Who are clowns? What is clowning? Creepypasta - Origin story - Investigation VI - Clowns - Text version Where did clowns come from
The carpet clown established itself as an integral character in the program in the Soviet circus, replacing the traditional Redhead, who performed during pauses. The carpet clown got its name from the original function to which his performance was limited. He had to fill the pauses when the carpet was unrolled or removed, or when artistic props were installed. This clown interfered with the work of the uniform workers, sprinkled sawdust on the carpet, hid some props under the tail of his jacket, and entertained the audience with other similar jokes. And when a wheelbarrow with a carpet was taken away from the arena, he always jumped on it or jumped on the back of the uniform worker who was pushing the wheelbarrow. This was approximately the “set” of his jokes and pranks characteristic of the first carpet artists.
The pause ended - and the carpet artist had to leave the arena, regardless of whether he managed to finish his reprise. This disrespectful attitude towards his performance was dictated by the specific, narrow functions that he performed in the program. This, of course, limited the creative possibilities of the carpet artist. In the pre-revolutionary Russian circus, however, there were also gifted “carpet” or “under-carpet” clowns, as they were called then (P. Brykin, for example, or V. Kambarov). Sometimes the buff clowns included a capable trickster in their entres. The best artists performing in the role of Redheads on the carpet provided the audience with many fun moments. Gradually, interest in the funny eccentric and his antics grew more and more. His position in the circus changed: the carpet artist became not only an obligatory participant in every program, but also took a leading position in it. Its functions have long been no longer limited to filling pauses. Instead of the term "carpet" on the posters they write: "The whole evening there is a clown in the arena..." and the name of the artist is given. Naturally, the repertoire of clowns at the carpet has also changed: from small jokes to pantomime plot scenes, from humorous interludes to satirical pamphlets, from parodies to lyrical short stories - such is the range of creativity of today's clownery masters. Now it is not carpet clowns who adapt to the program, but, it happens, the program is “tied” to their performance. And this is natural: carpet dancers are the favorites of the audience, they are eagerly awaited at the arena. Today, carpets set the tone for the entire show.
Throughout the evening, the clown communicates with the audience, “warms up” their interest in the program, and promotes best perception each number individually and the program as a whole; it decisively influences the emotional mood of the audience. That is why in our circus carpet clowns have become the premieres of the program, and the performance of the most talented of them is often equated to an attraction. The role of the carpet clown is also highly valued by artists, who understand perfectly well that the atmosphere of the circus performance as a whole depends on the clown.
The modern clown mask is mostly realistic. The viewer laughs with the clown at his antics, and not at him, as was the case in the old circus. However, this so-called everyday type of clown did not establish itself immediately - it was preceded by a long period of evolution, difficult searches, disappointing failures and joyful discoveries. In the 20s clowns, passionate about transforming circus art, began to abandon the traditional Red mask.
However, new images have not yet been found. The attention of the artists was attracted by famous characters from comedies. Their bright characters, which gained enormous popularity among viewers, migrated from the screen to the arena. The masks of Pat and Patashon, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin flashed in the circus and on the stage. Charlie Chaplin was especially “lucky”, who appeared in many programs. But this, of course, was only a pale copy of the little tramp Charlie. However, very soon the performers themselves realized that the image of a loser, a sad and funny little man facing the social injustice of bourgeois society, like Charlie, did not correspond to the position of a carpet clown in the Soviet circus and could not fulfill the tasks assigned to him. The discrepancy between form and content forced our clowns to look for their own, original images.
