Description

Few characters from pop culture are as divisive as clowns. Simultaneously endearing and terrifying, the archetype of the clown has persevered throughout the ages despite being reviled by a significant portion of the world’s population. There’s even a word for the fear of clowns: coulrophobia.

So how did ancient jesters and tricksters evolve into the unsettling, white-faced, crazy-haired clowns of today? And what makes the figure of the clown so durable? Find out in this week’s buffoonish, pratfalling, skin-crawling episode of MFFI.

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In this episode:  

• Ancient Egypt and the "Dangas"
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome and the “Stupidus” 
• Court Jesters and Fools
• Loki
• The Hayuka
• Carl Jung's "Trickster" Archetype
• Commedia dell'arte
• The Pierrot
• The Harlequin
• Joseph Grimaldi ("Joey")
• Philip Astley and the Circus
• The Whiteface, the Auguste, the Character and the Hobo
• Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willie”
• Charlie Chaplin (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr.)
• Music Hall and Vaudeville
• Marcel Marceau, Michael Jackson, and the Art of Mime
• Bozo the Clown
• Fear of Clowns: Coulrophobia
• The Joker
• Stephen King's It
• The Clown Panic of 2016
• Insane Clown Posse and the Jugallos 
• Terrifier 2 and "Art the Clown"

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Episode Transcript