the.com/clown
professional joy-engineer feared by millions despite squirting flowers and oversized shoes
means A performer who entertains through physical comedy, costumes, and exaggerated antics — or, more loosely, anyone acting foolishly.
from Surfacing in English in the 1500s, originally meaning a clumsy country bumpkin or rustic — a 'clod' of a person. Its deeper roots are murky, but it's possibly related to Scandinavian words like Icelandic 'klunni' (a clumsy, boorish fellow) and similar Germanic terms for awkward lumps of a man. Only later did the rude rustic become the deliberate fool of stage and circus — the bumpkin sharpened into a profession.
- phobia name
- coulrophobia, the documented fear of clowns
- face copyright
- clowns once registered makeup on painted eggs
- ancient roots
- Egyptian pharaohs employed clown-priests around 2500 BC
- hospital duty
- medical clowns measurably reduce children's pre-surgery anxiety
- oldest gag
- the pratfall predates written comedy entirely
pennywise — stephen king's terrifying clown from 'it', appearing in 1986 novel and adapted multiple times
bobo the clown — character from the simpsons, host of 'bobo's cavalcade of wonders' on kbbl radio
ronald mcdonald — mcdonald's mascot since 1971, one of the world's most recognized fictional characters