One of the first who managed to find new features of carpet was P. A. Alekseev. At the very beginning of the 30s. The ever-hurrying accountant Pavel Alekseevich appeared at the arena of the Leningrad Circus, in a baggy suit, with a briefcase in his hand. This funny character was extremely popular in Leningrad. Following P. A. Alekseev, the young artist Mikhail Rumyantsev also abandoned the Charlie Chaplin mask. He created the image of the cheerful prankster Pencil, which brought him worldwide fame. Pencil's costume is close to a household one. And yet he distinguishes the clown from those sitting in the auditorium. Everydayism would impoverish the image of the clown, reduce him to a person from the public or turn him into a theatrical character. Pencil's black suit is a little too big and fits him a little baggy. The boots are also a little larger, but not huge like those of the slapstick clowns. The pointed hat is somewhat too small; it seems to complete a kind of wig with a shock of hair at the back. And how this costume harmonizes with the artist’s figure!
The image created by Rumyantsev surprisingly matches the artist’s personality.
The clown image of Oleg Popov is extremely modern and interesting in its own way. His creative feature is aptly defined by the epithet “Sunny Clown”, which he received while touring abroad and which became an integral part of his name. Our other gifted comedians have also created bright, unique characters. Among them are Yuri Nikulin, Leonid Engibarov, Andrey Nikolaev, Heinrich Rotman and Gennady Makovsky.
Among the slender, strong and dexterous performers performing in the circus arena, the awkward figure of the carpet always looks especially funny. And this is a winning contrast for him.
Koverny is a universal artist. He must master the techniques of acrobatics, gymnastics, juggling, balancing act, and be able to play the musical instruments. His clown arsenal includes parody, grotesque, eccentricity, reprise-word, and reprise-action. Truly universal circus artists include Konstantin Musin, Konstantin Berman, Alexey Sergeev, Gennady (Henry) Lerry, and Roman Shirman. Each of them, before becoming a clown, participated in many acts of different genres. For example, Roman Shirman was a comedian on a trampoline, performed in a group juggling act and in a musical eccentric act. One of the tested numbers in the carpet clown's repertoire is a parody. The clown tries to imitate the artists who have just performed (acrobats, jugglers, gymnasts), but he does everything in an inept, clumsy manner, which causes laughter from the audience. But the clown must perform these exercises in a funny, parody way. This is his task. In the end, he nevertheless “masters” the parodied trick and performs it with professional skill, but in a clown manner. This is where the character's character is revealed.
A carpet clown who turns to parody must possess acting skills, invention, and a perfect knowledge of the genre being parodied, otherwise the parody will turn into an imitation, and the comic will become a comic.
Parody is not the only technique in the carpet palette. The clown must be an excellent mime, since many of his reprises are wordless. Facial expressions are one of the main expressive means clown You can say a lot with facial expressions, sometimes more than with words. The range of themes of clown pantomimes is extremely extensive, the language is original and conventional. The clown “shoots” with a stick, and the viewer believes in this convention.
A talented artist, with the help of facial expressions and gestures, can convincingly convey the plot of a skit and convey its main idea to the viewer. The actions of a clown in pantomimes must be logical and extremely clear. If the viewer does not immediately understand what the clown wanted to express and must guess about it, it means that the artist’s actions were not thought out enough and did not achieve the goal. Many carpet artists use the elephant in addition to facial expressions and gestures. However, the clown cannot talk in an ordinary way, as in everyday life. He has a special, clown language, a special intonation, a peculiar pattern of speech. Each good clown has his own pronunciation, his own individual command of words, his own manner of speaking. The artist must know the laws and techniques of speech, master the culture of words. Some carpet dancers accompany their appearance on the arena with some kind of sharp exclamation, often pronounced in falsetto. This technique of attracting attention to oneself always causes a cheerful reaction in the audience.
Nowadays, the work of a clown is closely connected with a director who is well aware of the specifics of clownery. Perhaps in no other genre of circus is the role of the director as important as in this one. Creating a clown image, stage behavior, selection of repertoire - in a word, everything related to the performance of a clown - requires the attention of the director. It is no coincidence that many of the students of the chief director of the Moscow Circus M. S. Mestechkin, who leads long time clownery studio and trained such now famous clowns as Yu. Nikulin, M. Shuidin, Yu. Kotov, and others, being recognized masters, continue creative contact with their teacher.
