I never did, not even as a kid. I don’t think I have ever even smirked at the stunts of circus clowns. Every time they appear in the arena, I think: “Bring out the lions (to eat the clowns)”. And don’t bring on that boring old meme of the “sad clown”, pah.
Seriously, I never got the appeal. It’s strange, because I love a genre that has many features in common with traditional circus clown acts, like non-verbal, physical comedy in mostly silly outfits, that is early 20th century slapstick cinema. I adore Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and even Buster Keaton (re: the sad clown meme), but clowns just don’t get me. What am I missing?
ETA: reported myself for forum change to CS smack.
I’ve mostly seen Cirque du Soleil, who don’t just use clowns for comedy, but also for artsy/scary moments. But I have seen a few traditional circuses - when I was young - and I think that both that and Cirque included, when they were doing funny bits, I thought it was funny. Most people around me seemed to be laughing as well.
Since it’s a live show, it wouldn’t (generally) make sense for a circus to keep running a gig that wasn’t getting cheers and laughs from the audience. The only case where they might is to allow someone to keep working who simply isn’t very good. Clowning is often a retirement role for performers who can no longer perform acrobatics. But, then again, most performers have lived in the circus their whole lives, so it would seem unlikely that they wouldn’t know how to amuse the audience.
Clowns were considered funny up until about 1968 or so. Bozo the Clown was a highly successful television show in the 60s; McDonald’s trademarked Ronald McDonald in 1967; and Captain Kangaroo featured The Town Clown as a recurring character.
And then? Damned if I know why but somehow the Evil Clown meme took hold. Exactly why would probably make for a fascinating sociology study, but the earliest example I can think of were the Countdown Clowns, one variety of Blue Meanie from Yellow Submarine.
I think if you are watching a circus clown from a distance, the point of the make-up is to make their facial expressions show up. But that same make-up close-up is scary. If you ever see stage performers after a show, it can be surprising how much make up they are wearing.
I think one of the reasons a lot of people (and I’m one) find clowns scary if the evolution of the close-up work without any adjustment in the make-up.
I’ve seen the Russian circus where first of all, they are are not 3-ring, and the one ring is much smaller. Clowns wear much more subdued make-up, and aren’t scary. They also speak a little, since they can be heard in the smaller area.
In fact, I can remember not being scared by clowns when I saw my first circus as a child, and we were sitting about halfway back. It wasn’t until the end, and I was taken to meet a clown close-up that I was terrified. One got in my face, and he smelled like stale cigarettes. After that, I found them scary even from a distance.
Maybe it’s the overblown birthday parties, that started in the late 70s, and really took hold in the 90s. People started hiring clowns to do close-up work, and it just failed.
I like watching clown acts, the scurrying around and falling down, the fake-fights, the “sticky-hand” routine, forty guys piling out of one little car, etc. That makes me happy.
I don’t like clowns in a more personal, intimate setting. If someone brought a clown to a birthday party, I’ll go to the other side of the swimming pool, and keep my distance, thank’ee.
Same with the Three Stooges. While they’re poking eyes and slipping on banana peels and their shirt-fronts roll up, I love 'em. When they engage in dialogue, I don’t care for that part of their movies.
When I was a kid I didn’t want to see a circus. I actually did only once–the Clyde Beatty Circus came to Venice, CA. I was afraid of the appearance of clowns with their grotesque costumes and makeup.
Whatever appeal “evil” clowns may have is lost on me. As for people who like such clowns–well, I am hard put to figure out what it is that such people consider funny.
When I was a kid back in the '50s, I loved Clarabell, the clown on *Howdy Doody. *I even dressed as him one Halloween. And once, at a circus when I was about 3 or 4, we sat in the very front row. A clown came around to all the kids and invited us to squeeze his big red nose, which lit up and honked. I loved it, but my older brother was scared shitless. I think he’s still afraid of clowns, in his 70s.
I grew up watching Bozo on TV in the '80s…the whole “scary clown” thing skipped right over me. I can only remember being at one party at which a clown was present; it was some kind of school party, and since it was such a tiny class, she painted everyone’s faces. I thought that was great.
I also remember being entertained by the clown acts on the few occasions when I went to a circus. I think now I would say they were more amusing than funny to me.
Here’s one of the clown bits from Cirque du Soleil’s Algeria. Admittedly they don’t look like circus clowns, but the audience can clearly be heard laughing through most of their routine.
