Where did clowns first come from? And why did anyone even think to create appearances like that...

Where did clowns first come from? And why did anyone even think to create appearances like that? That's not how any real life people look (or was it during ancient times because of disease or something?)

Hell

>The circus clown developed in the 19th century. The modern circus derives from Philip Astley's London riding school, which opened in 1768. Astley added a clown to his shows to amuse the spectators between equestrian sequences. American comedian George L. Fox became known for his clown role, directly inspired by Grimaldi, in the 1860s. Tom Belling senior (1843–1900) developed the "red clown" or "Auguste" (Dummer August) character c. 1870, acting as a foil for the more sophisticated "white clown". Belling worked for Circus Renz in Vienna. Belling's costume became the template for the modern stock character of circus or children's clown, based on a lower class or "hobo" character, with red nose, white makeup around the eyes and mouth, and oversized clothes and shoes. The clown character as developed by the late 19th century is reflected in Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 opera Pagliacci ("Clowns"). Belling's Auguste character was further popularized by Nicolai Poliakoff's Coco in the 1920s to 1930s.
just use wikipedia next time

/thread

That doesn't answer the question, it just passes the buck to an earlier inexplicable clown appearance ritual, it doesn't explain where that form came from and why anyone thought of it in the first place.

>based on a lower class or "hobo" character, with red nose, white makeup around the eyes and mouth, and oversized clothes and shoes. The clown character as developed by the late 19th century is reflected in Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 opera Pagliacci ("Clowns"). Belling's Auguste character was further popularized by Nicolai Poliakoff's Coco in the 1920s to 1930s.
that answers the appearance question, read the whole thing next time

No, read my post again. That doesn't explain where or why that appearance emerged. Hobos don't have white faces, opera actors don't have white faces naturally, that doesn't explain anything.

you are a retard

Retard
Shit thread

>That's not how any real life people look

There's your answer right there.

pretty sure this guy started the movement

thats no shitler

at least shitler worked to have his book published by himself, didnt have to rely on his uncle

Not an argument, learn how to read.

What are you talking about? Hitler didn't publish the book the Nazi party did with all their donated money. Hitler sucked the asshole of the wealthy elite in Germany he barely worked. A true con artist

It's not unusual for the archetypal characters in commedia dell'arte to have big red noses. It could be a very old thing, even going back to satyr plays and bacchanales where some characters had big red phalli. The red nose could be a Bowdlerized version of that.

I don't know, but the lack of answers so far has made me curious now too. They probably came from ancient aliens.

not to mention he literally never paid taxes he owed from the sales of MK

>dictatorship
>paying taxes
Wouldn't he just be paying himself if he did that?

From Jesters

It's to look silly you idiot, are you fucking retarded?

>Not as silly as responding to obvious bait on a japanese imageboard..

you too ;)

IIRC weren’t there clowns in Ancient Rome?

I know of at least one American tribe that had guys dress like bears and make buffoons of themselves to entertain children

And the Mandingo would have guys dress as chimpanzees before acting ridiculous

>Make features bigger.
>Exaggerate expressions.
>Increase contrast between colors and shades.

It's almost like they knew people would need to see them from the back row.

Big ass masks in Greek theater or makeup in Chinese opera incorporate some of the same principles.

How is this bait and how is "it looks silly" an explanation for anything?
>Make features bigger.
>Exaggerate expressions.
>Increase contrast between colors and shades
>to see them from the back row.
^This in contrast is an actual answer. I don't know if it's right, but it contains an explanation instead of just "X ancient culture did it" or "because I take it for granted and refuse to even begin thinking about it."

>>Make features bigger.
>>Exaggerate expressions.
Well done you broke down the meaning of 'silly' for retards like yourself and OP

It's not "silly," it's a practical method for making performance artists visible from far away.
Saying it's silly isn't an explanation, it's a mindless tautology, like if you were trying to answer the question of what humor is by saying "it's just funny, bro." You haven't even begun thinking about the topic.

stop being silly

NO U!

god you are aggressively autistic

Sorry user, it's easy to forget we're dealing with non-humans here from time to time.

>The modern circus derives from Philip Astley's London riding school

It literally tells you what the source is, do you really have to question why that guy made them that way? Would you also ask why George Lucas made Darth Vader a big tall robot looking nigger instead of a slightly gray tall robot?

Not everything has a specific why or how, humans aren't computers.

>do you really have to question why that guy made them that way?
I don't have to, but I wanted to, which is why I asked the question.
>Not everything has a specific why or how
Sure, but lots of things do have specific whys and hows, and this is probably one of those things. The one user came up with a good example of a possible why and how with the explanation about needing white face paint to make it easier for audiences to see painted on facial expressions from far away.
>Would you also ask why George Lucas made Darth Vader a big tall robot looking nigger instead of a slightly gray tall robot?
I think how and why the artists involved decided on the features that made up Darth Vader are in fact interesting things to try to figure out. I wouldn't wonder about the gray alternative though, I don't have an alternative in mind either for how Darth Vader could have looked or for how clowns could have looked, I'm just curious about the reasons behind the way things actually ended up.