And in conclusion, it should be said that the comic palette is not limited to the clownery genre. Comic characters are included in various program numbers - aerial flights, gymnastics on horizontal bars, and performances by cycling figure skaters. And how much fun the comedians’ funny jumps on the trampoline and on the jumping boards bring into the performances! However, in last years Cheerful characters are found less and less often in the rooms. This “seriousness” impoverishes the programs.
Literature:
3.B. Gurevich, On the genres of the Soviet circus, M., 1977.
Greetings to all!
In previous issues of the project, we have already examined many of the most famous creepypastas and touched upon a whole direction of the horror style. Today I’m going to tell you about another huge layer of creepy culture, and this area is so vast that it has penetrated almost all other branches of art.
Today we will talk about clowns, and not just clowns, but evil cleavers. Clowns are everywhere, in movies, in games, in music. Moreover, the clown is the only creepy character who exists and feels great in other genres. In particular, clowns are present in action films, thrillers, comedies, of course, because after all, they are funny guys, and even in lyrical melodramas. Just remember the Joker from Batman. Although the Scarecrow was present in Batman, still no one can compare with clowns in terms of frequency of use...
The whole point here is in the uniqueness of the image, because the clown is initially the one who amuses, but can also be a frightening character. It is precisely because of such a wide range of applications, so to speak, that clowns have gained such fame.
Let's first figure out where clowns came from and why they paint their faces.
Initially, clowns were street actors, harlequins, who staged funny and not so funny performances on the streets of medieval cities. In those days there was no television, but even professional theaters were a luxury that common people could not afford.
The only entertainment was street performances. To entertain the crowd, the actors dressed up in bright suits, put on special headdresses with bells, such primitive visual effects. All this looked unusual, contrasted with the gray outfits familiar to ordinary people and aroused interest and amused the crowd. The crowd threw pennies at the comedians, and that’s what they lived on.
The ancestors of clowns, jesters were called in particular clowns, this Italian word literally translated as "bag of straw", and comes from the corresponding outfit of the jester. Here we feel some association with the scarecrow from the last part of the project...
So, street actors, comedians, clowns, representatives of the so-called fair theater performed without any auxiliary technical means. They had at their disposal only a simple scene at best and their own invention. However, they were actors and had to create more or less convincing images on stage. How can you convey to the viewer the emotions of the characters, their characters? This is where makeup came to the rescue. Firstly, the makeup made it possible to draw the desired emotion or reflect the character’s character, and secondly, such bright facial features were visible to everyone even from a distance, and even the audience who was far from the stage could understand what was happening in the plot.
Now, by the way, this technique is also used not only by clowns in circuses. Even rock musicians paint their eyes and eyebrows, and even paint their lips so that the audience can see them better from the far end of the hall. You can recall, for example, the famous makeup of Viktor Tsoi, which he applied before performances at large concert venues.
But let's return to the square theater of antiquity. In Italy, street actors had strictly established characters who migrated from play to play, scene to scene. In particular, such heroes as Harlequin and Pierrot are well known to everyone from The Adventures of Pinocchio. Harlequin is an energetic and cheerful hero, Pierrot is, on the contrary, an image of a sad character. The types were convenient, everyone knew them, and it was easier to act out scenes with them than to create some new characters, and each time re-explain their interactions to the audience, and so on.
And here, too, makeup helped the viewer quickly identify who appeared on stage, a cheerful character or a sad one, energetic or depressed.
Years later, when such actors began to work at a professional level, in the circus, for example, they began to be called clowns.
It seems like there is nothing scary about them, so why do they like to exploit the theme of clowns in horror films and creepypasta?
