My Life: The Tragedy

So, I've been thinking a lot about the main character of my film, Flex the Clown. He's a walking tragedy. He tries and tries and tries but rarely succeeds. In a real life setting, this is quite depressing. But when an audience watches on screen, it's quite comical.

Tragedy is a type of comedy. And it's my favorite type of comedy. 

But if you want inspiration for tragedy, you have to dig up those memories you've tried so hard to forget. 

So let's get personal. (Everything about to be disclosed is 100% true)

In fourth grade, when I was taking the state board exams, in a silent classroom, I farted so loud that it literally scared everybody that was present, including the teacher. It was a loud fucking fart. And I wasn't even that humiliated. I thought it was funny. But what was so horrible was that after the test, Emily Kasta, my "girlfriend" at the time, dumped me because of the fart. I even remember asking her, "was it because of the fart?" And she said, "no," but I knew that was a lie. If I never farted, I probably would have married Emily. I cried like a little bitch on the bus all the way home.

Growing up, I always resented my younger brother because he was always better at sports, school and being a decent human being. But one time, in fifth grade, during summer camp, my brother was getting bullied by Tony Cullen. So I pushed Tony and told him to "fuck off." Tony then told the counselors that I pushed him and that I said the f-word. I really hated that guy Tony. So, after that, the counselors made me do 100 pushups (for the pushing and the cursing) in front of the entire camp. Everybody was laughing at me, calling me names and making me feel worthless, including my younger brother that I was originally trying to help out. Last time I help that little shit. 

So, in high school, we used to play this game in the basement where one person would jump off the wall and try to see how far out into the room that person could land. So, one time, when I attempted to jump off the wall, my foot went right through the wall. I made a big fucking hole in the wall. I immediately knew that I would have to pay for it and I would probably get in a lot of trouble. So, I pretended that my foot was broken. I played it so well, too. I yelled, and cried in pain, but I didn't over-do it so it seemed unbelievable. Until, my mother (who is a doctor) took me to get x-rays. After the x-rays, my mother told me that I never broke my foot and it was okay. I tried telling her that my foot probably just healed. She didn't believe my bullshit and made me pay the four hundred dollar fee to  fix the wall. 

The first time I went down on a girl, she literally stopped me, told me it was the worst thing she had ever experienced, and walk out. That was fun. 

And there's many more where that came from...

So why am I sharing these stories with you?

Because  (I believe) in order to make something funny, and I mean actually funny, there needs to be some truth behind it. Larry David, writer of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, takes ideas from his every-day experiences. And he creates such honest, real, and funny television. I feel, in any kind of comedy, there needs to be some sort of truth behind it. And that's why I decided to share these personal, and humiliating stories. Because, now that I look back at them, they're hilarious. They're tragically hilarious. And that's what I want my film to be like.

Clowns Portrayed in Media

Clowns in current media have not been portrayed very nicely. In fact, the majority of clowns in movies and television have been down right terrifying. Why? Because it’s easy. It’s easy to take something perceived as innocent and friendly and turn it into a raging psychopathic killer.

“Coulrophobia” is the fear of clowns. Thanks to Merriam-Webster, we have a standardized definition for the red-nosed nemeses. And there’s a reason for why Merriam-Webster created a definition for this specific phobia. That reason being: too many scary clowns. Big Hollywood studios have spent decades defaming clowns and creating clown monsters for their own personal agenda. One could even argue that the big studios are conspiring against clowns, viewing them as a competitor of entertainment, and trying to manipulate the masses into fearing them (if one were insane).

But here’s a short list of clowns portrayed in media:

Let’s start with the obvious. 

We have Pennywise the Clown from IT. One can argue that Pennywise started the clown terror. But we cannot blame the studios for creating the horrid Pennywise. Prolific writer Stephan King is responsible for this powdered-face monster. It wasn’t until King’s novel IT was adapted into a film did the masses learn the terror of Pennywise. Through his menacing, clawed and fanged Pennywise the clown (played by Tim Curry), King created a truly frightening character. Pennywise shows up everywhere: sewer drains, showers, daydreams and nightmares.

Then we go on to other scary clowns.

The clown-zombie in Zombieland (2009). (Where the main character played by Jesse Eisenberg is already afraid of clowns prior to confronting the scary clown-zombie. Wonder why?)

