Clowns and "Real" Clowns

Stand back, folks! I'm a trained professional!

The most depressing part of this piece is the assertion that clowning, too, is a profession--if you haven't done the proper "training, money, and a lot of time" you a not a "real" clown. Complete with its own absurd professional cant--groups of clowns are to be properly referred to as "alleys," and when you are performing, the proper term is "in clown."

It is certain that this will kill clowning--sorry, "in clown." Because there is a total lack of humour involved. The author has no ear, it is clear, for how absurd she sounds. She does not realize that, in referring to herself as a "real" clown, in quotation marks, she is actually contradicting herself. If you are "real," you are not real.

One wishes it were really done tongue in cheek, as the ultimate send-up of the pretensions of the professional class.