[HN Gopher] Clowns Without Borders
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Clowns Without Borders
Author : logikblok
Score : 173 points
Date : 2023-01-29 12:43 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (clownswithoutborders.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (clownswithoutborders.org)
| boredumb wrote:
| Weren't these guys just in Davos?
| everyone wrote:
| Why clowns?? Just setup some nintendos or something. ... The
| worst / funniest thing about clowns is the dunning kruger effect
| they all seem to have about their efficaciousness. Like the clown
| doctor in the 'childrens hospital' adult swim show.
| cushychicken wrote:
| As someone afraid of clowns, this is a catastrophic failure of
| clown containment.
| nimbius wrote:
| on the contrary, Ive found it an incredible validation of the
| Clowns with out Borders effort in its entirety. Circuses,
| parties, TV, movies, war zones, my nightmares, you name
| it...clowns can _always_ reach it.
| cushychicken wrote:
| The Mossad must be green with envy.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Coulrophobes of the world, unite !
| rightbyte wrote:
| I always wonder what triggers that. Were you like scared by a
| mean clown as a child? Or was it just like that without any
| stimuli?
|
| I mean many children are scared of Santa due to it being a
| stranger in their house but I see no adults say they are scared
| of Santa.
| smilbandit wrote:
| for me it was a hobo clown painting in the family room whose
| eyes always followed me as a child. told my parents it was
| scary but it never came down, i just assumed it had a lock on
| my parents souls or something.
| stronglikedan wrote:
| I always thought it was a joke, until I met someone that was
| genuinely afflicted by it. On the plus side, it's really fun
| to go through haunted houses with them around Halloween.
| kej wrote:
| Reminds me of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey from Saturday
| Night Live:
|
| To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary.
| I've wondered where this started and I think it goes back to
| the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad.
| registeredcorn wrote:
| For me, it is highly dependent on the context.
|
| If I see a clown in the midst of a performance, it's fine. It
| feels "right". You're kind of far away from where they are,
| and them wearing colorful clothes and strange makeup makes
| sense because it helps a large crowd see their movements a
| bit easier. It's the "home" of the clown.
|
| If I see a clown doing _anything_ mundane, or just not
| actively "on" performing in front of a crowd it feels
| repulsive and weird. Clown just walking down the street?
| Horrible. Taking pictures with a group of people? Gross. It
| feels unnatural. It's like the hairy child vomiting photo.
| [1]
|
| The _worst_ is if I see a clown eating or smoking. A clown is
| a mechanism of performance and entertainment. For them to be
| "merely human", to be doing something relaxing evokes a kind
| of juxtaposition that leads to a kind of horror and disgust I
| can't quite describe. It's like walking down the road and
| coming across a Silverback Gorilla casually sipping a cup of
| coffee, reading the newspaper - it's an incongruity.
|
| Also, I'm pretty sure the initial spark for my weirdness with
| clowns started with The Simpsons. [2]
|
| [1] https://www.trendzified.net/wp-
| content/uploads/2014/06/what-...
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcfGRroiaA
| blowski wrote:
| What causes fear of clowns? Probably the prevalence of both
| evil clowns (John Wayne Gacy, Stephen King's It, the recent
| Evil Clown meme). That, and the prevalence of the fear of
| clowns.
| sdwr wrote:
| For me, it's a "man behind the mask" thing. Clowns play big,
| with exaggerated expressions and responses.
|
| The incongruence between the acting and the person behind the
| acting wigs me out.
| theonething wrote:
| That makes sense though in this case, if you look at the
| banner video on the homepage, none of them are wearing
| masks, just some light makeup. So perhaps that will make it
| better for any coulrophobics in the audience.
| AlanYx wrote:
| That's what it is for me. I also get the same feeling from
| certain common manga/anime drawing styles (e.g., "moe")
| with exaggerated eyes and exaggerated responses, despite
| moe apparently being seen to be cute by most people. (I get
| this feeling especially strongly from styles where no nose
| is drawn.)
| atlasunshrugged wrote:
| Moe from the Simpsons? I thought the running bit was that
| he was considered ugly?
| AlanYx wrote:
| No, "moe" in the Japanese sense. Typically, a petite
| face, large eyes dominated by enormous black pupils, etc.
|
| The way it makes me feel is a little like the response
| evoked by the movie Coraline, which used dolls with big
| black button eyes and no noses to evoke a queasy kind of
| horror-lite response.
|
| It doesn't have to be large features though, it can be
| exaggerated small ones too. For example, Art the Clown
| has a small black dot on the tip of his otherwise white
| nose. It's unsettling.
