# Fear / Dislike of Clowns



## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Do you have coulrophobia?



The fear of clowns is a common affliction, sometimes going back to childhood trauma at the hands of some scarily-painted circus clown riding a unicycle; other times stemming from nothing more than an inexplicable yet intense dislike. There's even a website - IHateClowns.com - where clown haters and fearers can trade views and tips for avoiding those grotesque demons.

Personally, I rather enjoy clowns - always have.



What about you? Do you fear clowns? Like them? Or totally hate them?


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## Falcon (Jan 22, 2016)

I NEVER  feared  clowns until I noticed the one up on top here.  Now I have to change me drawers.  Thanx for nothing !


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Falcon said:


> I NEVER  feared  clowns until I noticed the one up on top here.  Now I have to change me drawers.  Thanx for nothing !



:lofl:


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## Karen99 (Jan 22, 2016)




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## Pappy (Jan 22, 2016)

Hi there. We are here to entertain you.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

The relatives are coming over for the holidays ...


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## fureverywhere (Jan 22, 2016)

Gacy played a clown...that being said I always enjoyed Zal Cleminson from Alex Harvey's band 







But in his later years he got freaky deaky indeed


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## Pappy (Jan 22, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> The relatives are coming over for the holidays ...
> 
> View attachment 26031



Dont tell me you invited Zippy. He eats everything.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Pappy said:


> Dont tell me you invited Zippy. He eats everything.



Well, how can you say "no" to a face like that?

Besides, it's his birthday!


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## Pappy (Jan 22, 2016)

Cripes, Phil. I spent all afternoon baking that cake and he'll eat it all.


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## Pappy (Jan 22, 2016)

Hi, little boy. Would you like a piece of candy?


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Actually he'll wipe it off his face _first_, and THEN eat it all.

Hey, when you have a cannibalistic clown in the family, ya' gotta' love 'em!


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## fureverywhere (Jan 22, 2016)

I think they're related to zombies but I'm not sure...then close to clowns from music lore we have...


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Another clown wearing sunglasses!

Where oh where have I seen that before?


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## AprilT (Jan 22, 2016)




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## fureverywhere (Jan 22, 2016)

Run the bastard down, you're saving a bunch of young men's lives.


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## Karen99 (Jan 22, 2016)




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## Butterfly (Jan 22, 2016)

Clowns give me the creeps,and always have.  I do not like them at all.


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 22, 2016)

They always gave me the creeps too, when I was a kid and till this day.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> Run the bastard down, you're saving a bunch of young men's lives.



I'd slow down, and when he ran to the door I'd pull away, repeating this _ad nauseum_.


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## fureverywhere (Jan 22, 2016)

then yep smash 'em...even poor Marcel Marceau


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> then yep smash 'em...even poor Marcel Marceau


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## Karen99 (Jan 22, 2016)

well, I did like Red Skelton as a clown


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

Red was a great clown, as was Lucille Ball -


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## Karen99 (Jan 22, 2016)




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## Linda (Jan 22, 2016)

I don't like clowns at all.  About 7 years ago I took a photo of an embalmed clown.  He died many years ago.  His family leased out his body (with his permission) for 99 years, since it's illegal to sell a body in California.  I find the whole thing quite ghoulish but it's what this clown wanted.  I am not a fan of any clowns anywhere, anytime.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 22, 2016)

I always thought Pennywise was a particularly horrifying clown ...


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## Ameriscot (Jan 22, 2016)

I hate clowns. They are creepy.


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## Cookie (Jan 22, 2016)

I really have to wonder about someone who becomes a clown -- the costume, the antics, not funny, just weird.  Is it because they aren't able to get any other kind of work or do or is it some kind of clown cult/religion?  Hopefully they will be phased out of the entertainment venue, as so many people don't like them.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Clowning is an ancient. noble art.

I think what bothers people the most is not the clown's antics per se but the make-up and "type".

The *Whiteface* clown covers their entire face in white greasepaint and is traditionally the most mellow type of clown

The *Auguste* clown's face is usually a base of tan or pink rather than white, and their features are exaggerated. Their actions are broader than the other types and are often seen as the trouble-makers.

