Circus clown
Circus clowns are a sub-genre of clowns. They typically perform at circuses and are meant to amuse, entertain and make guests laugh.
Traditional types
There are traditionally three basic types of clowns that appear in the circus: the whiteface, the auguste and the character. A fourth type, the tramp or hobo clown, is often recognized separately, though similar to the other three types.Absolute definitions of what constitutes each clown type varies, with performers encompassing an extremely wide range of styles, from the classical to the innovative.
The whiteface clown
The whiteface is the oldest of the clown archetypes. In modern times, when whitefaces perform with other clowns, they usually function as the leader of the group. Whiteface clowns use "clown white" makeup to cover their entire face and neck, with none of the underlying flesh colour showing. Features are then usually painted on in either red or black.The whiteface clown is traditionally costumed more extravagantly than the other two clown types. They often wear the ruffled collar and pointed hat which typify the average person's idea of a "clown suit".
Notable examples of whiteface clowns in circus history include François Fratellini and Felix Adler.
Canio, the protagonist of Ruggiero Leoncavallo's famous tragic opera Pagliacci, is typically dressed as a whiteface clown. He is a classic trope of the "sad clown" who laughs on the outside, but is secretly melancholic due to a grievance or a depressed state of mind.
The Auguste
Accompanying the white clown, there is often another clown variety known as an Auguste or red clown. In strict classical European circuses of the past, the augustes were never described as clowns because, technically, they were not instigators but recipients of the comic doings. The augustes are the ones who get the pies in the face, are squirted with water, are knocked down on their backside, sit accidentally in wet paint, or have their trousers ripped off.The base color for the Auguste face makeup is some variation of red, pink, or flesh tone. The eyes and the mouth are encircled in white and the features are highlighted, traditionally in red and black. The Auguste is usually costumed in baggy plaids accented with colorful polka dots or loud stripes. They boast wide-collared shirts, long neckties, unruly colored wigs and oversized noses and shoes.
Notable examples of augustes in the circus history include Albert Fratellini, Lou Jacobs, Greg and Karen DeSanto, Coco the Clown, and Charlie Rivel.
The character clown
The character clown adopts an eccentric character of some type, such as a butcher, a baker, a policeman, a housewife or hobo. Prime examples of this type of clown are the circus tramps Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly. On film, 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. The most prevalent character clown in the American circus is the tramp or hobo clown with a thick five-o'clock shadow and wearing shabby, crumpled garments.
When working in a traditional trio situation, the character clown will play "contre-auguste", siding with either the white or red clown. Sometimes they are more cunning and less dim than the auguste.
Notable examples of character clowns in the circus include, Dev Chaube, Barry Lubin, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Geoff Hoyle, Charlie Cairoli, Oleg Popov, and Bello Nock.
Examples of the contre-auguste character in non-circus trios include Larry Fine of the Three Stooges and Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers.
Gags
The American circus term for a clown's act is "gag"; Europeans refer to it as an "entrée", and amateur clowns sometimes refer to it as a "skit" or "sketch". Gags are the clown's written and rehearsed performances. They can take place in the ring, on the track or in the seats. They can be done solo, with the ringmaster, with other clowns or with audience volunteers. They have a beginning, middle and end, finishing with a "blow-off". Gag may also refer to the specialized or gimmicked props clowns may use.Gags can use many different types of blow-off, but some of the most popular are the confetti bucket, the long shirt, a trousers drop or the time-honoured "all clowns exit running". Contemporary indoor shows may also end a clown gag with a simple blackout.
Lingo
; Basket animal: A costume made with a basket in the middle, looking as if the performer were riding a horse or other animal. Suspenders hold the costume around the performer's waist.; Blow off: The visual "punchline" of a clown gag or joke
; Boss clown: The clown responsible for coordinating the clowns and the various gags in a show
; Caring clown: Non-circus term used to refer to clowns who specialize in hospital visits
; Carpet clown: A clown who works among the audience.
; Charivari: A raucous acrobatic clown routine, typically done by a large group of clowns, consisting of a series of fast-paced acrobatic maneuvers and comedy jumps off of a mini trampoline, over a vaulting horse and into a mat
; Circus Report: Name of a bi-weekly circus trade magazine
; Chase: A quick run around the hippodrome track, usually with one clown chasing another
; Clown alley: The clowns' dressing and prop area
; Come in: The period an hour before showtime when the public is entering the arena before the circus begins. Elephant and camel rides are offered for a fee during come-in; butchers are selling their wares, and clowns are on the arena floor and in the seats. Some clowns specialized and only performed during come-in.
; First of May: A term also used in the carnival, meaning a novice performer in his first season on a show. Shows used to leave winter quarters for their opening spot on the first of May, and there are always some new workers hired on the first of May who have never worked shows before
; Hippodrome track: The oval area between the rings and audience
; Joey: A mischievous whiteface clown. Some sources say it only refers to an acrobatic clown, others say it is a non-circus term and was never used by professionals. The clown character used in Punch and Judy shows is traditionally called Joey.
; Knockabout act: Comedy act involving physical humor and exaggerated mock violence
; Producing clown: The clown who writes, directs and procures props and costumes for a gag
; Production gag: A large-scale ring gag
; Shows: The overall production that a clown is a part of, it may or may not include elements other than clowning, such as in a circus show. In a circus context, clown shows are typically made up of some combination of ring gags, track gags, walkarounds and chases.
; "Stars and Stripes Forever": The band reserved this Sousa march as a signal that an emergency had come up calling for the clowns to come running out from the Alley directing public attention away from the emergency or for the audience to be evacuated.
; Suitcase gag: A visual pun that is carried inside of a suitcase and used during walkarounds. The set-up is written on the front and the suitcase is opened to reveal the punchline.
; Trouper: A person who has spent at least one full season with the circus, and whose response to the demands of life and work on the road are those of a seasoned veteran. Also used in vaudeville to mean a veteran performer.
; Walkarounds: A clown feature in which they stroll the hippodrome track performing very brief visual gags that can be easily picked up, moved and performed again for another section of the audience
Notable examples
Historical
[Joseph Grimaldi]
Joseph Grimaldi was one of the greatest English pantomime clowns. His father, Giuseppe Grimaldi, was an Italian dancing master and pantomimist. Joseph's stage debut was at 3 years old in a dance at Sadler's Wells, London's famous variety theatre. Grimaldi never performed in a circus ring, but spent most of his life performing in full-length pantomimes.He had the most to do with the development of the pantomime character of Clown. Grimaldi used a substantial amount of colour to his mouth, cheeks, and eyebrows over his painted white face. The most striking aspect of his make-up were large red triangles. His image was followed closely for the next 50 years by most British clowns.
Grimaldi was known as a master in the use of expressions of the body and face, unique sense of comic timing, imaginative byplay, and his overall comic abilities. He was famous and influential enough in his time to have had Charles Dickens write his biography.
Today clowns are often called Joeys in honour of Joseph Grimaldi.
[John Bill Ricketts]
John Bill Ricketts, an Englishman who brought the first modern circus to the United States, began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London in the 1780s coming over from England in 1792 to establish his first circus in Philadelphia.He built a circus building in Philadelphia in the fall of 1792 in which he conducted a riding school. After training a group of Pennsylvania horses, he began on April 3, 1793, a series of exhibitions two and three times a week.
His advertisements referred to the equestrian exhibition as Ricketts Circus. Probably because of his interest in horses, George Washington attended several performances of Ricketts's circus. Performances included not only equestrian exhibitions, but clowns and music and later rope walkers were added.