror 

Silence of thousand words

Knowing the grief and the bitter life of a real clown, I decided to experience a clown’s in depth emotions and capturing the clown expression of emotions towards the society. I spent a day as a clown, to give a tribute to that person and to feel the glimpse of his emotions.

But clowns have played uneasily on the public consciousness for years. So when did they move from fun to frightening? 

Manic medieval origins

Comedic clowns, complete with brightly-patterned uniforms, were a common form of popular entertainment in medieval times.

But although the holy fool was funny, there was always an undercurrent of disturbing truth behind his humor.

Andrew Stott, an English professor who specializes in clowning culture, says that fools always had a tenuous grip on life and society. “The medieval fool was continually reminding us of our mortality, our animal nature, of how unreasonable and ridiculous and petty we can be.”

This continued through to the 16th century, where Shakespearean jesters were often linked to death and dark truths. “King Lear’s fool wanders around reminding everyone that they’re not as clever as think they are while talking in contorted double speak to undermine our sense of what we think is going on,” says Stott.

“Clowns have always been associated with danger and fear, because they push logic up to its breaking point,” he adds. “They push our understanding to the limits of reason and they do this through joking but also through ridicule.”

Medieval Carnival Clown

It's no laughing matter

Full-blown phobia of clowns (or coulrophobia) is relatively rare and scientists and doctors know little about it. 

It's a relatively new phenomenon, (it's not listed as an official phobia by the World Health Organization), but experts believe it's caused by not knowing who lies behind the mask of make-up.

It can cause panic, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea not to mention overwhelming feelings of fear. It's especially common in children, although some adults suffer from it too, and can be treated by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

The first clown: a miserable depressive

The first ancestor of the modern clown was Britain’s most popular entertainer during the early 1800s. Joey Grimaldi devised the standard clown’s make up of stark white face paint with bright red spots on his cheeks as a way of exaggerating his facial features in the newly-expanded Georgian halls.

Grimaldi was one of the earliest celebrities, which meant that the public were aware of his sad personal life behind his joyous performance. Grimaldi’s first wife died during childbirth and his son was an alcoholic who died aged 30. The effort of Grimaldi’s clowning acrobatics left him with painful joints and respiratory problems.

Stott, who wrote The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian, says that Grimaldi is a clear example of the downtrodden man behind the happy mask.

“Offstage he was an extreme melancholic who would say, “I make you laugh at night but am grim all day”. It’s the origin of the trope of a depressed comedian,” he adds.

Dickens, who loved to see the pantomime as a child and ghost wrote Grimaldi’s memoirs, focused on this theme.

“In Hard Times and David Copperfield you can see emaciated travelling players and really sad circuses. Dickens was taken by the gap between the childlike fantasy and the adult reality,” says Stott.

“When one is intoxicated by the tinsel, lights and roar of the crowd, it transports you to a very different place than when you see these people in the cold light of day and the sad meager lives they lead.”

Joseph Grimaldi Clown-1778-1837

Murderous clowns

The French version of Grimaldi was even more disturbing. Jean-Gaspard Deburau, who dressed as a clown called Pierrot, killed a boy in 1836 by hitting him with his walking stick. Although Deburau was acquitted of the murder, he was believed to have attacked the boy for yelling insults at him in public.

But coulrophobia’s worst nightmare – a serial killer clown - became reality with John Wayne Gacy, otherwise known as the “Killer Clown”.

Gacy didn’t work as a clown full-time, but he dressed up as “Pogo” at children’s parties and fundraising events in Chicago. During the same period, Gacy sexually assaulted and killed at least 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. Surveillance officers began to monitor Gacy, who once told them “You know… clowns can get away with murder”.

Gacy was sentenced to death in 1980 and executed in 1994, proving that clowns can be caught. But that’s hardly a comforting concept.

Pierott Clown

Stranger Danger

Clowns were not originally intended as children’s entertainment, but their role shifted during the Victorian era. The fairy tale element of the pantomime became stronger, and clowns evolved into light relief to compliment the main narrative.

“They stand at the front of the stage and throw sweets to children,” says Stott.

Today clowns are clearly recognized as a figure of fun by children – a role that’s cemented in part by Ronald McDonald, the figurehead for McDonald’s fast food.

But the past fifty years has seen growing concern over “stranger danger” and a suspicion of those who want to spend time around children.

“We’ve come to question the sexual motivation of somebody dressing as a clown, of grown men who choose to dress in a full clown costume,” says Stott. Plus, he adds, “There’s something tragically unfunny about the vast majority of people who do clowning.”

Clown figures in horror films – such as Pennywise in Stephen King’s It and the Joker in Batman – build off a fear of clowns that already exists. But their creations aren’t twisted versions of an innocent childhood figure – in fact,  the original clown always had a dark side.

“Many phobias are built from this braiding together of various different ideas of the unknown that are also connected to traumatic experience in childhood,” says Stott. “The idea of the reckless anarchic clown has mixed in with our fear of strangers around children.”

So next time a clown asks if you want a balloon, think twice about accepting.

“Creepy clown” craze Timeline 2016

Unsettling public encounters with clowns date back at least as far as 2013’s “Northampton Clown”, with sightings tending to peak in October. But the early autumn of 2016 saw this craze intensify greatly.