The* Tramp *clown isn't exactly P.C. these days, and of course their make-up is that of a tramp or hobo. They usually rely upon pathos for their brand of comedy.

We all have a little clown inside of us.


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## Linda (Jan 23, 2016)

Cookie said:


> I really have to wonder about someone who becomes a clown -- the costume, the antics, not funny, just weird.  Is it because they aren't able to get any other kind of work or do or is it some kind of clown cult/religion?  Hopefully they will be phased out of the entertainment venue, as so many people don't like them.


Cookie, the only clown I have known personally was a rodeo clown.  He has a mean alcoholic.  They claimed he was a good horseman and a good rodeo clown.


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## Bluecheese50 (Jan 23, 2016)

I have never liked clowns. I am not afraid of them, just never found their antics funny.


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## Butterfly (Jan 23, 2016)

Bluecheese50 said:


> I have never liked clowns. I am not afraid of them, just never found their antics funny.



I've never found them funny, either.  Just creepy.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

A clown doesn't necessarily have to wear greasepaint.

As in my earlier video, there are some clowns that break type. Lucille Ball, Harpo Marx, Dick van Dyke, Carol Burnett - they all engaged in clowning.


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

The other side of a clown who I met many times. He was an exceptional man. This video and the lady will explain you why


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## Pappy (Jan 23, 2016)

Gross ignorance definition:

144 Clowns getting out of a Crosley.


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

I guess the difference can be the makeup. I mean basically clowns are doing or attempting to do slapstick. Benny Hill doing it without makeup is funny. But the grease paint and wig makes the same antics freaky.


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## Falcon (Jan 23, 2016)

Didn't they derive from the old "Court jesters ?


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

Falcon said:


> Didn't they derive from the old "Court jesters ?



Yes. Medieval Clown, Buffoon or Jester.


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## jujube (Jan 23, 2016)

Why did the clown go to the doctor?  Answer: He was feeling a little funny. 

A group of cannibals find a clown on their island and decide to roast him for dinner. As they were eating the clown one cannibal said to another "Does this clown taste funny to you?"

SIGNS YOU'VE HIRED THE WRONG CLOWN FOR YOUR KID'S BIRTHDAY PARTY:

* By the end of the party, he's got every damn kid doing the "pull my finger" trick.
 * Clown car must be started with breathalyzer device.
* Keeps screaming, "My name's not BO-zo, it's bo-ZO!"
* Props for his "disappearing" trick: a moving van and your wide-screen TV.
* Didn't bring any balloons, but manages to twist your dachshund into other animal shapes.
* Prefaces each trick with, "here's a little number I learned in the joint."
* Not exactly the Peewee Herman impression you were expecting.
* Wears a T-Shirt that says, "Drug-free since March!"
* More interested in squirting seltzer into his Scotch than into his pants.
* A sad clown is one thing -- a clown who spends the entire party with a gun to his temple is another thing entirely.
* Only balloon animals he can make are a snake and a "snake on acid."
* Business cards include the phrase "From the Mind of Stephen King..."
* Price list includes "lap dance" and "around the world.
* All the balloon animals are ribbed and lubricated.


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

* Clown car must be started with breathalyzer device.
* Didn't bring any balloons, but manages to twist your dachshund into other animal shapes.
* Prefaces each trick with, "here's a little number I learned in the joint."
* A sad clown is one thing -- a clown who spends the entire party with a gun to his temple is another thing entirely.
* Price list includes "lap dance" and "around the world.






This one...
* Didn't bring any balloons, but manages to twist your dachshund into other animal shapes.


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## AprilT (Jan 23, 2016)

Bluecheese50 said:


> I have never liked clowns. I am not afraid of them, just never found their antics funny.





Butterfly said:


> I've never found them funny, either.  Just creepy.



For the most part, this has always been my feeling about them till some of the movies I saw with the more scarier killer menacing type clowns made appearances, but, yeah mostly, I've never found them to be funny, just really annoying same with mimes.


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## Yaya (Jan 23, 2016)

SifuPhil-(original clown photo) Now that is definitely a funny clown!


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

By the by to all the Doxie lovers, I wasn't being disrespectful of the breed. You could substitute cat and it would be just as funny.


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## Gail.S (Jan 23, 2016)

I agree, Bluecheese50, I am not amused by them in the least. 
On a side note, I watched the new television show Baskets and also wasn't amused. This being the FX comedy (it debuts Thursday night at 10), Galifianakis plays Chip Baskets, who has devoted his life to the art of clowning, a vocation he treats with utter seriousness, despite flunking out of a Parisian clown school because he doesn't speak a word of French.


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

Looks more like a drag queen than a clown...


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## Cookie (Jan 23, 2016)

They seem to be here to stay.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Oh, Lord, not Toronto clowns - they're the worst! layful:

Jujube, that list had me spewing coffee - thank you!

Interesting comment about clowns being descended from court jesters ... the one big difference I've always seen is that a court jester was often the most intelligent and perceptive person in the Royal chamber. He was the only person who could speak the unvarnished truth to the King. Just look at the jester (fool) in _King Lear _- smartest one in the bunch, and often got his point across in truly clever ways, utilizing irony and sarcasm. 

That's a far cry from funky balloon animals and throwing cream pies.


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## jujube (Jan 23, 2016)

I must be the last person in the world who loves clowns, but then does that surprise anyone?


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## Cookie (Jan 23, 2016)

Phil, these Toronto clowns aren't just ordinary clowns -- these are big city clowns - cosmopolitan, sophisticated and upwardly mobile clowns of a higher stature than the sawdust and elephant droppings variety that most people are familiar with.  I think its about the red noses, we have better red noses here. Personally I don't have a clue, but there it is.


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## Arachne (Jan 23, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> I always thought Pennywise was a particularly horrifying clown ...


  Scared me to death and still does.. I am not a clown fan and I was in the audience at the Bozo the Clown taping. I was crying the whole time .. I actually hid when they asked for a volunteer.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Cookie said:


> Phil, these Toronto clowns aren't just ordinary clowns -- these are big city clowns - cosmopolitan, sophisticated and upwardly mobile clowns of a higher stature than the sawdust and elephant droppings variety that most people are familiar with.  I think its about the red noses, we have better red noses here. Personally I don't have a clue, but there it is.



Oh, well, big-city clowns are a different matter entirely. 

Upwardly-mobile clowns - what, the patches on their jackets are from Calvin Klein? They throw Crème brûlée instead of custard pies? 

Now the better red noses I can understand - that alone would elevate their status in my eyes. 



Arachne said:


> Scared me to death and still does.. I am not a clown fan and I was in the audience at the Bozo the Clown taping. I was crying the whole time .. I actually hid when they asked for a volunteer.



I used to watch Bozo on TV - for some reason I was always uneasy.


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## Karen99 (Jan 23, 2016)

jujube said:


> I must be the last person in the world who loves clowns, but then does that surprise anyone?



well, I may not love clowns but why is it fun to "clown around"?


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## jujube (Jan 23, 2016)

I went to a folk-lore show in Ecuador with lots of music, dancing and singing but the odd part is that we were greeted at the door by the weirdest-looking clowns.  White faces, fierce expressions, red spots on their faces.  They just walked around and glared at people and frankly gave me the creeps (and I LIKE clowns).  

So we asked our guide WHY the clowns were there and why were they so mean-looking.  He said that the clowns are part of a lot of folkloric shows and represent the Spanish  conquistadors who invaded Ecuador and persecuted/enslaved/exterminated the native Indians.   Their white faces represent the pale skin of the Spaniards (well, pale in comparison to the Indians), the red spots represented the bad sunburns they got, and the fierce expressions represented their evil natures. 

I imagine there aren't too many clowns at kids' birthday parties in Ecuador.


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

Then there's this lady, run for your lives!!!!!


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## Arachne (Jan 24, 2016)

If this is not scary I do not know what is..





 clowns *shudders*


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## SifuPhil (Jan 24, 2016)

"It's so good, I Ka-rinkle every time I eat it"

I'm sure you do, you monster - I'm sure you do.


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