They are colourful, funny and sure to make you laugh as soon as they appear from behind the curtains. They are synonymous with the circus but now are slowly making their way into birthday parties and other events.
With bright-coloured costumes, a red bulb-like nose, face paint and big wigs, your quintessential clown was not always like this. Like most, they have a history too.
Over the years, their role or performance time has visibly reduced. “It's because the audience don't have too much time to view a three-hour circus. It's not just ours, but everybody's act has been cut short,” explains Sanju, a clown with the Jumbo Circus, who has been clowning since 1997. “When we start we are not paid anything. We are trained in acting, improvising and performing various acts. The food and stay that they provide us are all we get. But once they feel we are ready to face the audience, they let us perform. Now we earn up to Rs. 8000 per month,” he says.
It is also unfortunate that certain physical conditions and stereotyping restricts dwarves like Sanju to the business of clowning. “Apart from clowning, I learnt the spring net and bar stunts out of pure interest. We should all know our limitations and we are happy to get some job,” he says.
Murugan, a veteran who has been a clown since 1973, also reflects Sanju's sentiments. “We are happiest when the audience laughs and claps on seeing our antics. Sometimes, we are bored of doing the same things again and again, and sometimes we are interested. Outwardly we laugh but in reality we might be crying inside. That's the life of a clown.”
Sanju and Murugan are unaware of the opportunities that exist beyond the realms of the circus tents. Clowns are now a part of birthday parties and other functions where they perform to amuse not just children but adults as well.
Professional clowns like Martin D'Souza are a new genre. He has studied at clown school and also holds an MBA. Going by the clown name Flubber, he is also the only Indian member of the England-based World Clown Association (WCA). Clowns like him are path-breakers in a society that does not view clowning as a “serious profession”. Though the change is coming on, it is slow, compared to the status the clowns enjoy internationally.
Go East or West, look back in time or look to the present — you will find, no matter how different their characters or behaviour, they all have only one purpose: to make people laugh and at times even think.
Broadly speaking, there are three types of clowns:
Whiteface clowns: Traditionally, he wears white face paint and extravagant costumes. Character-wise, he is authoritative, stylish and dramatic.
Auguste: Colourfully dressed and painted, this clown is a typical joker. He is clumsy, always making a fool of himself.
Tramp/ Hobo: Generally, a sad-looking character with not much to mouth. He is always depressed about not having anything. The hobo is also down on luck but has a positive attitude.
A little history
Clowns have been a part of many a culture and kingdom, but not without a purpose. Ancient Greece boasts of the existence of the earliest of clowns. They were bald-headed figures whose main role in mimes and pantomimes was to evoke laughter by spoofing the action of the main characters.
It has also been found that African pygmies known as Dangas performed in the courts of Egyptian Pharaohs for the amusement of the ruler and his family. There are also records of the presence of clowns or jesters in Chinese kingdoms. In fact, one of the Chinese court jesters, Yu Sze, is remembered as a national hero till date for having saved the lives of thousands of labourers.
In Shakespearean times when clowning was a theatre form, William Kemp was the first clown to appear with Shakespeare's Lord Chandler's Men acting troupe. He played ‘stupid country bumpkin' characters that would later develop into a type of clowning style called Auguste.
The Indian version of the clown was Vidushaka, a central character in Sanskrit theatre. Usually playing the hero's companion, he would evoke laughter with his gestures, costumes and general appearance. Vidushaka would not only guide and counsel the hero but also was at liberty to make satirical comments on various political and social issues or institutions. The character is still a part of the traditional folk art and theatre performed today.
But it's Philip Astley who is credited with introducing the clown acts into the circus around 1768 when he started what was considered the first circus in England. He created the first circus clown act called Billy Buttons or the Tailor's Ride to Brentford. Since then, clowns have been a part of every circus.
