Circus clown

Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes.

Clowns have also appeared in pantomimes and vaudeville, in films and television, and as straight or comedic characters in plays and operas.

Traditionally, there are three basic types of clowns that appear in the circus: the whiteface, the auguste and the character. Nowadays a fourth type, the tramp or hobo clown, is often recognized separately, even though, technically, it should be considered as another character clown. Each of these types of clown may wear a makeup that is either neat (slightly exaggerated) or grotesque (wildly exaggerated).

There is no single, absolute definition of what constitutes each clown type, with international performers encompassing an extremely wide range of styles, from the classical to the innovative.

The whiteface (or white clown) holds the highest status in the clown hierarchy and is the oldest of the clown archetypes. In modern times, when whitefaces perform with other clowns, they usually function as the straight man, "top banana" or the leader of the group. Whiteface clowns use "clown white" makeup to cover their entire face and neck, with none of the underlying flesh color showing. Features are then usually painted on in either red or black.

The whiteface clown is traditionally costumed more extravagantly than the other two clown types. They often wear the ruffled collar and pointed hat which typify the average person's idea of a "clown suit".

Notable examples of whiteface clowns in circus history include François Fratellini and Felix Adler.

Canio, the tenor protagonist of Ruggiero Leoncavallo's famous tragic opera, "Pagliacci", is usually garbed on stage as the whiteface variety of clown. In this particular instance, he is a representative of the stock fictional character of the clown (or jester) who laughs on the outside, but is secretly crying on the inside due to a grievance or a depressed state of mind.

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