Mid-Southerners were shocked when a vile-seeming man with clown-like features made racist remarks at the Delta Fair, which was considered to be a “safe” and “family friendly” alternative to the Mid-South Fair, before the Mid-South Fair also relocated to a “safer” and more “family friendly” location, far, far away from the enemies if home, hearth and drunk, shirtless relations eating fried butter and checking out the world’s smallest horse together.
According to reports the antagonistic “dunk tank clown” was heckling Tanya Jones and her family, going so far as to describe her hair as ‘unbeweavable.’
In an attempt to address several media biases in an actual but still ridiculous interview, Fly on the Wall, contacted Larry Clark, a professional clown who has worked with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey and the Cirque Du Soleil, and asked him what he has to say about this incident and how it reflects on a clown culture torn apart by fast little cars, painted women, and clown on clown violins.
Fly on the Wall: Larry Clark, you are a professional clown who has worked with RIngling Bros., and the Cirque . How does this incident reflect on a clown culture torn apart by fast little cars, painted women, and clown on clown…
Larry Clark : Uggggggggg! Here we go again!
Fly on the Wall: I was going to say ‘violins.” Like violence only…
Larry Clark: Ok quick question Chris, I have a computer does that me a newspaper columnist? No!
Fly on the Wall: That’s a strange question, but being a clown, I thought you might have something to say about what this says about clown people.
Larry Clark: if I was to put on a lab coat, would that make me a doctor? No of course not!
Fly on the Wall: Would you have an itty-bitty ambulance?
Larry Clark: So just because some toothless tilt-a-whirl operator put on a $12 halloween mask that does not make him a real clown!
Fly on the Wall: So, is the media just painting all clowns and clown-like roustabouts will with the same wide, mostly white brush?
Larry Clark: The dunk tank guy’s job is to heckle you to say the rudest uncool things to get you riled to gladly shuck over $20 for 3 softballs to hit a small metal target to knock him into a barrel of rusty water!
Fly on the Wall: Oh, so now he’s just a poor misunderstood insult-comic doing his job the way it’s been done since the invention of dunk tanks. Other people— not me of course because I don’t see clown/not clown— might say that you’re just defending this guy because he really is a clown.
Larry Clark: I am not saying its ok to be racist. He should get what’s coming for saying those things!
Fly on the Wall: Well, that is disappointingly reasonable. I was hoping for something that might gin up culture skirmishes in comments, or at least get people talking about how this is strong anecdotal evidence that the widespread fear of clowns isn’t completely irrational.
Oh well. Maybe next time.