According to psychologists, coulrophobia is the fear of clowns, one of the few phobias created by mass culture. For some time now, authors have begun to exploit evil and scary clowns in books and films. And this is understandable, the clown seems to have no face, he hides his emotions, you never know what the disguised clown is really on his mind. A fake smile, with monstrously bulging eyes, as if crawling out of their sockets, which actually looks quite creepy. In addition, as Alfred Hitchcock argued, people are most frightened by the most ordinary things, those objects that often catch their eye. Clowns have become frequent characters in horror films. The genre of horror films itself came from the USA, where circuses and, accordingly, cleavers are very common, so children, after watching enough horror films, begin to be afraid of mummers at holiday carnivals and fairs.
I will not list all the works that contain clowns, the number of them, both professional and fan-made, is simply unthinkable and just listing all such creepy stories will require creating a separate project of three hundred episodes. Let me just remind you that even the famous group Kiss at one time released the album Psycho Circus, with the frightening face of a scary clown on the cover.
Now let’s get down to what we’ve gathered here for, let’s try to find the origins not of the phobia itself, but of scary clowns in works of art and popular culture.
PROV:
Many people mistakenly believe that the author of the very first scary cleaver is the writer Stephen King, and that the progenitor of this frightening character is the monster from the book “It,” but this is absolutely not true. The first person to write a work with a prototype of a scary clown was actually the famous American writer Edgar Allan Poe. By the way, if you are into creepy, but are not familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, then I advise you to definitely familiarize yourself with him. However, I warn you, this reading is very frightening and can have a depressing effect on the psyche; soberly weigh your desires and capabilities.
So, Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in the city of Boston, United States of America, and died on October 7, 1849, in the city of Baltimore. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the contribution to culture in general and to literature in particular that Edgar Allan Poe made. It can be argued that he is the founder of the entire genre of the modern detective novel in the form in which we are already accustomed to it. He also actually launched the development of the genre science fiction and mysticism in general in popular culture.
By the way, if anyone doesn’t know, the famous film “The Raven” is based on an equally famous comic book series, in which main role musician and rock star Eric Draven was played by Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee, a reference to the sad poem of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe was a famous and popular writer, he would now earn millions, but at that time he lived extremely poorly. And even in eateries he sometimes paid with receipts. The owners of the establishments knew about Poe’s need and demanded that they write promissory notes for penny orders, not believing Poe’s words. And when the writer died, these receipts were auctioned off for huge sums of money, such a sad smile of fate.
But let's return to the origins of coulrophobia. The real prototype of the evil clown was the character in Edgar Poe's novel "Leap-Leap", in other translations: "Little Frog" or "Hop-Frog". In the original it sounds like: Hop-Frog; Or, the Eight Chained Ourangoutangs - "Jump-jump, or Eight Chained Orangutans." This terrible work was first published on March 17, 1849 in the Boston newspaper "The Flag of Our Union".
The story told how in ancient times a certain general gave one king a dwarf jester nicknamed Frog and a forced girl named Pushinka (or Tripetta).
One day, the king and his nobles planned a masquerade ball and entrusted the jester Little Frog with organizing everything. The jester did an excellent job, but the snickering nobles wanted something special and especially memorable.
To satisfy his desires for entertainment, the king began to forcefully feed the jester wine, knowing at the same time that he was getting sick from alcohol. The girl tried to intercede for the unfortunate Frog, but the king hit Fluffy (Tripetta) and threw the remaining wine in her face.
The jester harbored a grudge and soon developed a plan for revenge. He told the king that he had come up with a wonderful game for the carnival. According to the jester's idea, the king and nobles had to dress up as orangutans, for which they would smear themselves with tar and roll in hemp (the fiber from which the twine was woven). After preparations, the jester tied the king and nobles with a chain and gave a sign. "Eight chained orangutans" burst into the hall in the middle of the feast and began to scare the guests. When they found themselves in the center of the hall under the chandelier, the Frog carried out his revenge; he tied a chain to the chandelier and set the tyrant and his dressed-up retinue on fire with a torch. After that, he said: “As for me, I’m just a Jump-Jump, a buffoon - and this is my last joke,” and then disappeared into the hatch in the ceiling...