Everything From Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988).

Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Twisty from American Horror Story (2009)

All of these clowns are fucking terrifying. No doubt about that.

Now, you’re probably asking yourself, “Okay, Jake, where are you going with this?” Well, I’m creating a character that is a clown in my film. And my film is by no means a horror film. It’s about a clown that is tired, washed up, and done with life. It’s a comedy set in the real world where the main character, Flex the Clown, must deal with real-life everyday problems.

But to really develop this character, and to get to the root of his consciousness, I need to understand that he is not be dealing with problems that a normal person would be dealing with. He lives in a world where clowns have an awful reputation – where people generally hate clowns. And living in a world where you’re generally hated and feared cannot be easy.

So, with this into consideration, I need to really understand my character. Why does he continue to be a clown? Why does he get up in the morning and continue to put on the clown suit? Even in a world where he doesn’t fit in? What really drives him and his passions? Thinking about these questions will add an entirely knew level to Flex – making him a complex human being but also extremely relatable. Because, it doesn’t matter who you are, everybody has felt the pain of being hated, excluded, and ostracized.

A Clown's History of the United States

When writing the script for my thesis, I have to admit I went in blind. I had no real prior knowledge of clowns other than what was depicted in various forms of media. This was definitely a problem. I didn't want my clown to fall victim to these clichés. So I decided to give myself a little history lesson.

Clowns originated all the way back to Roman times. They performed as secondary figures in farces and mime, parodying the actions of more serious characters. Then, during the middle ages, Court jesters and fools emerged, entertaining figures of power and authority. And if they failed, they would be decapitated. But obviously, times have changed.

There are three types of clowns.

WHITE-FACE CLOWN

The White-face clown is the ‘classic’ clown, the oldest and most well-known of the clowns, and is typically the straight clown in skits. This is the oldest style of clown, dating back to Greek theatre. Whiteface is the court jester of the Middle Ages. The White-face is the most intelligent type of clown with the highest status - typically the ringleader.

AUGUSTE CLOWN

In the 1860s, or so the story goes, a low-comedy comic appeared under the name of Auguste, who had a big nose, baggy clothes, and large shoes. He worked with a White-face clown and always spoiled the tricks by appearing at the wrong time to mess things up. This then became a type of act – called the Auguste clown. The Auguste clown is the least intelligent, and zaniest of the clowns. The Auguste clown tends to be the silly clown in skits. 

CHARACTER CLOWN

The Hobo or Tramp clown is the most popular character clown, although character clowns can be police officers, women, babies or government officials. The Hobo usually has tattered clothes, a tattered hat, make-up which suggests he is unshaven, exaggerated features and a red nose. The generic Tramp character is 'down-on-his-luck'. The Tramp clown is an American creation. Charlie Chaplin as the silent 'Little Tramp' clown, brought laughter to millions worldwide through film.

Now, that I knew a little bit more about clowns, writing the script became easier. I knew exactly what type of clown I wanted to make my clown and how I wanted to depict him. It’s crazy what a little research can do!

Baskets

So, when I originally signed up for the thesis class, I had my idea/story for a short comedy film about Flex the Clown - a washed up clown that never takes his clown suit off because it's a part of who he is. But then, I learned that Zach Galifianakis and Louis C.K. (two of the biggest comedy geniuses of our time) were working on an FX original called Baskets. Although, little to no plot information was given away in the advertisements, I knew it was about a clown that was trying to break into the clowning profession. Here's a poster from the show.



So anyways, I thought this was going to ruin my thesis idea. I didn't want to rip off the new show so I decided to scrap Flex the Clown and figure out a different idea.

But then, I finally decided to watch Baskets to see what it was all about. And although, I did enjoy the pilot episode, I also realized that it's a lot different than the story I had in mind for my thesis. Baskets is about Chip Baskets, who is passionate about being a clown. He struggles to pass clown school in France, but eventually, fails out because of a language barrier. Then, he returns home to get back on his feet.

If you're familiar with Louie C.K. and Zach Galifianakis' humor, then you know it contains a lot of painfully awkward and tragic situations. Baskets is just like that. And though I enjoyed the pilot I felt that Baskets failed to really capitalize on the actual "clown" aspect. In my thesis, I'm going to focus more on the "clowning" of the story.