Clown

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A clown in a parade for the Day of the Falls of the United States in 2004.

A clown (from Italian pagliaccio) is a stereotypical character commonly depicted with extravagant clothing, excessive makeup, and flashy wigs. He is generally associated with a circus performer, whose function is to make people laugh, play jokes, do pirouettes and sometimes funny tricks, but he is also a satirical actor who makes fun of everyday life. In some cultures, clown clothing and makeup denote a hierarchy, from hobo makeup to whiteface. The artist can make use of oil-based or water-based makeup. Likewise, in some societies clowns are related to other areas and themes, especially on television, where they are even represented as evil characters. He is also called clown , a word of English origin that means "villager."

Among the subtypes of clown, there is the rodeo clown, which has an important function as they must distract the bulls and attract them to help prevent the cowboy from being hurt by the animal. Your clothing may include scarves hanging from your belt. Another type of clown is the cruising or street clown, who only dedicates himself to doing his act at the intersections of large and busy streets, performing a short performance, usually juggling, that lasts the same as the traffic light stops, occasionally collecting the money left by motorists or passers-by. Finally, there is also the clown doctor; The function of this type of clowns is to provoke laughter in hospitals to help patients, since it is known that the action of laughing generates endorphins, and this helps them heal faster.

Etymology

The term "clown" It comes from the Italian pagliaccio, in turn derived from paglia ("straw"), since the character's traditional dress was reminiscent of a mattress filled with straw (pagliericcio).

History

Chuchín, played by Joseph of Jesus Medrano, was a famous Mexican clown during the 1960s.

Clowns were already part of the pharaoh's court during the Fifth Egyptian Dynasty, in the year 2500 BC. C. It became a profession in China when, through tents and caravans, they were part of the court of the kings and social entertainment in the century II a. C. At the same time, in Greece and later in Rome, they appear in Athens comedies as a tradition that is part of a theatrical work. In Mexico it is said that when Hernán Cortés met Moctezuma, within his court there were dwarfs and hunchbacked jesters similar to Europeans. Unlike court jesters, clowns have traditionally fulfilled a socio-religious and psychological function, and traditionally the roles of priest and clown have been played by the same people. Peter Berger writes: "It seems plausible that madness and fools, like religion and magic, satisfy some deeply rooted needs in human society." For this reason, the clown is often considered an important part of training as a discipline of physical performance, partly because it can deal with difficult topics, but also because it requires a high level of risk and play in the performer.

In anthropology, the term clown has been extended to comparable jester or fool characters in non-Western cultures. A society in which these clowns have an important position is called a clown society, and a clown character who participates in a religious or ritual capacity is known as a ritual clown. >.

In Native American mythology, the Harlequin channels the spirit of the Coyote and becomes a sacred Clown character. A Heyoka is an individual in native cultures who lives outside the limitations of normal cultural roles, playing the role of a reverse clown by doing everything backwards. Heyoka's role is sometimes best filled by a Winkte.

Many native tribes have a history of clowns. The Canadian clowning method developed by Richard Pochinko and fostered by his former apprentice, Sue Morrison, combines European and Native American clowning techniques. In this tradition, masks are made of clay while the creator has his eyes closed. A mask is made for each direction of the medicine wheel. During this process, the clown creates a personal mythology that explores his personal experiences.

"Grimaldi was the first recognizable ancestor of the modern clown, a kind of Homo erectus of the evolution of the clown. Before him, a clown could wear makeup, but it was usually just a little bit of color on the cheeks to increase the feeling that they were blossomed, fun drunk or rustic pallets. Grimaldi, however, was dressed in strange and colorful suits, with the face painted white, with bright red spots on the cheeks and ripped with a blue crest. He was a master of the physical comedy - he jumped into the air, stood up, fought against himself in hilarious punches that rolled the audience down the corridors- as well as the satire, which ridiculed the absurd fashions of the time, the comic imitations and the tone songs."

They occupied an important part of European life from the XVI century, when they served as entertainment for the kings, although They did not spend all their time inside castles and palaces; When they were not serving their majesties, they went to canteens and taverns to mock society, and in sarcastic jokes they told secrets of the courtiers.

Modern clowns are strongly associated with the tradition of the circus clown, which developed from earlier comic roles in theater or Varieté shows during the 19th century XIX and mid-XX. This recognizable character features extravagant costumes, distinctive makeup, colorful wigs, exaggerated footwear, and colorful clothing, with the style generally designed to entertain large audiences.

The first conventional clown role was played by Joseph Grimaldi (who also created the traditional whiteface makeup design). At the beginning of the 19th century, he expanded the role of clown in the harlequinade that was part of British pantomimes, especially in the Theater Royal, Drury Lane and at Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. He came to dominate the London comedy scene so much that the harlequinade clowns became known as 'Joey', and both the nickname and Grimaldi's white-face makeup design continue to be used by other clowns.

They played different roles in history, since although at some point they were in the court of the kings, from the 18th century were the entertainment in intermediate acts of circuses or revue theater shows, and came to be considered the soul of the traditional circus; Already at the end of the 20th century new forms appeared, such as cruise or street clowns, or Parisian mimes.