It is believed that Pushinka (Tripetta), who was waiting for him on the roof, was her friend’s accomplice in his fiery vengeance, and that together they managed to escape to their homeland, for they were never seen again.
It is the Frog, the Jump-Jump jester at the court of the nameless king from the story of Edgar Allan Poe, who is the very first scary clown. Moreover, the first killer clown to kill the king and his ministers. But, as always with the brilliant Edgar Allan Poe, this character took revenge on the villains for injustice, because the author placed the accents so precisely that it was probably simply impossible to do better.
But now I’ll tell you another secret: long before Poe wrote “Leap-Leap, or Eight Bound Orangutans,” similar events actually happened, and they formed the basis of the master’s creepy story...
This story is called "The Ball of the Flames." On January 28, 1393, a masquerade ball took place in Paris, at which, due to carelessness, King Charles VI almost died and several of his courtiers were burned alive. This incident shook the king’s already weak psyche and, according to chroniclers, the king subsequently went crazy. That is why he is also called Charles VI the Mad.
The ball was given by Queen Isabella of Bavaria on the occasion of the wedding of her maid of honor Catherine de Fatovrin. According to ancient custom, during the celebration of the wedding of a remarried widow, who was the maid of honor Fatovren, a so-called “Charivari” was held, a ball with loud noise, playing on saucepans, frivolous dancing and other childish activities. The king himself came to the ball, accompanied by nobles in suits." wild people", outfits coated with wax and covered with frayed twine representing wool. There is no need to explain that all this stuff burns perfectly... In addition, the characters except the king himself were chained. No one, not even the king’s own aunt, could recognize who was hiding under masquerade
The king's brother Louis d'Orléans tried to take a closer look at the “wild people”, brought the torch too close to one of the nobles, and the costumes caught fire.
The king was saved only thanks to the resourcefulness of the young Duchess of Berry, who managed to put out the fire on the monarch's suit with the long train of her dress.
The Duke of Orleans blamed only himself for everything and, in atonement, erected the Orleans Chapel near the Celestine Church, in which he subsequently often prayed for the souls of the dead.
This is exactly how the image of the evil clown arose, or rather its prototype - the evil jester, who came to modern times from the dark depths of the Middle Ages thanks to the genius of Edgar Poe...
And in conclusion, I want to tell you another story with a mystical overtone...
In the "Book of Life" and the note "Edgar Poe" by Konstantin Paustovsky there is a mention of one story related to Edgar Poe...
Despite his fame, Poe was extremely poor; in his last years he lived in extreme poverty in a tiny house where there was almost nothing. His young wife and love of his life, Virginia, died of consumption at the age of 24. Next I will quote an excerpt from Paustovsky: “In January 1847, Virginia died in an empty village house - everything was sold. She died on the floor, on an armful of clean straw, covered with a snow-white sheet, she died, covered with Edgar Allan Poe’s old torn coat.” During his lifetime, Edgar selflessly loved Virginia and affectionately called her by the name of the Trinity Flower - Trinity.
The verse “Raven” or “Never” “Nevermore” was written by Poe in memory of his beloved wife who died early, it expressed all the hopelessness of the future and the total despair of the author, who had lost his beloved Virginia forever...
But... When the writer himself died, his relatives, religious people adhering to extremely strict rules, for some reason placed a powerful stone slab on Poe’s grave, as the brilliant writer Paustovsky correctly noted, as if trying to seal the writer so that his spirit would not get out. Subsequently, his wife was reburied with him. And the powerful stone slab cracked, and soon flowers sprouted in the crack, the same flowers that are called Trinity Flower...
Good luck everyone!
Clown 1.
Mentally disabled person.
Clowns are also people who do things that make a situation worse.
Gotta watch out for this clown!
Youth slang
2.1. A circus performer whose main task is to make visitors laugh.
2. An insecure and complex person who is subconsciously afraid of condemnation and ridicule and therefore pretends that he always wants to make everyone laugh and cheer everyone up. A frivolous person who behaves like a buffoon in company. Payas. Show off.
