Clown: Encyclopedia II - Clown - Types

Clown - Types

There are several different types of clowns, including:

• The whiteface clown, the best-known of modern clown types - Joey Grimaldi (whose name, Joey, is the insider term for clown) was a whiteface clown. The whiteface clown uses makeup to exaggerate their facial features and expressions rather than modify or conceal them. When a whiteface is performing with other clowns it is usually the leader and the smartest one. skullcaps/baldcaps or headgear appliances simulating a tall, pointy, or otherwise unusually shaped head. The whiteface clown is traditionally sad.
• The comedy white face or grotesque clown, who uses exaggerated make-up and costumes, such as large noses, shaped head, tiny hat, etc. Lou Jacobs is a famous grotesque clown.
• The character clown, who adopts the character of some common type, such as a butcher, a policeman, housewife or hobo. Prime examples of this type of clown are Emmett Kelly, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin. Lucy Ricardo, the most famous character played by Lucille Ball is considered by clowns to be a character clown. Lucille Ball's clown character itself often dressed up as other characters, an instance of a character clown in turn playing a clown as part of the role.
• The rodeo clown has one of the most dangerous jobs in all of show business. A rodeo clown is a courageous and hard-working cowboy or animal wrangler, dressed in wild costumes — almost always oversized and consisting of loose fitting layers of clothing to protect them from, and to distract, Rodeo bulls, etc. The looseness of the layers allows a rodeo clown to shed portions of their attire in the event of its being snagged. This professional — whose highly dangerous job is to protect other performers from bucking horses and charging bulls while at the same time entertaining the audience with the antics of a clown — might tell you: "Druther lose a shirt than lose my life".
• The Pierrot, or "French clown", appears in whiteface, typically with very little other color on the face. This clown character prefers black and white or other a simple primary color in his or her costume. (le Pierrot is often female, and has also been called "Pirouette" or "Pierrette". When Bernard Delfont was made a life peer, he chose "Pierrot and Pierrette" as the heraldic supporters of his coat of arms.).

• Harlequin, or Arlecchino, a character originally from Commedia dell'Arte, is a "motley" clown — in "commedia", Arlecchino used a cane to "whack" the other performers. This is believed to be the origin of "slapstick" a form of physical comedy. A slapstick (battacio in Italian) is a prop with two flat flexible wooden pieces mounted in parallel, the two sticks slap together when the implement is struck, causing a slapping sound, exaggerating the effect of a comedic blow. Harlequin's other names: Traccagnino, Bagattino, Tabarrino, Tortellino, Naccherino, Gradelino, Mezzettino, Polpettino, Nespolino, Bertoldino, Fagiuolino, Trappolino, Zaccagnino, Trivellino, Passerino, Bagolino, Temellino, Fagottino, Pedrolino, Fritellino, Tabacchino could all be considered funny-sounding names, even to an Italian.
• Auguste : accompanying a circus clown, as part of a troupe, or as one of a clown duo, there is often another clown character known as an auguste, but the auguste's role is different from the other clowns: he is the "straight man" in most gags. The Auguste is so self-important that the audience inevitably takes the other clown to heart as their protagonist. Bongo (of the duo Bongo and Clownzo) is an Auguste clown, which moniker he might assure you means "dignified and respectable".

There are also differing styles of clowning. In Europe there is a tradition of "entree Clowning" where the troupe of clowns usually comprising of "White Face, August and a "Joey" perform a set routine; "The Busy Bee" (in German, "Beinchen Beinchen Gib Mir Honig"), "The Bon Bon", or "the Ghost" are just a few regularly performed in European Circus. Water entrees and Paste (soap) entrees are also staple diet for these audiences. Up until the eighties reprise clowns in Europe were very traditional but lately they are showing more versatility with a range of different styles and presentations involving audience participation and more inventive "gags" rather than relying on the old faithfuls. The main difference with the U.S. is that usually European shows have one ring and the clown has the complete attention of the audience; in the States, where multiple rings are the norm, there are more clowns, each working a different section of the public.

There was for many years a tradition of families of clowns all working together (such as the Rastellis, the Francescos, The Alexis, and many more), but with the economics changing it is no longer viable for many shows to afford a large family unit so they are slowly disappearing.

Circuses have recently been faced with stiff pressure from animal rights groups such as PETA for their abuse and mistreatment of animals, as well as the competetive pressure from popular new live action versions of children's television programs. In response, American circuses at least, have begun to lean towards shows based specifically around the clown as a marketable character and personality. This has promoted a new class of "Celebrity Clowns" like Bello Knock or David Larible, headlining recent Ringling Brothers tours and garnering significantly larger shares of the a shows's operating budget than their fellow performers. This return to clown as central theme in circus is mirrored in the likes of Cirque du Solei, which commonly uses clowns as a central thread to link their acts and give their shows structure. The myriad smaller independent and underground circuses around the world have always relied upon the clown as the primary staple in their retinue.

• "The Power Clown" Wall Street Journal Aug 12th 2005

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Types", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki