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A review by whoischels
Discovering the Clown, or the Funny Book of Good Acting by Christopher Bayes
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Read this as part of my self-improvement initiative where I read specific books I've avoided and general books on subjects that scare me or make me uncomfortable. The progression has been: snakes/venom > Lolita by Nabokov > clowns. After this, I will read Blood Meridian.
I read this because I wanted to know more about the theory of clowns. Like why people are drawn to this as a hobby or career. Bayes is clear that the clown uncovers the unsocialized self, a self that wants to be immature and have unmitigated fun. In that respect, it seems clowns make me uncomfortable because of an internalized fear of the unsocialized self.
That said, I think Bayes has a very US-centric view of clowns. I did not finish but began to read a book on the semiotics of clowns, and it seems that in Europe the auguste clown that Bayes coaches was historically paired with a whiteface clown. The acts the auguste and whiteface do are meant to satirize social class interactions--the downtrodden, goofy auguste and the well-kempt, sometimes supercilious upperclass whiteface. Within that context, the meaning of the auguste clown that Bayes talks about coaxing out of an actor seems a bit individualistic in a uniquely American way. I have more thoughts on this, but I'll have to actually finish the clown semiotics book.
CONTENT WARNING: clowns
I read this because I wanted to know more about the theory of clowns. Like why people are drawn to this as a hobby or career. Bayes is clear that the clown uncovers the unsocialized self, a self that wants to be immature and have unmitigated fun. In that respect, it seems clowns make me uncomfortable because of an internalized fear of the unsocialized self.
That said, I think Bayes has a very US-centric view of clowns. I did not finish but began to read a book on the semiotics of clowns, and it seems that in Europe the auguste clown that Bayes coaches was historically paired with a whiteface clown. The acts the auguste and whiteface do are meant to satirize social class interactions--the downtrodden, goofy auguste and the well-kempt, sometimes supercilious upperclass whiteface. Within that context, the meaning of the auguste clown that Bayes talks about coaxing out of an actor seems a bit individualistic in a uniquely American way. I have more thoughts on this, but I'll have to actually finish the clown semiotics book.
CONTENT WARNING: clowns