The Clowns

_Elsa_

“Let’s give a round of applause to our jugglers.” Says the ringmaster. Now let’s bring out the clowns!”

‘Have you ever tried to make someone laugh on purpose? Was it easy or hard? A clown is an artist or performer who tries to make people laugh. But becoming a clown isn't easy. Many people think all a clown has to do is paint his or her face, dress in funny clothes, wear a red nose, and act like a fool. But this isn't really what clowning is all about. In fact, getting accepted into a respected clown school can be very difficult. Below please find a couple of questions asked to professional clowns and their responses. 

What are some surprising things about being a professional clown?

Clowns are often the 'face' of the circus. In addition to clowning during the show, they are frequently called upon to clown for PR events, pose for publicity photos, give interviews, and perform charity work. Clowns are probably some of the hardest-working circus performers.

While in costume, a clown always has to be 'on'...always clowning. It's similar to how actors must never break character. No matter how the clown feels, it's his/her job to make others laugh.

When something goes wrong during a circus show...when a performer is injured, or the power goes out, equipment fails, etc...it is the clown's job to "distract" the audience while the issue is resolved (the live band also sometimes performs this function).’ (Info here) 

Is it hard to make people laugh?

Everyone thinks that this job is a cakewalk but it isn’t. It gets hard especially when we have to go through woes in our own personal lives. No matter what the circumstance, we cannot be negative in this line of work. It doesn't matter if we’re going through some family issues when we are booked for a show; we wear our costume, shove our negative feelings aside, and focus on the present.

How do you feel about the pop culture portrayal of clowns being scary?

The creators of these movies are misleading people. Clowns are not horrifying at all; kids love us and are fully amused by the sight of us. The horror element has become a fad, and now they have started to make clowns monsters too!

Clowns are portrayed as the saddest people on the planet, and purportedly use laughter to hide behind reality. What is your take on this?

I feel that most clowns, especially in India, are going through a lot of family issues especially financial ones, and being a clown is a coping mechanism. Most of the clowns who work in India are depressed because they come from the poorer sections of society, and have joined this profession because they need to earn some money. Just like me. I too couldn’t study after grade 10 because of financial issues, and I stumbled into this profession to earn a living.’ (More info here) 

“And there you have it for our clowns,” says the ringmaster. 

Let’s continue here – The High-wire Performers 

Start at the beginning – Let’s go to the circus!

Haven't read part 1 of this 2-part story, check it out here: The circus is coming to town!