Things you probably don’t know about clowns (and should)

We’ve established that the art of clowning is not as straightforward as you would expect. But did you know that Charlie Chaplin is a clown? Or that a fear of clowns is an actual illness? Marc Goldberg shares four little known facts about clowns, so you can show off at the dinner table.

1. Jesters and fools from the medieval ages are the earlier incarnations of the modern clown. As society then reacts strongly towards fools and often outcasts them, asserting they are madmen, many jesters pretend they are indeed insane or simpletons, in order to be free from scrutiny and attention. Hence the famous sentence from Isaac Asimov about Shakespeare’s fools: “That, of course, is the great secret of the successful fool – that he is no fool at all.”

2. In the early 1820s, a famous London surgeon was talking with a patient who was suffering from depression. He advised him to get some relaxation and amusement. When asked by the patient asked where he could find that, the doctor replied he might go to the theatre and see Grimaldi, who would soon be considered the father of all clowns. “Alas”, replied the patient, “I am Grimaldi”. This, and other anecdotes about Grimaldi may be found in his autobiography, which was edited by then 25-year-old (you may know him!) Charles Dickens.

3. A fear of clowns is real, and is considered a pathology. Called coulrophobia, it is defined as an extreme and irrational fear of clowns. Rumour has it, the “illness” started spreading after the famous 1986 Stephen King novel It became a best-seller and was adapted into a television mini-series.

4. Charles “Charlie” Chaplin is probably one of the most well-known clowns (his character is a silent Tramp clown) in history, but did you know he did initially start of wanting to be a clown? According to his autobiography, he was asked by his producer one day to find some make-up and clothes to shoot a comedy scene. Looking through his wardrobe, he decided he would dress in a pair of baggy pants together with big shoes, a cane and a hat. To top it off, he added a moustache because the producer had suggested the character be older than Chaplin. “I had no idea of the character”, says Chaplin, “but the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on to the stage he was fully born.”