| heavyset_go wrote:
| Clowns don't bother me, but I think it might be an uncanny
| valley thing. Clowns have exaggerated human features, ones
| that could be grotesque if they were real. I think that means
| they can share an element with body horror, which does bother
| me.
| dwringer wrote:
| I tried making a clown using stable diffusion one day by
| blending 3 different clown-generating prompts together, and
| the result that came out was a horrifyingly grotesque inhuman
| monster. I've never had that happen just blending prompts
| together to make normal people. The clown makeup screws with
| how their faces are embedded or something. It ended up with
| Giger-esque multiple sets of teeth. I can only assume there's
| a similar phenomenon going on in peoples' imagination.
| cushychicken wrote:
| Dunno for sure, I've always found them creepy and repulsive.
|
| I do recall flipping through the channels as a child and
| coming across one of the scarier scenes from _It_. That might
| have some bearing on this.
| birdyrooster wrote:
| True, but these children have real problems and don't have the
| luxury to concoct feelings of grief by other people's peaceful
| self expression. I think it's a win.
| racl101 wrote:
| I really don't get coulrophobia.
|
| I get the fear of crazy looking ones like Pennywise, but how is
| that different from the fear of any non-clown maniac with a
| crazy look on their face and intent to murder? You could put a
| guy in a Pluto (Goofy's dog) costume with a serial killer grin
| on his face wielding a machete and I'd be just as scared.
|
| I will say thought that as an adult perhaps a dislike for
| clowns cause they're terribly unfunny is logical. Cause someone
| trying hard to make you laugh especially through slapstick
| humor rarely works out. But I'm sticking to the fear definition
| of phobia and not dislike definition.
|
| But a fear of all clowns just cause .... I don't get it.
| qorrect wrote:
| > ... I don't get it.
|
| That's thing with irrational fears.
| shagie wrote:
| (I don't have coulrophobia)
|
| The distortion of the facial expressions can make it harder
| to read and that can cause anxiety in some.
|
| Consider the other extreme - https://twitter.com/SchrebersSis
| ter/status/11872730519494082... and that the distortion or
| the lack of features can be anxiety provoking.
|
| If the clown face is always happy, or always sad, even if the
| person shouldn't be. Are they looking at you, can you track
| where they are looking? Are their eyes open or closed?
|
| The facial recognition wiring in the brain could be sending
| "I don't know what to do with this" signals to the rest of
| the consciousness and that's leading to the corresponding
| anxiety that then manifests as a fear of clowns.
|
| ---
|
| Tangent of tangent that I was reminded of: Using AI to Find
| Where Clowns End and Juggalos Begin -
| https://medium.com/@nhoral/using-ai-to-find-where-clowns-
| end...
|
| ICP doesn't just stand for IBM Cloud Private.
| amerine wrote:
| I enjoyed this chuckle... and I agree!
| DonHopkins wrote:
| Are you a mime???
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5srwCNx2Ti0
| TomK32 wrote:
| Where can we support Mimes with Borders?
| BolexNOLA wrote:
| Don't they make their own?
| DonHopkins wrote:
| The perfect murder is to trap a mime inside a real glass
| box, in the park where everyone can watch him desperately
| try to get out while horribly suffocating.
| BolexNOLA wrote:
| Well that certainly took a turn!
| SuoDuanDao wrote:
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/46325890@N05/9845057656
|
| Edit- higher resolution pic:
| https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/344736546477294864/
| peterp77 wrote:
| [dead]
| bigbacaloa wrote:
| I figured the title referred to the US government or the board of
| Meta.
| AstixAndBelix wrote:
| To me clowns are just like kindergarden teachers, they make me
| cringe beyond belief even though I understand their target
| audience is successfully being taken care of. I am happy for
| their work but I never want to see one in action again
| hmmmcurious1 wrote:
| Finally a place where me and my fellow spring boot developers can
| call home
| neilv wrote:
| Neat. I've heard of celebrities doing USO performances for troops
| during wartime, but don't recall any organized effort to
| entertain people, say, facing disasters.
| spunker540 wrote:
| Another similar concept I'm aware of is magicians without borders
| nofreelunch wrote:
| Probably less triggering at scale, but similarly to a lot of
| comments posted here, my mother is deathly afraid of magicians.
| I have seen the blood drain from her face as she grips the arms
| of her chair and looks around in a panic at the mention of
| magicians. I have witnessed full out panic attacks on
| encounters with real life magicians, and discomfort that one
| would only typically associate with watching "torture porn" or
| a particularly squirm-inducing Dr Pimple Popper when magicians
| appear on TV. Revulsion when learning that the actor Ricky Jay
| was more known for his work as a magician.
