SEND IN THE CLOWNS
another rant about politics. Close but no cigar.... Actually the picture above is a top secret sample of the new Macbeth color wrecker. There were so many primary colors and runoff the histogram looked like my last EKG! Mix it with early morning light and well you do what you can do with shadows and twelve feet up in a bucket and they says you got one minute.
Hosted in part by the UPTOWN CLOWNS of LARGO.
It was a celebration of all things that are good. We had good weather, we had good crowds and we had clowns, lots of clowns and if you didn't get into the rib tickling fun you were missing something. This traditional fun day at Largo's Community main park is primarily aimed at the kids with rides, face painting, clown antics, magic tricks, balloons, train rides, climbing walls, slides, live music, plenty of hotdogs, funnel cakes and candy.
The Clown Day also is combined with the city's TOUCH-A-TRUCK display, whose venue has all the fire trucks, police vehicles and specialty units from the city on display. They are all set up for the kids to touch, see demos up close, meet the great folks who make up the cities first responders, and naturally the kids climbed over everything. I termed it the attack of the mini-people.
Another really nice touch was the drop- in of the brand "new" Bayflite Helicopter. This four million dollar Euro Copter flying ambulance landed on the marks right on schedule. The crowd was delighted and lines immediately formed to "peak inside".
As a pilot I appreciate state of the art. The EC is capable of a maximum indicated airspeed of 153 miles-per- hour.
It has a gross weight capacity of 7385 pounds, and can carry a maximum of two patients. With its fuel tanks full at 184 gallons, the EC has a range of about 336 miles.
This is a state of the art all-weather aircraft and only three days old. You could smell the paint twenty feet away, that new! Back to the clowns.
And because this is as much a day of celebration for the clowns as well as the kids we had clown participants from as far away as Canada and from all over the State of Florida with alley's from Dade City, the Villages, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville and other cities throughout the South East.
PHOTOGRAPHER"S NOTES:
As a clown photographer be ready for color, clowns have color regimens and personalities. Bright colors and you might be at the limit of color saturation. The primaries will literally leap off of the page. Clowns belonging to the COAI.org and some classes are taught by the Ringling Graduates for example, who adhere to a fixed set of "CLOWN RULES" Just like our Senators and Representatives are supposed to abide by. (Different kind of clown) Some of them could learn from the real clowns.
THEY TEND TO CONGREGATE IN ALLEYS:
The clubs are called alleys, coming from the congregate area between the tents at the Circus's where they would hand when not on stage. COAI (Clowns of America International) is the largest order of Clowns in the world and it is always looking for new members. They encourage members to join local clown groups, troupes or alleys in their area.
Local clubs affiliated with COAI receive a charter and can purchase educational materials at a reduced cost. There are also two competitions available at the alley level. The first is the Charlie Award, which is presented to the alley that most actively promotes "International Clown Week" (the first week in August).
The second is "The New Calliope Best of the Press" awarded to the best alley newsletter. Other alley recognition programs are conducted by the COAI Board from time to time.
COAI believes your individual participation in an alley is essential in the growth and foundation of clown
alleys and that alleys play a significant role in the propagation of the performing art of clowning, locally and around the world.
COAI Membership:
A COAI individual membership is available to any person 16 years of age or older. Family members may be of any age. All members receive an attractive certificate suitable for framing as well as a membership card. All new members receive a 4" patch of the COAI logo to wear on your costume, jacket, etc.
If you choose to become a clown here are the rules.
• I will keep my acts, performance and behavior in good taste while I am in costume and makeup.
• I will remember at all times that I have been accepted as a member of the clown club only to provide others, principally children, with clean clown comedy entertainment.
• I will remember that a good clown entertains others by making fun of himself or herself and not at the expense or embarrassment of others.
• I will neither drink alcoholic beverages nor smoke while in makeup or clown costume. Also, I will not drink alcoholic beverages prior to any clown appearances.
• I will conduct myself as a gentleman/lady, never interfering with other acts, events, spectators, or individuals. I will not become involved in or tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or any protected status.
• I will remove my makeup and change into my street clothes as soon as possible following my appearance, so that I cannot be associated with any incident that may be detrimental to the good name of clowning.
• I will conduct myself as a gentleman/lady at all times. While on appearance in makeup and costume, I will carry out the directives of the producer or his designated deputies.
• I will abide by all performance rules without complaint in public.
• I will do my very best to maintain the best clown standards of makeup, costuming, properties, and comedy.
• I will appear in as many clown shows as I possibly can. I will be committed to providing an atmosphere free of discrimination and harassment for clowns of all ages to share ideas and learn about the art of clowning.
