What Is a Theatrical Clown?

I still remember a clown scene I saw twenty years ago at a performing arts school in France: a magnificent Greek chorus entered the stage from both sides of the curtain. They chanted tragic Greek verses filled with impassioned emotion, questioning the heavens and mourning for the earth.

Just as everyone in the chorus became lost in their anger, searching everywhere for answers but finding none, a solitary and quiet figure appeared among the gradually retreating chorus. A red-nosed clown, innocent and curious about everything, slowly walked toward the audience, as if an angel sent down to earth by the gods, and recited a beautiful poem—light yet weighty.

The image of this scene was deeply imprinted in my mind. Although the details have become blurred, the impression has been elevated into something like an oil painting, becoming the ultimate embodiment of a clown in my heart.

I am often asked what a clown is. I always try to describe it, but struggle to find the right words. No matter how eloquently I speak, I can never accurately convey the scene described above.

Let me give another example:

At the 2013 Avignon Festival, I saw another clown performance I will never forget: a clown simply stood onstage, with only a table, a potted plant, and a microphone. The performance lasted about an hour, but had no storyline at all. It was simply a clown earnestly playing, breathing, and discovering everything onstage together with the audience. Sometimes, a roll of toilet paper or a hair dryer was enough to play seriously with the audience for fifteen minutes.⠀

What was extraordinary was that by the end, I was so moved that tears streamed down my face, and I did not want to leave for a long time. I felt that I had truly spent a precious hour with this clown I had never met before. Together, we had experienced a journey filled with joy, imagination, and love.

Yes, if you had to use one word to describe a clown, it would probably be “#love”—a clown is a human-centered being who believes that the world is fundamentally kind, is willing to share selflessly, loves everyone deeply, and at the same time believes that they are loved by everyone.

Of course, clown performers must possess all the skills and expertise required for performance, whether music, juggling, mime, magic… But these are merely techniques. What matters more in clown performance is the state of being:⠀

▸ An attitude that never gives up, no matter what setbacks are encountered.⠀

▸ The simple, unwavering belief that the world is filled with love.

▸ Being filled with curiosity about everything, without any preconceived notions, and immersing oneself wholeheartedly in every situation as if experiencing it for the first time.

▸ Transparency and confidence without any concealment, boldly placing one’s most vulnerable parts before the audience.

▸ The foolish determination to keep trying to recover the situation after one’s confidence is instantly shattered by the audience’s complete silence—even when the result may be even worse, one still refuses to give up.

▸ The ability to find the beauty of imagination and poetry even in the darkest and most despairing moments.

▸ Living perpetually in the present and experiencing everything together with the audience.

Clowns truly possess a certain magic. To perform as a clown well may be one of the most difficult things in the world. Yet almost every actor, once they get to know their own clown, becomes hopelessly captivated! Because the clown is so pure, simple, innocent, honest, uninhibited, and free.

Many children in hospitals have had numerous rights taken away from them. They are forced to come to a completely unfamiliar place, have no freedom of movement, and have every moment of their day scheduled—when to receive treatment, when to take medicine, when to fast, and when they can eat……. They cannot go to school or go outside to play with their classmates… Sometimes they feel that being ill is like a failure in life, and that they have lost the ability to control their own destiny. Feelings of inferiority or injustice arise naturally.

What is remarkable is that the fate of clowns and the experiences of sick children seem to run along parallel lines.

Clowns are also beings who seem out of place. They are always at odds with their surroundings—as their costumes make clear—and are perpetually lost or muddled as they try to understand the things around them. Even so, they remain optimistic about life and believe they will certainly succeed. More importantly, clown performance always places the audience in the highest position. Clowns are always more foolish, more out of touch, and more at a loss than the children.

Sick children see their own reflections in clowns, and gain laughter and encouragement from the clowns’ never-give-up attitude. Clowns help sick children once again experience a sense of control over their own lives.

We can even say that children and clowns are able to form a profound and stable connection. Clowns are children’s good friends, good comrades-in-arms, and messengers of laughter. Clowns never judge children, and never give up on them.

Theatrical clowns are not merely about clowning around and making people laugh. They seem like angels from a mysterious world, allowing us to see our true selves and to accept and love ourselves.

And because clowns are so full of magic, in my view, being able to witness the most moving clown performance is one of the happiest things in the world!

Clowns are the simplest, most innocent, and most sincere beings in the world. They have no established prejudices or preconceived positions. They view all people and things as if for the first time, filled with curiosity and innocence—even when facing the heaviest pain or the passing of a life.