|
| Conversely my mother had regular conversations with a woman who
| worked as a clown at a local restaurant, which caused her no
| displeasure.
| jollyllama wrote:
| Interesting. So it's not even a specific aesthetic, just the
| concept of magicians? I.e. The tuxedo and mustache guy with a
| top hat and a wand is just as scary as Criss Angel and/or
| David Blaine?
| nofreelunch wrote:
| [random guy on street] tuxedo top hat guy = actual tuxedo
| top hat magician = david blaine. Any type of magician or
| perception thereof or association with the idea.
|
| Edit: she is not particularly religious or superstitious
| either. Her relation to this fear is similar to that of
| anyone who is extremely uncomfortable/scared of clowns,
| just a different elememt of the circus.
| sramam wrote:
| I just donated a small amount via paypal - their successful
| payment UX is just delightful. Feels unfair to call it a
| donation! :)
| piva00 wrote:
| I personally know some people involved with them and donating
| their time to help out with shows in very risky areas of the
| world.
|
| After hearing some of their stories I got a deep appreciation for
| the work they do, it might sound silly or borderline stupid to
| some people but to me it's such a beautiful social experience, to
| go into conflict areas, extremely poor regions of the world
| afflicted by disease and bring something that is pure joy to an
| audience that doesn't have access to that. There are some
| extremely beautiful souls volunteering for CWB, knowing their
| work won't solve any parts of their audiences' social situation
| but trying to give them inspiration to keep dreaming, I
| definitely feel something deep inside my soul was touched after
| meeting some of them.
| theGeatZhopa wrote:
| So nice
| EveYoung wrote:
| Do you know if they adapt the shows to the countries they're
| in? I'm wondering how universally understood clowns are.
| gambiting wrote:
| Looking at some of the videos and pictures, it seems they
| aren't always wearing what I'd call "stereotypical" clown
| outfits - just maybe some light makeup and clothes that
| clearly stand out, while they do "funny things". Juggling
| bowling pins and dropping them is probably universally
| understood, even if you have no idea what bowling is.
| libraryatnight wrote:
| Physical comedy translates well :)
| piva00 wrote:
| Clowning in modern/new circus is much more related to
| physical comedy than to "traditional" clown as we expect.
| There are still some of the traditional roles like the
| whiteclown, the auguste, the character but they are
| reinvented/remixed with more outlandish comedy and acts like
| acrobatics and body tricks (one of the best clowns I've seen
| has some amazing ping-pong balls juggling with very physical
| acrobatics in them).
|
| The people I know who worked in CWB have _very_ different
| styles of clowning, they all work to adapt their acts to the
| local culture, it 's really important for CWB volunteers to
| understand and cater to the local culture, they do research
| to avoid anything that could be remotely offensive, etc.
|
| Just to source this a bit: my girlfriend is a circus artist
| here in Sweden so I have some insider view into it, it's
| actually a very fascinating part of the performing arts.
| movedx wrote:
| A friend of mine is a professional clown
| (https://www.clintbolster.com/) and honestly it's such a
| respectable profession and form of art. So much goes into a
| ten minute show - years of work and planning and practice.
| More work than software, I'd say.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| _> So much goes into a ten minute show - years of work
| and planning and practice. More work than software, I 'd
| say._
|
| I know many musicians, and also Marketing folks that do
| demos.
|
| This type of thing is a lot more commonplace than people
| think.
| piva00 wrote:
| > A friend of mine is a professional clown
| (https://www.clintbolster.com/)
|
| Interestingly enough (although not surprising) he is
| friends with a close friend of my girlfriend, an
| Australian aerial straps, swinging pole, and Chinese pole
| artist :)
|
| > More work than software, I'd say.
|
| Living around many of these performers really put that
| into perspective to me. Working in the arts is such a
| completely different game than whatever white-collar job
| we might have, more akin to scientists in STEM (in the
| sense of how much passion they have while not being well
| paid).
|
| There's so much that goes into what looks like a simple
| show that really made me appreciate much more any form of
| entertainment or art the past years.
| kareemm wrote:
| Funny to see CWB here. I ran into CWB's founder Moshe Cohen[1] at
| FOO Camp back in the 2006[2]. His performance there was sweet and
| funny. I had a coffee with him post-FOO too.
|
| IMHO there are few nobler acts than going into high-conflict
| areas to help people reconnect with the inherent humanity in
| shared experience and laughter. The work CWB is doing is
| beautiful.
|
| 1- https://moshecohen.net/about-2/
|
| 2-
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/dionh/226434543/in/photostream...
