With a tip of the Hatlo Hat of Magic to Carl Jones and his always interesting listserve, we read with great interest of the clowns looking to change their perception from “creepy” to “charming.”

We write about clowns and their status in our society with knowledge of John Steinbeck’s caveat, “Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.”  We take solace in our position above a marine mammal.

The author asserts and we have verified it to be true that until John Wayne Gacy  and Stephen King depicted clowns as evil predators, clowning was accepted in polite society.  Gacy did it in reality and King via his novel IT.

The article notes that clowns perform as clowns to entertain.  Clowns get into show business more for the show than the business.  Like all of us, clowns have feelings and can be hurt when children or adults exhibit fear and not enjoyment.

Paul Kleinberger — who performs as Fuddi Duddy the Clown around Albany, N.Y. — says King’s 1986 novel, “It,” with its evil clown character Pennywise, is blamed by most contemporary clowns for hurting their image.

“Some people say that if it wasn’t for Stephen King, clowns would have an easier time,” Kleinberger told HuffPost Weird News. “I don’t know if that’s the case. I mean, when someone tells me they’re afraid of clowns, I say, ‘Well, I’m afraid of bankers.’

We read Mr. Kleinberger’s retort not as a joke but a profound statement on the inequality our painted brethren and sistern suffer daily.  No doubt most clowns fear bankers and their incessant debt collection calls.
Continue reading “Creepy No More, Clowns Urge” →