3. Clone. A person who uses someone else’s name on communication resources (chat, forum, etc.) or registers his own name, which is outwardly indistinguishable from the original (for example, instead of the Russian “a” - the Latin “a”) and communicates in this way for the purpose of provocation, wanting create the wrong impression about a person or just for a laugh.
1. Oh, Van, look at the clowns!
2. You are a clown, I told you ice cream for the children, flowers for the woman!
3. Ban the clown!
Youth slang, Commonly used
Dictionary of modern vocabulary, jargon and slang. 2014 .
Synonyms:See what a “clown” is in other dictionaries:
clown- See jester... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. clown actor, jester; artist, trickster, gayer, buffoon, clown, harlequin, buffoon, baluster, buffoon, eccentric, comedian, farceur... Synonym dictionary
Clown- Clown. CLOWN (English clown, from the Latin colonus hillbilly, brute), a circus performer who performs humorous acts, participating in satirical scenes that use the techniques of eccentricity, grotesque, and parody. As a rule, it creates... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
CLOWN- (English clown, from Latin colonus village dweller, man). Jester, clown. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. CLOWN jester, amusing the audience with jokes and pantomimes. Dictionary of foreign words included in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
clown- a, m. English. clown Vasily Aleksandrovich, a circus clown, or a Burkowski clone: he lets out lights and is not afraid of anyone, he flew on a flying balloon! Remizov Sisters of the Cross 23. Clown. Probably tired of clowning, Purishkevich gets up and heads... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
clown- CLOWN, buffoon, comedian, jester, obsolete. gaer, outdated clown, outdated buffoon CLOWNSHIP, buffoonery, outdated. bastardity colloquial CLOWN, slapstick, buffoonish, outdated. Gaerskiy, obsolete buffoonish... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech
CLOWN- (English clown) a circus performer, a comic character who uses grotesque and buffoonery techniques. There are clowns: carpet clown, comedian, etc... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
CLOWN- CLOWN, clown, husband. (English clown). Circus comedian, clown. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
CLOWN- CLOWN, huh, husband. A circus performer who uses grotesque and buffoonery techniques. K. carpet. K. comedian. To pretend to be a clown (translated: to behave buffoonishly, to clown around; colloquial ind.). | wives clown [ne], s. | adj. clown, oh, oh. Dictionary … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Clown- (English clown) harlequin of the English stage, related to Polichinel, German Hanswursty and Spanish Grazioso, appears in the beginning of the 16th century; initially improvised his roles. K. was not absent in the tragedy; Shakespeare often introduces it into his... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Clown- ■ Unscrewed since childhood... Lexicon of common truths
Clown- This term has other meanings, see Clown (meanings). Clown ... Wikipedia
Books
- Clown Yak, Hjalmar Bergman. Hjalmar Bergman is the greatest Swedish writer of the 20th century. The last of the books written by Bergman, the novel “Yak the Clown,” is the creative result of the writer, a bitter confession that reveals the tragedy of the situation...
We all know that clowns work in the circus, paint their faces with paints and make people laugh. Agree, this information is quite general and does not answer the question why clowns are so popular among children and adults all over the world?
A clown is an artist who uses grotesque and exaggeration techniques. Huge boots, red nose, smile-inducing props. The clown's job is to make people smile and cheer up. This is achieved through witty jokes, games, unusual appearance and, of course, the actor’s talent. It must be said that clowning is one of the most difficult acting skills. After all, many can paint their faces and wear an extravagant costume, but the art of making people happy and joyful is within the power of very few.
Most people associate clowns with the circus. This is because in Soviet time the most popular, and perhaps the only place in Russia where one could see clowns was the circus. The clown worked with the audience between performances of other artists. Clowns still work in circuses with various reprises and acts, but in modern world the phenomenon of “clownery” has gone beyond the circus and is used in many other cases and genres.