| gregsadetsky wrote:
| I was at that FOO Camp, just scrolled through photos and found
| myself & friends. Thank you for the memories :-)
| zabzonk wrote:
| just so long as it is not mime artists
| [deleted]
| santoshalper wrote:
| Between DWB and CWD, I feel like there would have been a huge
| opportunity here for Robin Williams, RIP.
| notresidenter wrote:
| I'm waiting for someone to mention how buying bed nets would be
| better but, in the mean time: their work is emotionally impactful
| and it's a great project.
| aaron695 wrote:
| [dead]
| yboris wrote:
| For those unsure of the reference, _bednets_ are arguably one
| of the most _cost-effective_ ways to make a positive impact in
| people 's lives:
|
| https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities <-- see
| _Against Malaria Foundation_
| dgb23 wrote:
| My thought is that clowns are very good at making people laugh
| and perhaps less at installing healthcare infrastructure.
|
| Also spreading joy can be just as important as material needs.
| It's an orthogonal dimension.
| toomanyrichies wrote:
| FWIW, they don't yet have a rating from Charity Navigator (note
| that this doesn't indicate anything negative, only that the org
| hasn't yet been evaluated):
|
| https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/204102508
|
| That said, I do hope they get vetted soon, this is such a worthy
| cause and absolutely warms my heart.
| altacc wrote:
| There's quite a few of these circus outreach projects (off the
| top of my head I know performers without borders and the flying
| seagull project, but there are lots more) and they all seem to
| be small, scrappy, run by one or two long term organizers and
| with projects staffed by volunteers. It's not the type of
| charity that receives enough money to grow big enough to have
| the structure and paperwork that can be evaluated against the
| metrics used to judge larger organisations. I know that they
| often seek grants from larger charities and that requires a
| decent level of review & documentation.
| iskander wrote:
| I know someone who's worked with them and it seems like a very
| legitimate scrappy organization
| toomanyrichies wrote:
| Glad to hear that!
| outside1234 wrote:
| Thought this was going to be a picture of my executive team. Glad
| to see it is a much more worthy cause!
| lichtenberger wrote:
| Friends of mine also went to Nepal with Clowns without Borders.
| They even did a documentary :-)
|
| https://anita.bertolami.net/project.html
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74qK0n8kA-w
| timgilbert wrote:
| See also the Birthday Clown Consortium Price Guide:
| https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-birthday-clown-conso...
| cleerline wrote:
| this is so good its not funny.
| b3nji wrote:
| Nice to see the World Economic Forum branching out with new
| branding.
| ankaAr wrote:
| I don't like clowns, but this is really nice for that people.
| great project I'm sharing it and donating something.
|
| Anyway, is there somewhere, something like IT without Borders? To
| donate time or effort, our hands to build infraestructure for
| places wothout it?
| runarberg wrote:
| Interesting question. I don't know if there is but I presume
| there isn't, unlike doctors, artists, or journalists, engineers
| usually need a lot of thing to come together to perform our
| specialized skills, which means we probably need local and
| financial support far greater then the previous.
|
| It can be argued that the same applied to doctors, and I agree
| with that, however MSF is such a massive organization, with
| such high recognition that they are able to perform a lot of
| good work despite the complexity of logistics and support
| needed.
|
| Perhaps the immediate benefit of even rudimentary medical aid
| is still highly appreciated even if lacking compared to if
| there were systems in place to fully support the skill. I think
| the benefits of skilled engineers are not nearly as universal
| without support.
|
| EDIT: I found this article called A-To-Z Guide of the World's
| "without Borders" Groups[1], which included a Technology
| without Borders group[2]. And I see some of the areas they
| focus on include water, energy, and waste. I can actually see
| how rudimentary waste management infrastructure can be of great
| help for impoverished communities, so perhaps I was wrong to
| doubt it.
|
| 1: https://matadornetwork.com/change/a-to-z-guide-of-the-
| worlds...
|
| 2: https://www.teog.ngo/?lang=en
| pineaux wrote:
| So clownworld is real?
| Willish42 wrote:
| This took a solid ten minutes or so for my cynicism to die down,
| but I'm glad I took the time to read the comments because it is a
| deceptively good idea for people without a lot of hope or
| material benefits coming their way.
|
| I wish them luck, this is probably a very difficult thing for
| volunteers to go and do
| theGeatZhopa wrote:
| [flagged]
| o_m wrote:
| Read the first paragraph on the guidelines:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
| theGeatZhopa wrote:
| [flagged]
| piva00 wrote:
| Keep reading the guidelines, you will get to this point:
|
| > Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate.
| If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed
| egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you
| flag, please don't also comment that you did.
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