The Rise of the Clowns

"I overheard two women passionately discussing the problem with clowns. (Clown, as I understood it, dominates the town's Eastside.) One of the women was waiting for confirmation of a plan, desperate for a work drink to happen, because if not, she had no excuse. She'd have to go to her friend's clown show. "I want to support her, but I don't want to see her naked again," she said, sighing. Her dining partner looked confused. "Clowns are just always getting naked," she sputtered."

"Apparently, we have his clown training to thank for the staggering physicality of the series' sex scenes. In L.A., almost everywhere I went, I met a practicing clown, or talked to someone who had been to a clown show, or had tickets to one, or knew someone who was a clown, or their agent had recommended they dabble in clown. Someone had dated a clown and recommended it because of clowns' ability to access true mask-off vulnerability; someone else had dated a clown and warned me off doing the same because of clowns' affinity for telling lies. When dealing with a clown, there's always a chance you might end up the fool."

"The L.A. clowns are performance artists working with a turducken of comedy forms. There are elements of sketch (but it's not sketch), character work (but not every actor can be a clown), experimental theater (but it's more), stand-up (without the tight fives), and improv (but it's not as rigid; many clowns say they're the rejects of the improv scene). It includes strai"

L.A. alt-clown culture is portrayed as a dense underground scene where clowns are common and closely connected to other performers and audiences. People describe clowns as capable of creating mask-off vulnerability, while also warning that clowns may lie and can leave others feeling foolish. Clown training is linked to the physicality of explicit sex scenes. The clown scene is characterized as performance art combining sketch-like elements, character work, experimental theater, stand-up, and improv, but with looser structure than typical improv. Many clowns identify as improv rejects, and the scene includes a wide range of comedic forms and performance approaches.

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