Clown

A clown today is one of various types of comedic performers, on stage, television, in the circus and rodeo. Though not every clown is readily identifiable by appearance alone, clowns frequently appear in makeup and costume, as well as typically large footwear, oversized or otherwise outlandish clothing, bright colors and patterns or patchwork, a funny or unusual hat or wig or wildly unusual hairstyle and/or color, often with a bulbous or otherwise unusual nose, and enacting humorous sketches, usually in the interludes between major presentations. The clown's humor today is often visual and includes many elements of physical comedy or slapstick humor but not exclusively. For instance, Wavy Gravy's comedy is often cerebral, spiritual, or even political in nature.

Types

There are several different types of clowns, including:

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• The whiteface clown, the most well-known of modern clown types - Joey Grimaldi was a whiteface clown. The whiteface clown uses makeup to exaggerate their facial features and expressions rather than modify or conceal them. When a whiteface is performing with other clowns it is usually the leader and the smartest one. skullcaps/baldcaps or headgear appliances simulating a tall, pointy, or otherwise unusually
• The comedy white face or grotesque clown, who uses exaggerated make-up and costumes, such as large noses, shaped head, tiny hat, etc. Lou Jacobs is a famous grotesque clown.
• The character clown, who adopts the character of some common type, such as a butcher, a policeman, housewife or hobo. Prime examples of this type of clown are Emmett Kelly, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin. Lucy Ricardo, the most famous character played by Lucille Ball is considered by clowns to be a character clown. Lucille Ball's clown character itself often dressed up as other characters, an instance of a character clown in turn playing a clown as part of the role.
• The rodeo clown has one of the most dangerous jobs in all of show business. A rodeo clown is a courageous and hard-working cowboy or animal wrangler, dressed in wild costumes — almost always oversized and consisting of loose fitting layers of clothing to protect them from, and to distract, Rodeo bulls, etc. The looseness of the layers allows a rodeo clown to shed portions of their attire in the event of its being snagged. This professional — whose highly dangerous job is to protect other performers from bucking horses and charging bulls while at the same time entertaining the audience with the antics of a clown — might tell you: "Druther lose a shirt than lose my life".
• The Pierrot, or "French clown", appears in whiteface, typically with very little other color on the face. This clown character prefers black and white or other a simple primary color in his or her costume. (le Pierrot is often female, and has also been called "Pirouette" or "Pierrette". When Bernard Delfont was made a life peer, he chose "Pierrot and Pierrette" as the heraldic supporters of his coat of arms.).

::The tragic Robert Hunter song "Reuben and Cerise" mentions Pirouette twice, in symbolic colors:

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:::...Cerise was dressing as Pirouette in white

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:::when a fatal vision gripped her tight

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:::Cerise beware tonight...

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::Cerise is Reuben's "true love", but Ruby Claire was a temptress:

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:::...Sweet Ruby Claire at Reuben stared

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:::At Reuben stared

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:::She was dressed as Pirouette in red

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:::and her hair hung gently down...

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Both women have names which translate as "red", but reuben's true love is dressed in pure white, the other, to whom he played his fateful song, is the "lady in red" this symbolism might imply that Reuben was Pierrot's companion, Arlecchino:

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• Harlequin, or Arlecchino, a character originally from Commedia dell'Arte, is a "motley" clown — in "commedia", Arlecchino used a cane to "whack" the other performers. This is believed to be the origin of "slapstick" a form of physical comedy. A slapstick (battacio in Italian) is a prop with two flat flexible wooden pieces mounted in parallel, the two sticks slap together when the implement is struck, causing a slapping sound, exaggerating the effect of a comedic blow. Harlequin's other names: Traccagnino, Bagattino, Tabarrino, Tortellino, Naccherino, Gradelino, Mezzettino, Polpettino, Nespolino, Bertoldino, Fagiuolino, Trappolino, Zaccagnino, Trivellino, Passerino, Bagolino, Temellino, Fagottino, Pedrolino, Fritellino, Tabacchino could all be considered funny-sounding names, even to an Italian.
• Auguste : accompanying a circus clown, as part of a troupe, or as one of a clown duo, there is often another clown character known as an auguste, but the auguste's role is different from the other clowns: he is the "straight man" in most gags. The Auguste is so self-important that the audience inevitably takes the other clown to heart as their protagonist. Bongo (of the duo Bongo and Clownzo) is an Auguste clown, which moniker he might assure you means "dignified and respectable".

The Auguste is the zaniest and most foolish of the clown's group, yet attempts to look dignified, and thinks of himself as smart and superior and wise, which only lends to the comedic effect when he receives his inevitable come-uppance. The cleverer clown (the sidekick) always gets the better of the auguste. The auguste gets the pie in the face, is squirted with water, is knocked down on his backside, sits in the wet paint, etc.

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There are also differing styles of clowning ,In Europe there is a tradition of "entree Clowning" where the troupe of clowns usually comprising of "White Face, August and a "Joey"

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(taken from Joseph Grimaldi famous Italian clown) perform a set routine, for example "The Busy Bee" in German " Beinchen Beinchen Gib Mir Honig", "The Bon Bon " "the Ghost" are just a few that are regularly performed in European Circus . Water entrees and Paste(soap) entrees are also staple diet for these audiences. Up until the eighties reprise clowns in europe were very traditional but lately they are showing more versatility with a range of different styles and presentations involving audience participation and more inventive "gags" rather that relying on the old faithfuls. The main difference with the U.S. is that usually european shows have one ring and the clown has the complete attention of the audience , in the states where multiple rings are the norm there are more clowns each working on a different section of the public.

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there was for many years a tradition of families of clowns all working together ie; the Rastellis, the Francescos, The Alexis and many more, but with the economics changing it is no longer vialble for many shows to afford a large family unit so they are slowly disappearing.

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This trend appears to be reversing due to the development of the a new class of "Celebrity Clowns".

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Circuses have recently been faced with stiff pressure from animal rights groups such as peta for their abuse and mistreatment of animals, as well as the competetive pressure from popular new live action versions of children's television programs. In response, American circuses at least, have begun to lean towards shows based specifically around the clown as a marketable character and personality.

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Celebrity clowns like Bello Knock or David Larible are headlining recent Ringling Brothers tours and garnering exponentially larger shares of the a shows's operating budget than their fellow performers. This return to clown as central theme in circus, is mirrored it seems, in the likes of Cirque du Solei, who commonly uses clowns a central thread to link their acts and give their shows structure, and the myriad smaller independent and underground circuses around the world who have always relied upon the clown as the primary staple in their retinue.

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• "The Power Clown" Wall Street Journal Aug 12th 2005