Types Of Clowns, The Three Most Common (Some groups Recognize Four)
The original White Faces are the oldest form of clowns, Auguste (pronounced a-goosed) which is the Funny clown, and Tramps, usually are hobo faces. WIKIPEDIA had an excellent article on clowns and goes into detail.
Traditionally, the whiteface clown uses "clown white" makeup to cover his or her entire face and neck with none of the underlying flesh color showing. In the European whiteface makeup, the ears are painted red. Features, in red and black, are delicate. He or she is traditionally costumed far more extravagantly than the other two clown types, sometimes wearing the ruffled collar and pointed hat which typify the stereotypical "clown suit". It is important to note that a whiteface character does not always wear the classic whiteface makeup. Additionally, a character can wear traditional whiteface makeup and be an "auguste".
Parts And Players:
• The whiteface character-type is often serious, all-knowing (even if not particularly smart), bossy and cocky. He is the ultimate authority figure. He serves the role of "straight-man" and sets up situations that can be turned funny.
• The "auguste" character-type is often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the auguste character to perform his bidding. The auguste has a hard time performing the task given which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the auguste is confused or is foolish and is screwing up less deliberately.
• The contra-auguste plays the role of the mediator between the whiteface character and the auguste character. He has a lower status than the whiteface but a higher status than the auguste. He aspires to be more like the whiteface and often mimics everything the whiteface does to try to gain approval. If there is a contra-auguste character, he often is instructed by the whiteface to correct the auguste when he is doing something wrong.
The character clown adopts an eccentric character of some type, such as a Hobo, butcher, a baker, a policeman, or a housewife.
• Prime examples of this type of clown are the circus tramps Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly. Red Skelton, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin would all fit the definition of a character clown. The character clown makeup is a comic slant on the standard human face. Their makeup starts with a flesh tone base and may make use of anything from glasses, mustaches and beards to freckles, warts, big ears or strange haircuts.
Costumes:
Many of the costumes they wear are handmade, not exactly Sayville Row but very creative. They play an important part in the demeanor of a clown and set the stage if there isn’t a stage the costume is.
Bright colors, exciting, and easily recognizable by kids. But it's not just a costume. Clowns are usually talented one on one performers who pretend to act silly, or foolish or just clumsy to entertain his or her audience. Sometimes though they may work in pairs or with props. A kazoo a pipe and a Funnel makes a fine instrument for a clown band.
Each finds their level and anything within the rules goes from there, it's very open to various forms of interpretation. The genres include slapstick, the inevitable pie throwing, pratfalls and clumsiness, falling down or tumbling. Pantomime, a learned non-speaking role is also considered a good clown attribute as it is common for clowns to use stickers, tickling, pets, puppets, magic and Juggling. Some pets used are invisible, just another clown gaff.
Really a great day in Largo for the kids and the City has it's scheduled for the forthcoming year after many budget cuts, Clown day is a national affair and many communities have similar events.
PART TWO - THE DARK SIDE OF CLOWNING (Not part of the article for Largo)
Sometimes you stumble into things. The young lady in the mirror shot was terrified of clowns, there were at least seven people I interviewed at various times within the perimeter who admitted they had a fear of clowns. Mostly stemming from childhood and a few really had no idea where it came from or couldn't remember. In the Middle ages and the Renaissance period, clown's often played the bad parts. Our medical folks have an unofficial or
unsanctioned name for CLOWN-PHOBIA though careful research indicates otherwise. It's called correctly "Coulrophobia" Coulrophobia is abnormal or exaggerated fear of clowns. The term is common, but it does not appear to be used in Psychology. It is common amongst children, but is also sometimes found in teenagers and adults as well.
Sufferers sometimes acquire a fear of clowns after having a bad experience with one personally, or seeing a sinister portrayal of one in the media. A design study carried out by the University of Sheffield found that children are frightened by clown-themed décor in hospitals. Coulrophobia can also be said to extend to a fear of covering up one's face with paint—the idea of hiding recognisable features under a layer of facepaint can also unsettle coulrophobia sufferers.
Simply put:
It is usually the result of a bad encounter with an unfamiliar, scary, overwhelming to a child, larger than life, semi human looking force during childhood. A clowns face is static and the inability to smile or change confuses children.
Examples:
Googling and WIKIPEDIA exhumed (literally) more than a few locations with the words "BAD CLOWNS" and produced even more referrals to the use of unsettling images. (From WIKIPEDIA, the following is not even a tenth of examples shown)
Note Reference : www.badclown.com/CLOWNS.html Unique website for bad clowns.
BAD CLOWNS
The JOKER who is the archenemy of Batman is a murderously insane evil super villian with a disturbing clown-like appearance. The character first appeared in Batman #1 (1940). However, his facial appearance was inspired by the character of Gwynplaine from the movie " The Man who laughs". Gwynplaine had been a victim of gypses who had cut off his lips so it appeared as if he were always smiling.