The comedy performed by clowns usually consists of the role of a fool whose everyday actions and tasks become extraordinary, and for whom the ridiculous, for a moment, becomes ordinary. This style of comedy has a long history in many countries and cultures around the world. Some writers have argued that, due to the widespread use of this type of comedy and its long history, it is a necessity that is part of the human condition.

Origin

The character of the clown was developed from the zanni rustic fool of early modern commedia dell'arte, which in turn were based directly on the rustic fool characters from ancient Greek and Roman theatre. The rustic jester characters in classical Greek theater were known as sklêro-paiktês (from paizein: play (like a child)) or < i>deikeliktas, as well as other generic terms for rustic or peasant. In the Roman theater, a term for the clown was fossor, literally digger; pawn.

Joseph Grimaldi as "Joey" the clown, c. 1810

The English word clown was first recorded around 1560 (as clowne, cloyne) with the generic meaning of rustic, rude, peasant. The origin of the word is uncertain, perhaps from a Scandinavian word related to clumsy. Icelandic It is in this sense that Clown is used as a name for foolish characters in < i>Othello by Shakespeare and The Winter's Tale. The sense of clown as a reference to a professional or habitual fool or jester developed shortly after 1600, based on the Elizabethan rustic fool characters such as those of Shakespeare.

The harlequinade was developed in England in the XVII century, inspired by Arlecchino and commedia dell'arte. It was here that Clown was used as a proper name for an action character. The clown, originally the foil for Harlequin's cunning and skill, was a jester who looked more like a jester than a comic idiot. He was a lower class character, dressed in tattered servant's clothes.

The now classic traits of the clown character were developed at the beginning of the 19th century by Joseph Grimaldi, who played Clown in Charles Dibdin's pantomime (1800) Peter Wilkins: or Harlequin in the Flying World at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, where Grimaldi built the character until he became the central figure of the harlequinade.

Modern circuses

The circus clown was developed in the 19th century. The modern circus derives from Philip Astley's London riding school, opened in 1768. Astley added a clown to his shows to amuse spectators between equestrian sequences. American comedian George L. Fox became known for his clown role, directly inspired by Grimaldi, in the 1860s. Tom Belling senior (1843-1900) developed the character of the red clown or Auguste (Dummer August) around 1870, acting as a complement to the more sophisticated white clown. Belling worked for the Renz Circus in Vienna. Belling's costume became the template for the modern circus or children's clown character, based on a lower-class character or hobo, with a red nose, white makeup around the eyes and mouth, and oversized clothes and shoes. The character of the clown, as it was developed at the end of the 19th century, is reflected in Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 opera Pagliacci (Clowns). Belling's Auguste character was further popularized by Nicolai Poliakoff's Coco in the 1920s and 1930s.

The English word clown was borrowed, along with the circus act of clowns, by many other languages, such as French clown, Russian (and other Slavic languages) кло́ун, Greek κλόουν, Danish/Norwegian klovn, Romanian clovn, etc.

The Italian preserves Pagliaccio, a character from the Commedia dell'arte zanni, (from paglia, the word for straw (by the straw suit of the character of the rustic jester), or bajaccio "mocking, mocking"), and derivations of the Italian term are found in other Romance languages, such as French < i>Paillasse, Spanish payaso, Catalan/Galician pallasso, Portuguese palhaço, Greek παλιάτσος, Turkish < i>palyaço, German Pajass (via French) Yiddish פּאַיאַץ (payats), Russian пая́ц, Romanian paiață.

20th century North America

At the beginning of the XX century, with the disappearance of the rustic simpleton or village idiot character from everyday experience, the North American circuses developed characters such as the hobo or the tramp. Some examples are Marceline Orbes, who acted at the Hippodrome Theater (1905), Charlie Chaplin in The Tramp (1914), and Weary Willie, by Emmett Kelly, based on the Depression-era hobos. Another influential hobo character was played by Otto Griebling during the 1930s to 1950s. [Dodo the Clown, played by Red Skelton in The Clown (1953), represents the circus clown as a stock character tragicomic, "a funny man with alcoholism problems".[citation required]

In the United States, Bozo the Clown was an influential Auguste character from the late 1950s. The Bozo Show premiered in 1960 and appeared internationally. nationally on cable television in 1978. McDonald's derived its clown mascot, Ronald McDonald, from the Bozo character in the 1960s. Willard Scott, who had played Bozo During 1959-1962, he acted as a mascot in television advertisements from 1963. McDonald's trademark application for the character dates back to 1967.

Based on the Bozo template, the American custom of birthday clowns, private contractors who offer to act as clowns at children's parties, developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Association of the clown character (Bozo) with children's entertainment, as it has developed since the 1960s, also gave rise to Clown Care or hospital clowns in children's hospitals in the mid-1980s. Clowns of America International (created 1984) and World Clown Association (created 1987) are associations of semi-professional and professional entertainers.

