The Penn's Grove record., 1894-05-18
CLOWNS OF THE ROT
sne OF Them Tells of the changes Tins
mas Wrought

bne OF Them Tells of the Chanses T1ms
mas Wrought
"You will hear people say" re-
marked Billy Burke, one Of the fun!
NEST Of the many funny men with
the Barnum s. Baily show, 'that the
circus clowns Of to-day are not rs
witty and as funny as they used to
be. The old folks especially, when
they go to the circus, feel disap-
pointed because they do not see the
old.tlme kn%ockabouts. but really
there is no comparison between the
circus clowns Of tbs day and of q
generation or two ago.
probably Grimaldi was the great
9st clown OF bis day, but were he liv-
ing now be would be utterly at a loss
as to the modern style OF clown busi-
ness. 1t does not do o for a clown
to jump into the ring with a merry
shout and a here we are again and
| all that sort of business. The an
tiquated conundrum and the ancient
boke have passed out of the clown
business entirely.
IA mar who would be a t1rst-class
clown to-day must also be flrst-class
at half q dozen other things He
must be an equestrian, an acrobat, q
,uggler, a vaulter and a clown. Every
night l have to I'LL all these require
ments and appear In several parts
during a single performance.
1.-THE change has been brought
very largely by the proprietors them
selves They find a good general per-
hrmer much more valuable than the
LID style clown. Then again the pub.
lie got tired of the old sty'e OF circus
fun. You will notice at the Barnum
= Baily show now that 1t is very sell.
iom that a clown does any talking
n the ring. The shows have grown
10 large that It would be almost use.
less for him to do SO, as he would not
be heard. So he appears to be a half
witted sort of q fool, n who Is al
ways getting in the way. He is, In.
fact q comic tumble, and In the art
bf facial expression lies his chief sue
re s. 1t is what he does and not
what be says that he depends upoI
10 create amusement
The Change from the talking to .
The acting clown In the circus busI- |
ness really began about ten years |
hgo 1t came about largely through J
Ln accident There was a clown by !
The name OF Relling In the Eerlin cir
Gus who was to appear In the master
and pupil act The act was a lesson
In bareback riding. Belling was late
In dressing, and when his call came
he rushed before the public in a rec!
wig which he had forgotten to re-
His confusion and odd appear
created roars Of laughter, the
audience supposing it to be q part OF
the show. The people shouted at
him and Belling's discontinue was
great
1.-THE following day he appeared 10 i
ais usual makeup, but the people !
would not have 1t. They insisted
upon the red wig and on a repetition
Of the half crazy discontinue which
he had exhibited on the previous
night Belling, instead Of losing his
position as he thought he would, be-
came the most popular man in the
Berlin circus. Other circus man
uktlo UOOh uuO uiuu anu VIC lOUL 4
clown, the half-witted fellow who Is
always gett ng in the way. was intro.
du ed in other ~circuses, and Is now
the proper sort of a clown.
Another clown or style Of clown
which has disappeared Is the old
Shakespearean fun-maker. There
was too much talking for him to do,
and talking does not 60 now in the
circus ring. A clown now must be a
general utility He must be
\ lie to fill In all the gaps between
the acts, so that there shall be no
waiting; to keep the audience 10 good
h,mor while q attraction is going
IN. He must tumble around the |
horses and other animals in the most /
absurd name without regard to his
life and limb. l myself have been
literally Kicked around the ring un-
TIL every bone in my body was stiff
Ind sore.
lone Of the first things which a
.lrcus performer must learn, though
40 be clown, acrobat or rider, Is how ,
20 fall properly-that Is, how to fall
n such o way that he will not hurt
himself, or at least In such a way
That will result In the least injury.
This faculty consists In 'balIing.' 1t
consists In doubling oneself up in
such q way that the head shall not
De expo ed to injury, II you will
notice the trapeze performers, when
they fall into the net they strike 1t
with the lower part of their body,
which causes them to rebound. II
i,hey struck the net with their head
Of feet foremost they would break
heir necks or fracture their knees.
Performers 10 the circus business
nave reason to appreciate the truth
hat there was in the Irlshman's OBJ.
ervation that when he fell from a
building 1t wasn't the fall that hurt
Inn, but the stopping so QUICK"