National Clown Week August 1-7

                                   Have you hugged a clown today?

August 1-7 is National Clown Week since President Richard Nixon signed it into proclamation in 1971 and ever since National Clown Week has been celebrated by clowns worldwide. It is known all over as National Clown Week by clowns from Europe, the Americas and Asia. The earliest of the true circus clowns was Joseph Grimaldi, who first appeared in England in 1805. Grimaldi's clown, called "Joey," specialized in the classic physical tricks, tumbling, pratfalls, and slapstick beatings. In the 1860s a low-comedy comic appeared under the name of Auguste, who had a big nose, baggy clothes, large shoes, and untidy manners. He worked with a whiteface clown and always spoiled the latter's trick by appearing at the wrong time to mess things up. New clowns-in-training are referred to as “joeys” to honor this famous clown.

Many people might find clowns disturbing rather than amusing. It is common for children to be afraid of disguised, exaggerated, or costumed figures — even Santa Claus.  Since Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet and noses, children and some adults even regard these features as monstrous or deformed rather than the more common thought -- comical. The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia. Some have suggested that a fear of clowns may stem from early childhood experience when infants begin to process and make sense of facial features. The significant aberrations in a clown's face may frighten a child so much that they carry this phobia throughout their adult life. The media has also used the clown in horror films and as scary figures in crime shows to further enhance the idea of clowns as scary. A great example is Batman’s Joker.

One's response to a clown might depend on where it is seen --at a circus or a party, a clown is normal and may easily be funny. The same clown knocking on one's front door at dark or suddenly appearing right without warning is less than amusing. As a clown and children’s performer, I am constantly aware of my responsibility to make the child feel comfortable and happy. When I see distress or fear, I do not make fun of the child or adult because I know the fear is real and making them uncomfortable will simply continue the problem.

Many times while performing as a clown,  I have been able to let the child see that I am just a person in makeup and not some foreign species that might have come from another planet. Some clowns don’t like to step out of character, but if it helps a person adjust to the reality of a clown, I think it is a worthwhile step to take.

Various clown types are the whiteface clown who uses "clown white" makeup to cover his or her entire face and neck with none of the underlying flesh color showing. Features, in red and black, are delicate. He or she is traditionally costumed far more extravagantly than the other two clown types, sometimes wearing the ruffled collar and pointed hat which typify the stereotypical "clown suit".  Of course in today’s clown world this can vary depending on the workplace of said clown.

The Auguste clown often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the auguste character to perform his bidding. The auguste has a hard time performing the task given which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the auguste is confused or is foolish and is screwing up less deliberately. His/her makeup is often two tone flesh, white and red with exaggerated features.

Another clown figure common in the United States is the character clown -- an eccentric character of some type, such as a butcher, a baker, a policeman, a housewife or hobo. The most famous American clowns adopt these figures –Red Skelton’s Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Emmet Kelly and Charlie Chaplin’s Little Hobo character are all well-known to the public. Their makeup starts with a flesh tone base and may make use of anything from glasses, mustaches and beards to freckles, warts, big ears or strange haircuts.

An Excerpt from the Clown Creed 2000 found in this website http://www.clown-ministry.com explains the real heart of the clown:

The primary expectation of our audiences is that we will bring humor into their lives. While delivering humor we can also do many important things such as teach lessons, praise God, help heal troubled souls, and many other worthwhile things. We do these things within the context of our art form and with the understanding that our primary purpose as clowns is to comically entertain.

Clowns are of human nature. Clowns are not representations of fictional characters. Clowns are not figments of the imagination. We are human, we are real and we are alive. The clown is an essential part of our human soul. We nurture and care for the clown in us so that it always continues to grow.

We respect and learn from clowning’s rich past. We also understand that clowning has always changed and grown to adapt to the society of its day. We must not force artificial constrictions on the development and advancement of clowning simply in the name of tradition. Conversely we must not abandon tradition for the mere sake of change. Change should come as natural extensions and adaptations of our tradition.

So if you run into a clown this month. Say hi and give the clown a hug. Hope to see you “clowning around!”