The change of the character of Auguste or red clown from his role as a complement to the white man in circus or pantomime shows to an independent character derived from Bozo in children's entertainment in the 1980s also gave rise to the character of the evil clown, with the appeal of clowns to young children based on their fundamentally threatening or frightening nature. The natural dislike of clowns makes them effective at eliciting laughter by releasing tension by acting clumsily or being helpless. The fear of clowns, especially circus clowns, is known by the term "coulrophobia"

Currently, there are those who develop as clowns as descendants of some tradition or for their own pleasure. Bachelor-level educational offers have been created and are part of great entertainment. On some occasions they have been honored in an artistic way, as Federico García Lorca did in his "Homage to the Harlequin in 4 verses", or in the poetry "Laugh crying", by the maestro Juan de Dios Peza.

Clothes

Hair on clowns 2002 from the Faroe Islands.

The main element of the clown is his peculiar costume, where depending on his gender he can wear rags, only use white makeup, dress in bright colors, wear a wig, giant shoes, classic clothes and masks, but without a doubt the red nose has made the clown an always recognized character, generating a point of attention for people. It is also considered the smallest mask in the world and can be flesh-colored or a striking shade, such as pink or red. In clothing, there are different sizes and sizes, and the technique or school influences them (harlequin, pierrot, august, vagabond, etc.). It is such a representative and respectable outfit for the clown guild, that even at the funerals of any of its members, the members usually attend in full costume.

Currently there are various clown schools, which provide techniques and knowledge about this figure. Two great schools stand out, the European and the American. The first of them is based on acting skills, while the second seeks to entertain with different techniques that are not always acting. Depending on the clown, among the skills he can exhibit are music, juggling, acrobatics, balloon twisting and the art of walking on stilts, body mime, clowning, etc.

Two classic clown costumes.

A clown is a comical and tender character born and developed in the performing arts. It has its antecedents in Roman comedy, in the Italian Commedia dell'arte, in the modern circus or in silent cinema. They consider that the clown does not act, but rather exists. Although they generally perform based on rehearsed routines, one of their greatest skills is improvisation.

He is always involved in problems and seeking complicity with the public to gain their empathy and sympathy, whether alone or in company, as part of a theatrical or cinematographic story, or as a vaudeville or circus act. He improvises around a script or as a character of the most important classic comedians, Goldoni, Molière, Shakespeare, or Lope de Vega.

Types of clown

White face

Cariblanco. Swedish actor Gösta Ekman, senior, (1890-1938) in the play Han som får örfilarna (The one who gets the slaps), by Leonid Andreyev (1926).

This type of clown is dressed in a bright and serious suit, he is apparently dignified and authoritative. He wears the Pierrot mask: white makeup, and the eyebrow (sometimes) drawn on the forehead, reinforcing the clown's character. Red is used for the lips, nose and ears. A fly, some reference to cups, is placed on the chin or cheek. The white clown is handsome, elegant, petulant, sometimes authoritarian and malicious, and reinforces the worth of the august.

Augustus

A guy named clown Augusto.

This type of clown usually wears a red nose, makeup that combines black, red and white, with a grotesque wig, brightly colored clothes, huge shoes, and is totally impertinent and is the promoter of all kinds of antics. He destabilizes the white clown, disrupting all of his initiatives. With his intervention, the catastrophe is assured. His person is used to carry out an action through a number in which the accidents are related.

Counteraugust

He is the second Augustus and his complement. "Augusto del Augusto" is a clumsy clown who understands nothing, forgets everything, and whose actions always end in disaster.

Tony

Its configuration is defined around 1870 from the "augusto", the silly clown, and he is the one who, when trying to help change the equipment on the track, falls rolling in the sawdust, or gets his feet tangled in the carpets. It was created by the horseman Tom Belling in 1864, in the German circus Renz, when the artist, annoyed by having to help on the ring and to amuse his colleagues, puts on a suit that is too big and appears so clumsy that it arouses great hilarity. In the public. Success silences the fury of the director, who asks him to repeat his performance and develop it more and more. "Augustus", the German nickname for clumsy people, remains for this character in Europe; and "Tony" is used in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador because of the fame of the English clown Tony Grice.

The tony, with his oversized or too small suit (generally black in Europe and bright colors in America), contrasts with the elegant white or pink outfit with figured applications, embroidery or sequins, white stockings and shoes of the clown dance. Luxury and marginality confront the characters.

Fear of clowns

Despite being accompanied by colorful and festive connotations, many people show discomfort or fear towards the character. Some popular prints depict the clown in a cartoonish and disturbing manner. The phobia of clowns is known as coulrophobia. It is defined as a persistent, abnormal and unjustified fear of clowns.

It is very common in children, but in some cases it persists in adolescents and adults. Those who suffer from this phobia recognize that what scares them the most is the excessive makeup, their bright red nose and their strange hair, which hides their true identity. This fear is often acquired after having had a bad experience with clowns during childhood, or after having seen a portrait of a sinister clown. Not everyone who suffers from coulrophobia experiences it to the same degree: some feel genuine panic, while for others it is more of a suspicion that does not amount to terror.