Fear of Clowns

RODEO clowns?!? They're only one step above birthday clowns, for Emmett's sake!

In my late teens I was a conjuring addict and did kid's shows for extra money. Not quite the same thing as being a clown, but close enough. Consider:


  • you're in a costume (tails instead of clown white)
  • you're surrounded by obnoxious kids
  • you do silly things to entertain them

I'm doing a show for approx. 200 Cub Scouts in an auditorium, one of those old-fashioned kinds with the proscenium arch and the velvet curtains.

I'm doing my schtick, and at one point I need to borrow a hat. I ask the audience "I need a hat".

No sooner are the words out of my mouth than 200 blue caps come sailing up onto the stage, followed immediately by 200 screaming, maniacal Cub Scouts seeking to reclaim said hats.

After 15 minutes of restoring order and administering Prozac to my doves and rabbits I continue the show. The kids are back in their seats, order is restored and I pull out my Flash Wand, the one that shoots balls of fire out the end. I'm telling a story about being helped by a genie, and I point the wand up in the air and say in my best stage voice, "COME OUT, GENIE - SHOW YOURSELF!"

Genie came out, all right - in the form of the velvet curtains overhead catching fire. Once again 200 screaming Cub Scouts are on the move, albeit this time AWAY from the stage.




You wanna' talk fear of clowns? Fear the teen magicians - they're a LOT scarier!
 

I cannot stand clowns, but I am not sure my reaction is actually "fear".

All of that wild make up and poorly chosen clothing sets my teeth on edge and I have never been able to hide my revulsion, even when I knowing the person beneath the make up.

With deeper assessment, I must admit that clown make up and clothing are not my primary triggers, though. My reaction is set off by the behavior that usually accompanies the outlandish garb.

I cannot stand being near people who thrive on being the center of attention and tend to react to overly gregarious personality types with the same disdain felt when clowns bounce into view.
 
I wouldn't go to that Jerry Lewis movie either! ...

some more scary..


The Clown Story .. from a Kids Magazine KidPub
The Fake Version:

A girl babysits three kids. When she says she's going to put them to bed, they start screaming. She finally gets them into their bed. She leaves and closes their door. They're screaming even louder. She goes back in and tells them that there's nothing to be afraid of, when she turns around to find a statue of a clown in their room. She goes downstairs and calls their parents to tell them. Then she realizes that the clown statue isn't actually a statue at all, but a real person. It is walking down the stairs toward her, so she calls the police instead. It turns out that the man dressed as a clown was actually a guy that escaped from an insane asylum and has been living in their closet for three months.

Here are the facts:
1. The man was not dressed as a clown, he had tired eyes and five o'clock shadow on his face.

2. He had escaped from an insane asylum, but was not living in their closet. He climbed onto their roof to escape the police cars, broke into their attic, climbed into their closet by a hatch in the ceiling, came out of their closet, and froze when he saw the babysitter in the room to look like a statue.

:glee::uncomfortableness::cower:



 
SeaBreeze said:
An old "disturbing" clown movie with Jerry Lewis that was never released to the public...http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2013/...e-most-disturbing-clown-film-youll-never-see/
Click to expand...

I can't see that it's any more disturbing than the shlock horror movies that are out now - ever see Saw and all it's progeny? Talk about sick stuff!

I think Lewis' movie is tame by comparison. What I do NOT think is that he is a comic genius as so many others proclaim, but that's a personal opinion.
 
SifuPhil said:
I can't see that it's any more disturbing than the shlock horror movies that are out now - ever see Saw and all it's progeny? Talk about sick stuff!

I think Lewis' movie is tame by comparison. What I do NOT think is that he is a comic genius as so many others proclaim, but that's a personal opinion.
Click to expand...

I saw a couple of the Saw movies, when my husband was watching them on TV...I don't like that kind of stuff. I never did like Jerry Lewis, and for some reason, neither did my mother. Maybe because he was so jerky acting, and not very funny. I don't know his personal story, but he seemed like one of those comedians that were very angry and miserable in real life.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I saw a couple of the Saw movies, when my husband was watching them on TV...I don't like that kind of stuff. I never did like Jerry Lewis, and for some reason, neither did my mother. Maybe because he was so jerky acting, and not very funny. I don't know his personal story, but he seemed like one of those comedians that were very angry and miserable in real life.
Click to expand...

Exactly - that's the impression I have of him.

It's funny that this topic (clowns) comes up right now, because I've just really only started noticing that The Lucy Show comes on at 6AM here on my oldies channel while I'm working. It was the show she did after I Love Lucy, so she's older and she seemingly dumped Ricky while Ethel got rid of Fred, probably in some grimy dumpster in the back of a Hollywood Chinese restaurant.

But the thing I notice is that most of her "comedy" consists of screaming - long, drawn-out bouts of loud WAAAAAHHHHHHH. I guess I never really noticed this before, maybe I'm just getting cranky in my old age, but even on I Love Lucy she was mainly famous for her crying - "Awww, Ricky - WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Okay - do it once, it's funny. Twice, it's a running gag. More than that - like every show - and it just gets annoying.

That's how I see Jerry Lewis. He was a good foil for Dean Martin - the lunatic and the lush, ha-ha, '50's humor. It was good in its time. Now it's just annoying to hear that high-pitched voice going on and on.

I say let France have him. :playful:
 
EvilClowns.jpg
 
When I was a child, the only clown I never truly DISliked was Emmett Kelly... probably because I had always wondered, even as a child, why he was so sad.
I never, ever, ever have liked clowns...I think they are frightening to children because they represent such total falseness and unrealness...things that are hidden and unseen. To me, this is what they represent. I think the masks are the worse, most formidable parts...
 

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