Clown

Clowns are comic performers who employ slapstick or similar types of physical humour, often in a mime style.

Clowns have a varied tradition with significant variations in costume and performance. The most recognisable modern clown character is the Auguste or "red clown" type, with outlandish costumes featuring distinctive makeup, colourful wigs, exaggerated footwear, and colourful clothing. Their entertainment style is generally designed to entertain large audiences, especially at a distance.

Modern clowns are strongly associated with the tradition of the circus clown, which developed out of earlier comedic roles in theatre or Varieté shows during 19th to mid 20th century.

Many circus clowns have become well known and are a key circus act in their own right. The first mainstream clown role was portrayed by Joseph Grimaldi (who also created the traditional whiteface make-up design). In the early 1800s, he expanded the role of Clown in the harlequinade that formed part of British pantomimes, notably at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. He became so dominant on the London comic stage that harlequinade Clowns became known as "Joey", and both the nickname and Grimaldi's whiteface make-up design were, and still are, used by other types of clowns.

Clown (film)

Clown is a 2014 Canadian-American 3D psychological thriller-supernatural horror film directed by Jon Watts, produced by Mac Cappuccino, Eli Roth and Cody Ryder, and written by Christopher D. Ford and Watts. The film stars Laura Allen, Andy Powers, and Peter Stormare. The visual effects for the clown monster were done by Alterian, Inc. and Tony Gardner. Principal photography began in November 2012, in Ottawa. The UK premiere was February 27, 2015, in Scotland at FrightFest Glasgow 2015. The film was theatrically released in Italy on November 13, 2014 by Dimension Films and FilmNation Entertainment. Clown was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2, 2015, by StudioCanal.

Plot

Kent McCoy, a real estate agent, is a loving husband and father who, for the birthday of his son Jack, hosts a party and invites a clown to amuse Jack and his friends. The clown accidentally goes to another party, but Kent discovers an old clown costume in the attic of one of the houses he is overseeing and decides to wear it, entertaining his son and his friends. After the party, Kent falls asleep still wearing the clown costume, but the next morning he is no longer able to take it off, as the body suit, wig, and red nose are progressively adhering to his skin. When his pregnant wife Meg tries to help Kent remove the fake nose, it rips from his flesh, wounding him. Kent also begins to show strange behaviour and a deep sense of hunger, with a noisy gurgling in his stomach.

Violator (comics)

Violator (also referred to at times as The Violator) is a fictional supervillain, who appears in the Spawn comic books published by Image Comics. The character first appeared in Spawn #2 (May 1992) and was created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane. He serves as a major antagonist in issues 1-100 and later became a secondary antagonist in the recent issues. He is Spawn's most recognizable enemy.

In 2009, Violator was ranked as IGN's 97th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

Fictional character biography

Violator is the oldest and most powerful of five hell-born demons known as the Phlebiac Brothers, and his main purpose is to guide Hellspawns towards fulfilling Satan's desire: to cultivate Evil souls on Earth for Hell's army. He has been Hell's guide for multiple Hellspawn, his latest charge being the current Spawn, Al Simmons. However, Violator views humanity as weak and so asserts that demons should lead the armies of Hell, not Spawn. Accordingly, much of his terrestrial activities, sanctioned by Hell or not, are aimed at proving his superiority to his master. The Violator's current disguise is that of The Clown, a 5'6" overweight, balding man with menacing face-paint. The Violator is not a demon to be taken lightly: he has shown many times that he is more than a match for a young Hellspawn. His hands are tied by his role, though, as he cannot kill a Spawn without an order from his superiors. His role is not to kill the Hellspawn, but to weaken them and cause them to waste their powers in wreaking havoc. His chief purpose is to groom and prepare the young Hellspawn for their service in Satan's army. He has been killed multiple times, each time to be returned to Hell and reanimated by his master.