Nowadays there is even such a thing as clown therapy!
It has been scientifically proven that laughter relieves stress, improves blood supply to tissues, normalizes blood pressure, and improves the biochemical composition of the blood. One minute of laughter and joy is equivalent in effectiveness to a daily dose of vitamin C.
Below we will talk about the most popular and sought-after forms of clown activity.
The first clowns
The first clowns were riders. Unexpected, right?
In the 16th century, knightly tournaments were very popular in England, and throughout Europe. The entire population of the city and nearby villages was going to look at them. And between the traditional horse or foot battles, when the knights polished their armor and tightened their girths before leaving so that the audience would not get bored, an incompetent rider appeared in front of them. He clumsily tried to cope with the horse, stay in the saddle, get his feet into the stirrups, and, in the end, fell to the ground. This whole simple scene was so believable and funny that it caused wild merriment in the audience. How can one not laugh at such a simpleton and a hillbilly? After all, only a hillbilly who does not ride a horse, but plows, cannot cope with the bridle.
By the way, the very name “clown” comes from English word"clown" and also from Latin word"colonus" means: peasant, hillbilly, simpleton. That’s what in English villages they called an awkward, narrow-minded, rude guy at whom the whole neighborhood laughed. This could be the name given to a local joker, a hooligan, or just a village fool.
How did it happen that a simpleton falling from a horse evolved into an artist of a very complex genre?
A little later, in the same England, the clown began not only to fall from his horse during breaks between fights, but also to make various “sharp” jokes to please the public. So he turned into one of the main characters English theater and joked not only at tournaments, but also in market squares and under the tents of traveling circuses. Here, what was expected from the clown was not only truly acrobatic performances and caustic words addressed to the arrogant townspeople. The artist acted out entire scenes from life, where both the clumsiness and narrow-mindedness of the character were ridiculed.
Who are mimes
Clowns appeared before our era in Ancient Greece. But they were not at all like they are now. Then the clown called himself a “mime” (from the ancient Greek mimos - imitation) and performed in front of spectators on the streets, where he acted out skits with singing and dancing, in which he parodied and ridiculed human vices and famous personalities. For which, by the way, he was beaten several times. Over time, the song component disappeared from mime performances. The mime became mute and communicated with the viewer exclusively through facial and body expressions. Mimes traveled to cities and villages, where they gave their performances, sometimes alone, and sometimes together with a traveling circus, becoming real artists.
Now pantomime, which is the name given to the art of conveying feelings and thoughts through body language, is a separate direction in clownery. Simply put, a mime is a clown who is silent. Even the mime’s makeup and costume are strikingly different from all other clown outfits. He most often wears tight clothes in black or white, depending on the background of the performance, so that every movement is more noticeable thanks to such a stark contrast. And on the mime’s face there is a white tone and brightly outlined black eyes and mouth.
The most famous mimes in history are Charlie Chaplin, the master of French pantomime Marcel Marceau, the famous “Actors” under the direction of Vyacheslav Polunin, who created his own unique style at the intersection of clowning, stage and tragic farce, delights with new enchanting shows and master classes around the world.
Appearance of clowns
Since the appearance of the first clown, his task has been to attract maximum attention and make people laugh. Therefore, a bright wig, by the way, is not only red, but often yellow, green, or even all the colors of the rainbow, a motley costume, originally made from hundreds of rags of different colors, and a red nose are the invariable attributes of a clown costume.
Each of these details reflects the character, temperament and even personal history of that particular clown. An actor, before becoming a real clown, invents not so much appearance, as much as his character and history, and only then reflects them in the costume and makeup.
Some people create their image once throughout their entire clown career, while others have many different images and, accordingly, the makeup is different every time. But making costumes is always a thorough and creative process. For example, the famous clown noses are made to order, so to speak, to fit each nose, from soft leather, and then painted in the desired color. Of course, many people also use soft foam rubber, which is uncomfortable to breathe through, but this is usually only for a couple of times.
