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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts 
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With all these reports of these idiot, evil clowns running chasing people in the woods with knives, I was wondering if those of you who make a living off of clowning have seen this take a negative effect on your bookings? I would certainly not wish that on anybody, but my head tells me that these bad apples are spoiling it for everybody and giving the good guys a bad name. What is the truth on the situation?
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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Anand Khalsa Loyal user Phoenix, AZ 201 Posts
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Here's an interesting and thoughtful piece from Vox on the clown craze - they touch on how it's effecting the clown community:
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts
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So then I was right. I
t HAS affected professional clowns and subsequently their income. Sad! So very, very sad!
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts
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I heard a news story on FOX news recently. They were interviewing people who do professional clowning and do it for a living. And they confirmed the sad news. These evil clowns are making us all look bad and bookings have dropped like a rock.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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bwinn New user Philadelphia, PA 12 Posts
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I hate it that a bunch of idiots trying to scare people ruins the way people percept clowns.
Abracadabra, Hocuspocus, and all that Jazz
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Dollarbill Inner circle Colorado 1005 Posts
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With all due respect to you clowns ( ha! ).
 . I personally think clowns are creepy before all of the scarry hype. Not all, but a lot of kids since I was a kid in mid 70's were very weary and or scarred of clowns including me. I think in today's society clowns are looked at as a little weird. That being said, scarry clown advertisements can't be helping you guys/ gals. Jus' sayin'. $.02
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Russo Inner circle So.California / Centl.Florida / retired Florida 1177 Posts
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How about a class action law suit against - producers of "it" - just a thought L-O-L
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cbguy Veteran user 350 Posts
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Dump the clown make-up and re-invent yourself. The three stooges, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, laurel & Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle...they were all clowns and none of them wore make-up.
A modern day example would be Jim Carey, John Bulshi, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Arsen or my favorite Avner Eisenberg. A clown is born from the inside out, not the other way around. You can still be a clown and get plenty of work, without putting on the make up. |
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thomhaha Regular user northfield IL 162 Posts
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Cbguy, your point is valid but the examples don't quite fit: the Stooges, Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle DID wear makeup. All of them came from Vaudeville and used stage makeup (Chaplin's mustache and wig were glued on) and their costumes were also stylized.
They represent a different style of clowning than circus clowns. Most circus clowning hearkens back tot he golden age of the circus, 1880's/1890's. And most of the "creepy clowns" are working within those circus-style motifs. I think the creepy clowns may be doing clowns a favor: it's time to come into more contemporary cultural motifs. Instead of top hats and derbies we need to be working with baseball caps. Instead of frock coats and slacks we should be looking into jeans or workout gear. I'll admit: it's hard for me. I like the Vaudevillian / silent film styles. But as our culture appropriates and changes previous symbols - like clowns - in ways that distort the way our work is precieved, then we need to change our work. |
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Dollarbill Inner circle Colorado 1005 Posts
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I think that is what cb is sayin'. Be original, create "you" not someone else.
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C-suite magic Regular user 115 Posts
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I used to have a clown act but had to ditch it because the kids (and some adults) were terrified. It's almost embarrassing to say now but I turned the act into a Purple Dinosaur act with full costume. Then everyone wanted to hug! I left that one behind about 5 years ago to focus on corporate only. The experience with kids was more relevant to corporate work than I could have ever predicted!
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ringmaster Inner circle Memphis, Down in Dixie 1974 Posts
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Https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellnes......artandhp
Don't bring lizards into the office.
One of the last living 10-in-one performers. I wanted to be in show business the worst way, and that was it.
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RiffClown Inner circle Yorktown, Virginia (Previously Germany) 1579 Posts
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The original IT hurt our business worse than any other single entity in decades.. I have a specific act for those scared of clowns and it seems to work pretty much every time.
I start out plain faced but in costume and start my show. After several especially interactive bits, I let the audience watch me transform. Yes, this is the one case I let them watch me put on my face. They already know the individual behind the make up and the make up becomes far less of an issue from there.
Rob "Riff, the Magical Clown" Eubank aka RiffClown
<BR>http://www.riffclown.com <BR>Magic is not the method, but the presentation. |
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RiffClown Inner circle Yorktown, Virginia (Previously Germany) 1579 Posts
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Quote:
On Sep 9, 2017, Dollarbill wrote: If you look at Clowning and COAI oaths, a real clown would never do anything to demean or hurt the image of clowning. Scary clowns aren't clowns, they are imposters destroying our image to build theirs.
Rob "Riff, the Magical Clown" Eubank aka RiffClown
<BR>http://www.riffclown.com <BR>Magic is not the method, but the presentation. |
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Dollarbill Inner circle Colorado 1005 Posts
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Quote:
On Dec 25, 2018, RiffClown wrote: Although I am not a clown, this idea is genious <spelling> 👍👍 |
ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2889 Posts
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Quote:
On Sep 21, 2017, Russo wrote: I don’t think that would work, but even if you could, the producers of “It,” (1990) would point to “Killer Klowns From Outer Space,” (1988) and say; “Go after them!”
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2889 Posts
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I agree. I'm sorry, but the only reason "evil" clown stories worked is because people were already frightened of the loud, over-the-top clown stereotype. Stephen King and the producers of "Killer Klein's" were just capitalizing on what was already there.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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vincentmusician Loyal user Toronto 266 Posts
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I started out as a Clown. The movies with evil clowns have hurt the clown business. However, that was not the reason I retired my Clown. I just got tired of the hassle of putting on the make-up and taking it off. I have kept the costume so maybe one day, I could change my mind. Also, I find that the calls for my Clown have decreased. So I just perform mostly as a Magician. Cheers!
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Posted: Oct 7, 2016 05:02 pm 