Types Of Clowns
Of course, most clowns are definitely NOT scary! They do indeed fill an enormously important need in us to
smile, laugh and be irreverant. To that end, clowns perform a very rich function in society.
To give you a little more detail and background, there are several different types of clowns as you may have
noticed and they may be broady classified as below:
Whiteface clown:This is the oldest type of clown with origins in the ancient
Greek theaters where the lack of good lighting made it a good idea to have a white face with black features painted
to suit the character and thus stand out more easily even from a distance. This is why many modern clowns
also have white makeup and exaggerated smiles or, in the case of evil clowns, scowls!
Auguste clown:
According to legend, this means "fool" in German but was actually a name given by a German audience to an
American acrobat in the 19th century because he managed to entertain them while tripping over himself. This type
normally wears a flesh tone makeup with either oversized or undersized clothes, bright suspenders, very large ties
and oddly shaped body parts like large behinds, feet and noses.
Traditional auguste clown makeup
Tramp and Hobo clown:
These clowns also wear flesh tone makeup most of the time and exaggerate the unkempt look with straggly hair,
unshaved faces, dirty teeth and so on. Their clothes will tend to be ill-fitting and dark with an large number of
patches to portray a tattered look.
Character Clown:
Type of clown who is based on a well-recognized character such as a policeman or cowboy, the latter being found
in many rodeos.
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