But the most important thing in every clown is not the image and outfit he chooses, but sincere fun and the ability to give children joy.
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Coulrophobia is a panicky, uncontrollable fear of clowns in both children and adults. Among the underlying causes of coulrophobia, psychologists identify the inability to see a person’s real face under makeup, overly active behavior and loud laughter of a clown, indicating him as a mentally unhealthy person, and the fear of being publicly ridiculed. Joseph Derwin, an employee at Trinity University in Texas, notes the two most common ways in which phobias arise: negative personal experience, usually acquired in childhood, and the image of the “evil clown” created and supported by popular culture.
Who invented evil clowns
The exact origins of the evil clown archetype are unknown, but in the artistic culture of the 19th and almost all of the 20th centuries, jesters and clowns were portrayed rather neutrally. One exception is Edgar Allan Poe's story "Little Frog," in which a jester dresses the king and his retinue as orangutans and sets them on fire. In 1892, the premiere of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci" took place in Italy, in which a clown kills his wife out of jealousy.
Exploitation of image in pop culture
JOKER
A villain with clown makeup from the DC Comics comic book series about the superhero Batman. The Joker is mentioned already in the first issue of the comic, published in April 1940. Appeared on screen in the 1966 film version of Batman.
PENNYWISE
ROBBIE
A toy clown from Tobe Hooper's 1982 Steven Spielberg-scripted film Poltergeist most The painting remains motionless, but in the finale it becomes possessed and attacks the little boy.
BOBO
The unstable young man, a former circus clown, from Michael Schrader's 1988 film Out of Darkness. Kills girls from the Phone Sex service using a variety of weapons, but always wearing a clown mask.
TWISTY
Serial killer in a clown costume, a character from the fourth season of the series " American history horrors." He kidnaps his victims, keeps them in a van and forces them to watch his own magic tricks.
Evil clowns in real life
Pogo the Clown is John Wayne Gacy's real name. Chicago serial killer who raped and murdered 33 teenagers and young adults from 1972 to 1978. In 1975, he joined the clown association Jolly Jokers and began performing at private parties in the guise of Pogo the clown. In 1980, Gacy was sentenced to 21 life sentences and 12 death sentences.
Tired Willie is the pseudonym of Paul Kelly, the grandson of the famous American clown Emmett Leo Kelly. In the late 1970s, as Paul himself said, the spirit of Willie the Clown appeared to him in a dream with a request “not to let him die” after his father retired. In 1978, he was arrested for the murder of two of his partners; he was later diagnosed with split personality disorder.
From the official statement of the French police dated October 27, 2014
The National Police has received numerous reports from citizens about clowns scaring passersby. Spreading rumors encourage some criminals to commit crimes under their disguises. IN in social networks The initiative to gather groups of “clown hunters” is gaining popularity. Be responsible, including on the Internet (parents should tell their children about the risks associated with such violations). If you have any doubts, call 17 or 112 immediately.
Incidents in 2014
Wasco, USA
In October, a man wearing a clown costume and scary makeup began to be spotted on the streets of the Californian city of Vasco. He soon gained followers: the creepy clowns did not attack anyone (one of them, as it turned out, was filming a photo project with his wife), but the residents were frightened by their appearance.
Portsmouth, UK
In October, local residents were alarmed by the appearance on the streets of a creepy clown in a red wig. It was reported that the clown intrusively invited some people to watch him juggle, crossed their paths on his bicycle and chased those who tried to photograph him.
Montpellier, France
A man dressed as a clown chased a passer-by, demanding that he give him money and a phone. Having caught up with the victim, the clown beat him with an iron rod. At the end of October, the offender was sentenced to a year in prison.
Greenwood Cemetery, USA
A man dressed as a clown, wearing a red wig and carrying a bunch of balloons was spotted several times in Brooklyn cemeteries in July. The clown silently walked among the graves, not approaching any of the visitors.
