I have a strong belief that the reason clowns are funny is because clowns have us (as a society) look at our own flaws and laugh.
In the big picture a clown should be making fun of people that care too much about their looks. A great TV show would be the Kardashian's played by clowns. Next Top Model with clowns. The Oscars with clowns.
Clowns should make fun of people in charge. A clown pretending to be the president. Awesome. A clown being Justin Bieber, a clown Supreme Court. So funny.
Total Carol Burnett stuff.
Where I perform, living rooms mostly. I want to get laughs on a local level. Baldness is pretty common and it's always funny. Being overweight is common, it's funny (don't make fun of overweight people, bring it to yourself). Being old is common, it's funny.
Look at what we try and hide, bring it to the surface in your own character.
My old clown partner Woody used to enter and say. I'm 9 feet tall to the kids. Woody is 6 foot 5. Basketball player height. Yes, super tall and it was funny. I know he's spent his life dealing with "hows the weather up there"
I'm pretty much bald at this point. So, I point it out, I point at my mellon. I stand next to other bald men and say "look we're twins". It's funny because it's silly to care about something that is so unimportant.
Who wants to be bald? Not me. But it's hilarious. It's a perfect clown bit. Society spends so much money on hair products, jells, sprays, hair rememdies, hair straightener, hair thickener. Etc Etc. I could do a whole show on just sprays, hair color, goops, different brushes.
A Clown should make us see how silly all of that is. Of course it doesn't matter if someone's bald. But it sure feels like it matters.
Let the world laugh at itself. That's what clowns do. I'm bald. I totally hate being bald, I use hair stuff, I cover it, I wear hats, I try to not draw attention to it. As a clown I fluff my side hair, I point out the baldness, I pretend to get mad when kids point out that I'm bald.
I get to make fun of myself. Pretty neat. That's being a clown.
In the big picture a clown should be making fun of people that care too much about their looks. A great TV show would be the Kardashian's played by clowns. Next Top Model with clowns. The Oscars with clowns.
Clowns should make fun of people in charge. A clown pretending to be the president. Awesome. A clown being Justin Bieber, a clown Supreme Court. So funny.
Total Carol Burnett stuff.
Where I perform, living rooms mostly. I want to get laughs on a local level. Baldness is pretty common and it's always funny. Being overweight is common, it's funny (don't make fun of overweight people, bring it to yourself). Being old is common, it's funny.
Look at what we try and hide, bring it to the surface in your own character.
My old clown partner Woody used to enter and say. I'm 9 feet tall to the kids. Woody is 6 foot 5. Basketball player height. Yes, super tall and it was funny. I know he's spent his life dealing with "hows the weather up there"
I'm pretty much bald at this point. So, I point it out, I point at my mellon. I stand next to other bald men and say "look we're twins". It's funny because it's silly to care about something that is so unimportant.
A Clown should make us see how silly all of that is. Of course it doesn't matter if someone's bald. But it sure feels like it matters.
Let the world laugh at itself. That's what clowns do. I'm bald. I totally hate being bald, I use hair stuff, I cover it, I wear hats, I try to not draw attention to it. As a clown I fluff my side hair, I point out the baldness, I pretend to get mad when kids point out that I'm bald.
I get to make fun of myself. Pretty neat. That's being a clown.
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