A few weeks ago I first heard of the shortage of would-be clowns studying at Portland’s Clown College (yes, there is such a thing [1]) on one of the local quirky Portland radio stations, and I pondered it for a few minutes and decided to file it away under news that I would rather not write about. When I heard Smokey Robinson’s “The Tears Of A Clown” playing before a renewed appeal for more people to study how to be a clown, though, I figured this was a topic that deserved to be written about, even if it is not something that necessarily brings me a great deal of satisfaction. Looking at the state of the world today, I can entirely understand both why few people would seek to be clowns as well as why there would be a great perceived need for clowns. The two phenomena are not unrelated.

I have always considered it to be an aspect of my ill fortune to have lived much of my life close to areas where clown culture is important in the United States. As a child and teen and young adult, I lived much of my life just a little bit north of the city of Sarasota, Florida, which is one of the centers for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum And Bailey Circus [2]. I did not know until recently that Portland was likewise a center for clowning, but I suppose it is not too big of a surprise given that Portland is generally a fine place for misfits and odd folks like myself. That said, like many people, I have a strong aversion to clowns that extends from an unpleasant childhood trip to the circus where the crowns apparently creeped me out.

From what I understand, it is not too unusual for children to be creeped out by clowns, and it is worth exploring why that is the case. Clowns wear rather fancy costumes and paint their faces, and that tends to create an air of unreality that would put clowns in the uncanny valley, making them uncomfortable. Adults, on the other hand, tend to have a much greater tolerance for disguise and its attendant connections with dishonesty and masquerades. The aversion to clowns, because of the way that they hide their identity behind all that paint, is one of those areas of life where I tend to feel a bit more like a child than like an adult, as clowns and masquerades in general tend to bother me a bit even now, which I must admit is somewhat unusual for my age.

I have always associated clowns with melancholy, and this is perhaps another reason why I have tended not to enjoy them. I have tended to desire to face my issues openly and honestly, rather than to hide the truth behind a smile that was painted on. My own native personality is diametrically opposed to the approach of a clown to distract from reality. Of course, looking at the state of the world today, it is entirely understandable why the need for distraction would be felt, even if few people felt capable of or willing to hide their anxieties and sorrows behind a mask to serve others by making them smile and distracting them from the sort of concerns that we all face. Truly, despite my own distaste for clowns, I can understand how they might serve a role in helping to reduce the pressures that other people faced, but perhaps dedicating ourselves to facing the crises of our times openly and honestly would provide us with the necessary pressure to actually do something about them, even if it meant paying a certain price in our present enjoyment for the sake of a better future. That might be a much better solution, in the end, than simply clowning around in the present.

[1] http://www.yelp.com/events/portland-ringling-clown-college

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/were-all-stars-in-the-dog-and-pony-show/