Many people dislike clowns.  Many people find clowns creepy.  Clowns are not creepy intrinsically, but “creepy clowns” are often depicted in the media.  These depictions feed into a pre-existing unease that many feel towards clowns.

Perhaps the best-known and most effective creepy clown in the history of movies is “Pennywise” from the Steven King movie “It”.  Pennywise looks very much like “Bozo”, except with razor sharp teeth and a proclivity to lead children to their grisly demise.  Other than his nasty demeanor, there is nothing creepy about Pennywise.  He doesn’t wear an “evil clown costume”, for instance.  In the story of “It”, Pennywise is a tormentor of a group of friends.  Certainly this is a potent image for people who already dislike clowns.

More recently, Heath Ledger’s famous portrayal of “The Joker” in the movie “The Dark Knight” has added fuel to the anti-clown fires.  Though nothing at all like Pennywise, The Joker still managed to unsettle viewers.  The Joker is a very creepy clown.  He is a criminal and a sadist.  He delights in the psychological, and sometimes actual, torture of others.  He also robs a bank, in the opening of the film, wearing an evil clown costume.

Before either of these two characters were unleashed on the public consciousness, people already disliked clowns.  After seeing those two creepy clowns, however, some people truly hate clowns.  The fear or distrust of clowns is so palpable that some costume makers have actually begun selling “evil clown costumes”.  They look like a traditional Bozo-type clown, except the teeth will be sharp and there will be blood around the mouth or on the hands.  Also, one evil clown costume I saw advertised during the last Halloween season was a clown in a mental patient’s gown.  Clearly a lot of people find clowns creepy.

To someone afraid of clowns, a few creepy clowns may seem to represent all clowns.  But there are a great many clowns who aren’t creepy or evil.  Clown costumes themselves are meant not to spark fear but rather to amuse and delight.  Still, some clown costumes are specifically evil.  This is more in response to people’s existing fear of clowns rather than a cause of that fear.

A clown can be creepy without wearing an evil clown costume.  Someone wearing an evil clown costume would probably be creepy to anyone.  But even a nice, loveable circus scamp might cause some consternation to people who find clowns creepy.  There really is nothing to fear from nice clowns, though.  Creepy clowns, on the other hand, are scary and should be avoided by everyone.

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First step: get a big, colored wig.  Big, bright wigs are a vital necessity in clown faces.  I cannot imagine a clown with short brown hair.  Can you?  No, clowns need big bright red or green wigs on.  Get a good wig first, and then worry about the actual clown face.

Once you have a wig, next you need to paint your face.  Start with simple white makeup as a base.  Paint your entire face white so that no skin shows.  After your entire face, including your ears and neck, is painted white, get some bright face paint.  Once again, clowns faces are all about bright colors on a white field.  Red is a traditional color, but blue or green or even purple or orange or any other bright, simple color will work.  Paint a big outline well outside, but following the contours of, your mouth.  This gives the illusion that you have a huge smile, and is a look very often associated with clown faces.  Apply this same color to your eyes.  When you’ve finished with the makeup, you should have a totally white face, with bright colors highlighting both your mouth and eyes.

You’re almost done, but there is one important part of a clown face that we haven’t addressed yet: clown noses.  The clown nose is the most recognizable part of the clown face.  Many clowns choose to purchase a plastic red nose, while some choose rather to paint their noses red.  For some reason, while there is some flexibility in the color of the wig, mouth, and eyes; clown noses are almost always red.  Choosing a plastic red nose carries the added benefit of allowing the nose to honk when squeezed.  This is funny and never fails to delight children.  On the other hand, with a plastic clown nose, you have to worry all day about your nose falling off.  Clowns who choose to paint their clown noses on don’t have to worry about this.  It isn’t quite as whimsical, but it’s an effective way for people to paint clown faces without a lot of unnecessary trips to specialty stores.

Clown faces are easy to paint on.  Because of this, people may be liable to rush it or do a bad job.  If you take special care—get a good wig, good face paint, good clown noses—then your clown face will be the best clown face

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The jester costume goes back hundreds of years.  In the Middle Ages in Europe, jesters would often entertain the king and queen, as well as any guests of the court, at official dinners.  Jesters represent the earliest form of “clowns” in western culture.  They are the most removed from what modern audiences would consider a “clown”, however.

A typical jester costume consists of a hat with two ends, both of which are adorned with bells.  The points of a jester’s shoes also often have bells.  In between is a body-stocking, usually with diamond shapes of alternating colors going from head to toe.  A jester costume rarely, if ever, includes a painted face.  Jesters engage in more cerebral comedy.  Often, jesters will use word plays and witticisms to gently mock their hosts.

The mime costume very much straddles the fence between the relatively low-key jester costume and the more outlandish circus costume.  A mime costume generally includes normal, if almost business-like, attire with just a painted face.  The face painting on a mime is not as wacky as the face-painting on a regular clown.  Mimes also are one of the only types of clown to restrict their routines to just one quirk: they never speak.  Other clowns will do all sorts of tricks or comedic routines.  Mimes stop at not speaking.

The classic circus costume is the costume everyone associates with clowns.  Bright wig, face painted white, suspenders holding up big trousers, big shoes.  Top it all off with a bright red nose and you’ve got the circus costume.  Everyone would recognize this as a classic clown costume.  It is certainly the most outlandish of all clown costumes.  Not as reserved as the mime costume, nor as austere as the jester costume.  The circus costume fits the versatility of the circus clowns.  Circus clowns will generally do anything and everything to get a laugh out of the audience.

For the most part, the classic circus costume is the most prevalent clown costume these days.  That’s not to say that one won’t encounter the occasional mime costume, though.  And jester costumes are always a big hit around Mardi Gras, if you live in an area that celebrates Mardi Gras.  Other than that, however, the classic clown look is the most popular.

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