> I personally have nothing against a good clown riding a uni.
> What does get my blood pumping is when you get a *smart
> arsed* comment about being a clown. This is mainly down to
> the perception of a clown on a uni goofing around in a
> seemingly clumsy way purely for other peoples ammusement.
I think Neil has explained it well. Now I would like to add something in the
defense of clowns.
In the United States (at least), there is little understanding of the
clowning arts by the general public. There are many types of clown out
there, and the majority of the ones we see are generally pretty bad. There
is the person in the “clown suit,” if I may use that term. This is when you
see someone dressed as a clown, but not in any kind of clown persona. It’s
just a clown costume.
Then you may see clowns who are working in a promotional sense, for
businesses or events that are trying to “entertain while marketing.” Since
the motivation is beyond entertainment, that can leave a bad taste, and
again a lack of thrills or humor (or even proper entertainment).
Then there are clowns who like to be clowns, and donate their services to
many good causes, but have no skills. They may do things badly, and not be
funny, and assume that the fact they are a clown is enough to make up for
it. It isn’t. You don’t have to have skills, but you have to be something
beyond a person in makeup and a colorful costume.
But what of the good clowns.
There are thousands of people in this country who do clowning as a hobby,
and give hundreds of hours of their time a year to hospitals, nursing homes,
community programs, etc. They ask nothing in return, except the chance to
make people smile. Some of these clowns have good skills, and some do not.
These people are all everyday heroes.
To some degree, being a clown makes it hard to show off skills. If you
juggle five clubs on a 12’ unicycle, people will drop their jaws and say
Look at THAT!!! Then if you do the same thing, and you are a clown, people
will say “Look at the clown.” Clowns don’t get much credit in our country,
partly because people don’t expect much from them.
Even the Ringling Bros. Circus is part of the problem. With its well-known
Clown College, one expects all clowns seen at a Ringling show to be at the
top of their profession. They generally have very good makeup, great
costumes, and even some good skills. But generally they have little
experience. Usually these clowns are young people, working 6-7 days a week
for very low money, because they love what they’re doing. Often their skills
and potential get wasted in the show. They do walkaround gags (which are
hard to see in the big arenas where Ringling plays), and generally one or
two actual “acts” in the show. These acts often amount to little more than
rehashing old keystone cop bits, with unnecessary violence. Ringling clowns
are famous for beating each other up. One year I remember a show edition
that celebrated the clown as its theme. They had several big clown acts, and
I thought they were all basically bad, and not funny. Plenty of slapstick,
but no solid humor to go along with it.
Please excuse my rant. All Ringling clowns are not bad, in fact I think
they’re great. They often don’t get to live up to their potential. Then
there are the star clowns. Last fall I saw the Red unit, with Bello the
clown. Before I read the program, I assumed he was from somewhere in Europe
or the former Soviet Union. As it turns out he’s born and raised American.
But he has the qualities of a true, full-on clown. This means he’s got a
wide range of skills, he can rivet 10,000 people on what he’s doing, and he
can be funny without being stupid. He did several acts in the show,
including riding an elephant while it walked on a rolling cylinder.
In Europe and the former Soviet Union, clowns get the respect they deserve.
But to be a clown over there means a lot more. In the Russian circus,
typically there is at least one clown character who is a binding part of the
show, coming in and out often throughout. These clowns usually know several
acts, play musical instruments, have full acrobatic and ballet training, and
lots of experience. I have had the honor to work with some of these people
over the years, to see what a clown can be at his or her full potential.
So I have tons of respect for clowns, and for people who are or want to be
them. But just because I’m riding a unicycle (especially on top of a
mountain, miles from my car or the nearest road) doesn’t mean I am or should
be one.
Thanks for listening,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com
“You’re not supposed to wash your Roach armor” - Nathan Hoover, on safety
equipment cleaning methods
