London , 1803 . A vernal man sits before a mirror . By candlelight , he paints his side , first coating every square in of exposed skin with ashen make-up . Next , he inspissate his eyebrows into black arch before marking his cheeks with superb red triangles . Finally , he cover his mouth with a crimson grin . barbarian blue hair rises like a flame from his luminous white scalp . The look is effective , but not quite right . He wipe it all off and starts again .
Hour after hour , Clarence Shepard Day Jr. after day , he repeats this ritual until at last a brass both hilarious and demonic spark into vista , a face so hideous that he ’s finally satisfied . Donning skidder , preposterously oversized Pantaloon , a riotously patterned shirt and an exuberant ruff , he step onstage . Joseph Grimaldi , star of the London level , has invented the merry andrew [ reservoir : Scott ] .
Grimaldi was already a lead performing artist in the dumb show that were then democratic in Regency England . But the bod he create in the other years of the 19th century became so fabled that clowns are still have a go at it by the sobriquet " Joey , " the name Grimaldi gave his character . The makeup , the hair , the costume — they were all copy as performer after performer essay to recapture the magic that Grimaldi brought to the stage .
But , of class , it was more than just face paint and pantaloon that made Joey famous . His performances were far-famed . Doing conflict with animated vegetable - world , parodying modern-day figures , and dance and vocalizing with charismatic vim , Grimaldi was adored by everyone from Lord Byron toCharles Dickens . Even today , clowns often use his famous catchphrase , " Here we are ! " as they bound onstage [ rootage : Scott ] .
And while Grimaldi is credit as the inventor of the classic clown figure , the truth is that clowns have been around since the beginning of recorded history and seem to be present in virtually every culture in one var. or another . The word " clown " itself goes back at least as far as the 16th century . etymologist speculate that it hail from a German word meaning " area yahoo " [ source : Oxford Dictionaries ] .
From ancient Egyptian trickster to European jester , from Bozo to killer clowns , the universal physical body of the anarchical fool has always totter on the tightrope between laugh and terror .
It’s a Clown’s World
An ocean away from the sweaty stagecoach of former modern Europe , Native North Americans had long since developed customs of ritual japery . These customs were so inextricably bound up in their social custom that practitioners were sometimes count shamans and held gamey status in their communities .
During ritualNavajochants , clowns would interrupt the performance by joining in and find into the dancers . Pueblo clown ridiculed sacred offer , openly mock the God and pantomimed lewd sexual urge acts publicly . For Ojibway people suffering from demonic possession , clowns were called in toexorcisethe evil spirits with Song dynasty , dance and vigorous rattle - shaking [ generator : Durwin ] .
Across the Pacific , the taikomochi were jesters find in the red - light districts of urban Japan start in the late 1600s . When bawdy sign parties started to puncture in the itty-bitty hours , it was the job of the taikomochi to rev things back up with some wisecracks and general tomfoolery [ root : Otto ] .
In some Amerind courts , the official jester was a Brahmin , a member of the eminent social ordering , which indicates the importance of his role [ source : Khanna ] . motley fool were prominent too in the court of the Middle East , where pro like Karim Shir’ei were permitted to bemock their rulers . When the Persian Shah Naseredin ask whether there was a shortfall of food , Shir’ei replied , " Yes , I see that your Majesty is eating only five clock time a day " [ root : Otto ] .
And it probably comes as no surprise that China , with its four millennia of record history , has one of the longest and racy tradition of japery . Formosan jesters with names like Twisty Pole , Baldy Chunyu and Moving Bucket stay legend [ reference : Otto ] .
In Europe , court jesters have played life-sustaining ethnical roles . Shakespeare sure as shooting knew this . Falstaff and the Fool in " King Lear " had historical counterparts , perhaps most notably the far-famed Polish fool , Stanczyk . Stanczyk was considered as much a philosopher as a comedian . His legacy is so sinewy in Poland that political parties have been named after him and he figures as a fictitious character in numerous works of Polish graphics and literature [ reference : Cole ] .
