ke the clown was an impractical guy who didn’t get along in the real world. A long evolutionary process ended up with vari-colored, but elaborate costumes. The costumes reached some sort of peak when the Harlequin costumes of the English pantomime had as many as fifty-thousand sequins on them. Emmett Kelly brought back the original idea and wore a tramps costume of actual rags. The usual clown make-up is a bright colored pattern which serves as a trademark for each clown. Kelly wore make-up to match his raged costume. He invented his own intimate style of pantomime in, but almost independent of, the circus. Kelly would beg peanuts from kids in the audience and then break the shells with a huge hammer, completely! shattering the peanut, and then search stupidly for the meat among the debris. Clowns of the modern circus are called “Joeys” after Joseph Grimaldi. In the modern American circus, there are many able clowns including Lou Jacobs, Paul Wenzel, Otto Griebling, Paul Jung, and Freddie Freeman, but they are almost overwhelmed by the sheer size of the circus. Modern circus clowns depend on acrobats, costumes, and mechanical stunts to perform, but a mime just has gestures. The technique of the circus clown is limited by the conditions under which he performs, therefore, there is a tendency for any successful idea to be repeated so much that it becomes a tradition. Most of the clowning is done in what is called a clown promenade, or walkaround, in which the clowns circle the arena while performing so that each spectator might see a complete performance. Each clown performs something different. It is difficult to think of gags to perform while walking in a parade. One could carry a heart that lights up like a neon sign when he sees a pretty girl, another could drive a really small sportscar, or one may wear a trick costume which enables him to change from an old lady to a midget, and back again. One clown may run away f...
