History of Clowns

In circuses, clown jesters were actors with great agility, flexibility, who entertained audiences with their feigned clumsiness and their jests.

Clowns first appeared in the 3rd millennium BC in Egypt. They were entertainers who were allowed to mock everybody including the rulers.

But there is no commonly accepted theory about where clowning in its current form originated as modern clowns borrow from including the pantomimes of Greece, the court jesters or the buffoons.

Actually, most cultures had a sort of clown character, and today’s clowns borrow from many such characters.

Originally, the clown in the circus was hired to fill the gap between two shows. His job was to create a loud and gesticulating diversion until the acrobats or animals were prepared to enter. And even in today’s circus, the function of the clown is reduced to filling in time around the arena while the properties and apparatus for the aerialists, the trapeze artists and the acrobats are manhandled into the ring.

In the second part of the nineteenth century, there was a heyday for clowns, and even into comparatively recent times there remained traces of that tradition when the circus clown had to be an adept in every branch of circus work - riding, tumbling, balancing, animal training, and very often a skilled musician. Thus, in many instances the clown is a very complex character.

Types of Clowns

There are many types of clowns.

1. THE WHITE CLOWN is one of the best known ones.

With the white clown, the facial features disappear entirely, leaving only empty space, no name, no identity.

He is an elegant and intriguing character. It confuses the public by its lack of intentions in the face.

2. THE AUGUSTE is another well known clown character.

It has a red nose, its mouth is wide open and smiling.

In the circus tradition, he crossed the track to reach the public in order to entertain the public. It appears many times together with the white clown and its role is to destabilize the white clown.