Over the one C , the official royal court jester commence to give style to the onstage clown . Grimaldi ’s invention of the merry andrew did n’t occur in a vacuum , of course . The baby of Italian performing artist , he total out of the Commedia dell’Arte tradition . Commedia dell’Arte , which first emerged in Italy sometime in the fourteenth hundred , was a anatomy of dramatic art that some say featured the first professional player in Europe . Built into each period of play was a serial publication of intermezzo or interruptions for comic relief during which actors would perform stunting , laugh and pantomime [ source : Clubb ] .
From the ancient Greeks to the Kurds to the Maori , clowns and their like have pratfallen and poked merriment at authority since the get-go of time .
But why ?
Anarchy Rules
Here , catch this Proto-Indo European with your face . Banana cream ’s not your thing ? smack this lovely blossom !
Clowns achieve their essence through furious antics and nonsensical hyperbole . The white face , the red nose and face , and the immense smile are all designed to magnify normal features . besides , the oversized clothes signal outrageous , slapstick behavior .
Slapstick — the Word of God goes back to Commedia dell’Arte . One of the putz of the trade was a doodad that calculate like a cudgel but was made of two wooden spline that banged together when struck – a slapstick . wham a person over the head and it would n’t hurt much , but the noise was wonderful [ source : Clubb ] .
This go to the heart of what it means to clown around . Clowns often pantomime fierceness to others and themselves — smell one another around , fall on their face . And when they ’re not pretending to spite or be offend , they ’re just unmixed rude : squirting you in the nose with fake bloom , lobbing emollient pies — in short , doing everything to disrupt the average .
But why do we see this funny ? Why do clowns around the world and down through history break tabu and reverse expectations ? Why do we need clowns to clown ? The little answer : Somebody has to do it .
opine ofHalloweenorMardi Gras , festivals that twist the rules on their headland . In complex societies , we develop luxuriant rules of demeanor to maintain societal lodge , and for the most part , we obey those ruler lest topsy-turvyness rule . But frustration build up , and we call for a condom valve , a release for all those pen - up feelings we crush just to get along with one another . That ’s where clown come in , parodying sanction , breaking the rules and challenging the tyranny of normal [ source : Willeford ] .
So , yes , we need clowns , and that ’s why there are clown schools , clown societies — and even clown vocation .
Career Clowning
When most of us think of goof , we plausibly think of round , red , orb noses , white faces , red smiles , baggy overalls and size-20 shoe . This is the look of Bozo , the ego - described " World ’s Most Famous Clown , " who had a lock chamber on mid-20th century TV . The Bozo style is still very much around .
And if you ’ve ever dreamed of run away and join the genus Circus , it turns out that it might not be a regretful life history move ! While rank in theWorld Clown Associationhas dropped by a third in late year , job are still available [ source : Picchi ] .
If , for case , you have a yen to make as much as $ 92,000 a twelvemonth writhe out of a tiny car along with a dozen other lords of misgovernment in " The Greatest Show on Earth , " you may enforce to theRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College[source : Picchi ] . Along with your CV , you ’ll need an hearing DVD that showcases your " power to display exaggerated facial expression … athleticism or any unique physical skill , an understanding of your comedy , as well as a horse sense of your personality . "
Meanwhile , that other goliath of the Big Top , Cirque du Soleil , goes in for a wide range of clowning , from pure slapstick to specialists in physical dramaturgy . Salaries for all of Cirque ’s performers range from $ 45,000 to $ 200,000 per class and come with impressive benefit including health , dental andlife insurance[sources : DeSimoneandCirque du Soleil ] .
If this sound tempting and you want to get training in physical theater , there are few good place than the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris . Jacques Lecoq was a noted innovator in the world of clowning . stress the use of masks and extemporization , his breeding style is designed to teach students how to make their own alone approach .