In the Batman related cartoon series Batman Beyond, a group of antagonists who take after the deceased Joker dress in clown outfits similar to the original villain and call themselves The Jokerz.
The Stephen king Novel "IT" as well as the TV movie revolves around seven children who are haunted by an evil shape-shifting creature that often takes the form of an evil clown named Pennywise.
"Tripping the RIFT" has the Dark Clown Empire, led by Darph Bobo. The Clown, the archenemy of the golden age heroes Magno and Davey in comics books by ACE COMICS. Konrad Beezo and his son Punchinello are the antagonists in the novel Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz. They are joined by two minor villains, Honker and Crinkles, who are arguably also "evil" clowns.
Emmett Kelly, America's famous clown-creator of Weary Willie" perpetuated by his son and grandson, suffered clown-related personal problems. Grandson Paul Kelly, found guilty of murder, claimed Willie had taken over his personality.
Serial murderer John Wayne Gacy gained infamy as Pogo the Clown. Red Skelton's Freddie the Freeloader and other quasi-clowns experienced more downs than ups. Enrico Caruso broke hearts as the lovelorn Pagliacci -- smiling on the outside, crying on the inside -- in the opera by Leoncavallo.
Who are bad clowns:
It really started getting interesting when I delved into some of these sites. Some of these modern day bad clowns take their work very seriously and serve as the "anti-christs of clown-dom". Some obviously like the "bad clown image" and some simply hate "good clowns". The best site was BADCLOWNS.com. If they wished to attain grossness, I give them a nine out of ten.They have their version of the Clown Rules. (I quote and you will see why I anti-ed them)
1. I will keep my acts, performance, and behavior in a manner that suits my sly intentions, especially when in costume. I will remember that a bad clown will entertain others by making fun of himself, AND as many innocent bystanders one can find.
In addition, if clown perceives act isn't going to plan, he may, if required, elect to throw tantrum.
high and for some the bonds and friendships formed might be as intense as the clowns who portray the "good clowns". Thats a really strange statement for me to make from what I have learned BUT...
We live in a world of sides and sides have extremes. Perhaps those that thought when I refereed to clowns I was talking about politicians. We have Republicans and Democrats who are as far apart and as similar as the clowns. The extreme or wings of the party are "pretty flighty" at times. In some cases like the bad clowns, they will try to give you the feeling they will lie, cheat and steal to to achieve their goals. I don't really think they are bad people, they just live in the bad moment and think it's fun just as good clowns. Sounds like politics!
In a prime example of the closeness, "Quote Bill Cunningham in his essay on Huffington Post" about the NY legislators. Comparing legislators to clowns as an insult to clowns."To compare these hard-working, well trained professionals to our state senate is an insult to anyone named Bozo, Clarabelle, or Emmett Kelly," Cunningham writes. "In fact, Jerry Lewis, America's internationally recognized symbol of zany comedy, should lead a protest march on Albany. These senators are giving clowns, comedians, and con men a bad name.
Politicians often spin, twist, stuff, mis-speak and take bribes in political circles. We call that "politics". In most of the cases (anytime a mike is around) they portray themselves as the do-gooders of the society bringing joy and laughter to children and adults alike. Behind closed doors it's another story. We find out about drink, infidelity, drugs, sex and more than rock and roll.
Both groups the Good Clowns and the Bad Clowns have their followers and membership rules are well explained in advance as you can tell from the article. What rang my bell was the membership in these communities sometimes different, yet similar exhibit the usual "club drama" problems.
Typically, the rules, regulations, positions, hierarchy, jealousy, longevity, competition, mis-trust, greed, and sometimes petty thinking some of the clowns I met exhibited. As clowns they were funny, entertaining, strange and totally a different personality from the way I saw or communicated with them as ordinary people. The clown costume gave them another look at things, possibly hiding other things. I sense there is more to this.
That opened another door... What do clowns really think behind the mask? What motivates them to become clowns period? Is the face paint a door to another personality? Is it a love of entertaining or entertaining seeking love, does the paint hide hurt? Many questions and a reason for another article. Later...
AUTHOR and PHOTOGRAPHER: Al Jacobson, photographs and writes in the Tampa Bay area on a myriad of subjects. He is from NY and occasionally speaks English, preferring Brooklyn based meta-phonetic syllabication (aka Street English). His high school English teacher, once commented to his parents, "He should try learning a foreign language like English... in a foreign country". He retorted, "Shakespeare doth not a genius make, for he spake in terms reminiscent of a flake". She threw him out of the class.
Well, that's it for now from the Sunshine State. My name is AL JACOBSON and I documented and approved every word of this page. Unfortunately the city did nothing about it like adding it to their weak website after i presented them with an entire package for free.