Bad Clowns

A well-researched book on the history, context, and claims of clowns from ancient times to the modern world.

Bought this as a gift.

Great historical view of the “bad clown.” A lettle light on today’s clown sightings. Would have been better if more time was spent on today!

Well researched and written. The scholarly approach is anything but dry in Ben's hands. He tells a good story with wit and subtle humor. I have had a lifelong distaste for clowns ever since a circus clown, looking for a magic-trick volunteer, told me to sit down because he preferred the pretty blonde girl next to me. I was 6 years old with red hair and freckles. This book confirms every bad thought I've had about bad clowns and I no longer feel guilty about disliking them. Now I can enjoy disliking them and quit being freaked out. Thanks, Ben.

Hard to read. It just didn't hold my interest. The author has lots of information but kind of rambles and loses the reader.

I snapped this up after seeing a mention of it in the Skeptical Inquirer, and I have to say I enjoyed the hell out of it. As other reviewers note, this is not meant to be an authoritative or comprehensive monograph on the subject but an accessible, SI-style evidence-based survey of the meme of the clown as an antisocial or dangerous being, from the Punch and Judy shows that delighted 17th century English audiences to the Insane Clown Posse, whose fans scared the FBI so badly they designated them as a criminal gang. Though Radford draws no conclusions as to what it all means, anyone interested in the subject will undoubtedly gain new insights into the phenomenon of the clown as menace, and those who do want to go deeper will find this well-documented book a useful resource for further research.

This is a wonderful idea for a book, and it provides a great deal of information, but I never quite could figure out what the purpose of the book is. It's sort of a collection of essays about bad clowns.Radford starts off with a bit of history, and he puts together in the clown category some aspects I would not have thought of, but that make sense. The Punch and Judy puppet shows of course feature Punch's gratuitous violence to all and sundry, but I would not have seen a connection with the figure of Harlequin in commedia del'arte or the ancient business of kings having fools and jesters who can get away with criticism by dint of their defined role. Then there's the British clown Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837) whose troubled life apparently is reflected in his memoirs, edited by one Charles Dickens, and Dickens seems to have much to do with the development of the bad clown trope (I must have missed those novels).Other chapters address many related topics. Chapter 4 discusses irrational fear of clowns. Chapter 5 examines bad clowns in ink, largely comics. I had never heard of comics specializing in bad clowns and evil clown characters. Based on Radford's reporting, I'd say it is an acquired taste. Chapter 6 looks at "bad clowns of the screen" including film but also television (and now one assumes in social media), including The Simpsons. Chapter 7 discusses bad clowns in music--apparently bad clowns show up in contemporary music of the sort older adults like me are blissfully unaware of. Chapter 8 discusses clown porn--discusses, with no examples or illustrations, thankfully.Chapter 9 covers creepy clowns and killer clowns, including some real killers. Chapter 10 covers activist clowns, clowns who use their humr and techniques for partisan views, which must hearken back to court jesters. Chapter 11 covers dip clowns, persons in clown costume suspended above a water tank; these insult passersby to the point they buy several baseball tosses to dunk the clown. Chapter 12 which is brief, looks at phantom clowns. These seem to be a few furtive individuals lurking in some form of clown costume and just plain phantoms existing in the minds and perceptions of people. Chapter 13 discusses trolls and the future of bad clowns--internet trolling is an interesting connection to make with clowns.

Clowns are like kale smoothies. Summon the courage to publicly admit they’re unappealing, and others will breathe a sigh of relief and admit to feeling the same way. Yet just as our culture persists in claiming that kale smoothies taste great and make you healthy, it continually tries to convince itself that clowns are funny.All of which gives me something of a morbid fascination with clowns. So, perhaps you can see why I found Benjamin Radford’s “Bad Clowns” not just informative and entertaining, but validating.Radford did his homework but doesn’t overburden you with it. He opens with a brief history of clowns and clowning, followed by a generous helping of clowns, both real and fictional, all at their creepiest worst.In particular I enjoyed the chapters on Punch and Judy (violence and murder in the name of children’s entertainment, how quaint), coulrophobia (“fear of clowns,” which I didn’t know was a thing, much less a thing with a name), and notorious TV and movie clowns (I was pleased to see that Radford did not overlook my favorites, Krusty and Homey). I also enjoyed leafing through pages of color photos featuring posters and other creepy clown memorabilia, most from Radford’s personal collection.I hesitate to admit that my favorite chapter was easily the book’s most morbid: “Creepy, Criminal, and Killer Clowns.” Turns out that John Wayne Gracy was but one of many. Who knew?If you’re curious about bad clowns, this is your book. If you’re not curious about bad clowns, read it anyway, and you will emerge with a new morbid fascination of your own.

I'm sure the book is a great one - unfortunately my order was cancelled by the seller more_for_u