The Parisian art clown is a reality away from another mainstay of modern finish — the rodeo clown . While some rodeo buffoon entertain the bunch during interludes , their main job is to deflect the bull after a passenger is give . It ’s a little more risky to your wellness than juggling , but the average rodeo clown can make somewhere in the neck of the woods of $ 50,000 a year . That ’s not all that much if you reckon the risk to aliveness and arm , but it ’s a bunch dear than get $ 15 an hour to clown at kids ' natal day party [ source : Picchi ] .
But perhaps the most promising career in mod Clarence Day buffoonery is that ofmedical clown . Medical clowns work in hospitals , using humor to ease the stress that often accompanies diagnosing and treatment . conceive it or not , you may in reality get a unmarried man ’s degree in medical prank from the University of Haifa in Israel [ root : Dream Dr. Project ] ! The training you get can lead to a line of work on a aesculapian stave [ source : Spitznagel ] . subject area after study has shown that having a goof or two bound around a infirmary is first-class for kids ' wellness [ source : Vagnoli ] .
And that ’s a good affair because , lately , clowns have been sustain from an prototype problem .
Wobbly Stilts
The thing about clowns is , they misdemean . In the right context of use that make laughs . The problem is that somewhere in the back of our minds we worry that clown ca n’t be trusted . If they ’re certify to come apart rule , what rules wo n’t they break ? It could be this suspicion that ’s behind coulrophobia , an unofficial terminal figure that refer to the fear of clowns . Of course , it does n’t help that buffoon have been catch some really bad press for the past 40 years or so .
thing pop out to go downhill with the 1980 conviction of John Wayne Gacy , the notoriousserial killerfound hangdog of murdering 33 mass , mostly teen boys [ source : Kifner ] . The fact that Gacy had a side gig performing as Pogo the Clown only seemed to append to the revulsion of his crimes . Ever since , the image of a grampus clown look to have been permanently branded on the cultural cognisance .
Inspired ( or maybe haunted ) by Gacy , author Stephen King create the terrifying Pennywise for his 1986 novel " It . " Batman ’s nemesisthe Jokerhad been around for decades before Gacy , but with Jack Nicholson ’s portrayal in the 1989 celluloid " Batman , " followed by Heath Ledger ’s unforgettable 2008 functioning in " The Dark Knight , " that perennial baddy has become increasingly malevolent . The latest incarnation of the malefic goofball is Twisty in the TV drama " American Horror Story . "
Meanwhile , in a bad grammatical case of liveliness simulate art imitating life , some French teen have take to dressing up as clowns and randomly attacking barren pedestrians , sometimes causing injury and virtually always scaring the daylights out of their victims [ source : Goldhammer ] .
As more and more masses report a reflexive fearfulness of merry andrew , the reputation of the fun but harmless fool is pain , so it ’s no wonder clowns are steer to the infirmary [ reference : Gilbert ] . But medical clowns do n’t go to work to heal the image of their professing . They ’re there to do what goof do best : Make people laugh and forget their cares .
Those with an scabies to travel and a desire to help people on a larger scale can volunteer for the remarkable organizationClowns Without Borders , which get off jesters into struggle regions around the earth . Stress is one of the most serious issues facing kids in warfare zones , and if there ’s one affair buffoon do well , it ’s lighten matter up [ origin : Holmes ] .
Lots More Information
Last spring , a merry andrew terrified my 3 - year old boy . The odd affair was that he lie with her . She was his dance instructor , and she ’d costumed herself as a clown to MC an end - of - year recital . In any case , my son switch and turn down to go onstage , never head do . He does n’t know anything about Gacy or the Joker ( call me overprotective ) , so his fright did n’t have to do with cultural connection . It was her stark clean constitution that got him . The masklike paint rendered her both familiar and unusual , a petrifying combining as far as he was relate . It could be that clowns who don that look , the classical face initiate by Joseph Grimaldi , risk cast into the infamous " eldritch valley , " meaning they have the creepy appearance of being near human , but not quite . Maybe that ’s why many modern clowns are choose for a minimalist get - up that includes nothing more than an sometime bowler hat and red ball nose — just a few touches to let you know they ’re real masses with a very odd line of work .
