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Role of Clowns

Clowns - Honorable Mentions

Many clowns have their own trademark skits but are also experts as aerialists and bareback riders. Many of them also perform on high or low wires as part of their act. They can be seen riding a bicycle along a high wire with an umbrella in their hand. These groups of highly trained professionals work very hard perfecting their performances.

Famous American clowns include Dan Rice, a talking and singing clown in the late 1800s. President Lincoln was known to have been a personal friend and great fan of Dan Rice. Lou Jacobs, Paul Jung, and Felix Adler made up as "white-face" clowns. Otto Griebling adopted a hobo type and Emmet Kelly became famous for his sad-faced tramp.

Clowns in other countries include the Fratellinis,the Great Grock, Popoff the Russian, Robbins the banana clown, and Polidor. The Fratellinis, Albert, Francois, and Paul, were masters of props: guitars that exploded, burning tubas, and bicycles that fall apart with a simple touch.

America's first great clown was Dan Rice. He was followed by Frank (Slivers) Oakley, a master of pantomime. His specialty was a one-man baseball game. Felix Adler, billed as the "king of clowns." Became popular in the 1930s and 40s. He had a large variety of routines, but his best was his hilarious cut-ups with his pet pig.

In the United States, towards the later part of the 19th century, an important development in clown tradition emerged. With the advent of the railroad a new iterant class of men rode the rails from town to town by jumping on the trains unseen. These freeloading riders became known as hobos or tramps, and it wasn't long before these vagabonds found their way into the American folklore and the arenas of the circus. With their parched white lips, long and unkempt beards, and tattered clothing, they became the symbol for the tramp clown. Two of these most famous tramp clowns were Emmett Kelly and Otto Griebling.

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