Category: clowns

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A Man Brought an ‘Emotional Support Clown’ to a Meeting Where He Knew He Was Gonna Get Fired

This might be the best story of 2019 so far.

The emotional support animal craze has officially gone from “weird” to “terrifying”.

A man in New Zealand brought a professional clown to a layoff meeting at work, claiming that it was his emotional support person.

Joshua Thompson worked at an advertising company in Auckland. He was recently called in for a serious meeting with his bosses. Sensing bad news, he opted to bring a clown to, uh, brighten up the event.

Employees in New Zealand are allowed by law to bring a support person to layoff meetings, but a clown is surely a first!

“I thought it’s best to bring in a professional and so I paid $200 and hired a clown,” Joshua told MediaWorks. “I mean I did get fired, but apart from that it was all smooth running.”

A while ago, I got a job. A short while later, I lost it. For anyone who hasn’t been fired, what happens is they…

Posted by Joshua Jack on Thursday, September 12, 2019

During the meeting, the clown blew up balloons and folded them into animals, including a unicorn and a poodle. He even mimed crying when Joshua got his paperwork.

“It was rather noisy him making balloon animals so we had to tell him to be quiet from time to time,” he said.

Joshua paid $200 for the clown, who is reportedly one of the best in the city. He says the presence of the clown didn’t jeopardize the meeting at all.

“They were getting a free service, they were also getting the entertainment from Joe the Clown,” he said.

The adman has spoken about what unfolded when he took a professional clown – as a support person – to his restructuring meeting. 🤡

Posted by nzherald.co.nz on Friday, September 13, 2019

Joshua has now gone viral for this cheeky move.

And in a classic maneuver, since losing his job, he’s obtained another job in advertising in Australia—possibly with the assistance of his new viral fame.

The post A Man Brought an ‘Emotional Support Clown’ to a Meeting Where He Knew He Was Gonna Get Fired appeared first on UberFacts.

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Here’s Why So Many People Are Afraid of Clowns

Clowns are meant to make people smile and laugh – everything from their appearance to their act contributes to that exact goal – so why do so many people find them absolutely horrifying? Chances are you probably know someone who’s afraid of clowns (or are afraid of them yourself) and the slew of clown-themed scary movies and Halloween costumes goes to show that this phenomenon isn’t going away any time soon.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

But believe it or not, It is not to blame, nor are the terrifying spate of creepy clown sightings back in 2016 – those people are just playing off a common fear. It turns out that the fear could be emanating from collective human memory.

The history of the clown, according to Yale doctoral candidate Danielle Bainbridge, is related to the stereotype of the unsettling, outsider funny man, which dates back to the court jester. These men typically weren’t evil child murderers toting red balloons, but they didn’t fall within society’s normal hierarchy, either, and would have been considered untrustworthy outsiders among the “normal” folk.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

After that came the harlequins of the Middle Ages who performed in the Italian street theatre called “Commedia Dell’Arte”. Harlequin was actually the name of one of many stock characters. These performers weren’t intentionally scary, but their acts definitely weren’t for kids – their jokes were explicit and morally bankrupt, and their strange costumes were meant to make audiences slightly uncomfortable.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

From the 19th century into modernity, the white-faced, kid-friendly circus clowns have prevailed, but society as a whole hasn’t been able to shake the creepier associations from our past. If anything, films like It, Killer Clowns from Outer Space, and Poltergeist just prove that our ancestors may have passed along their fears and distrust through the centuries.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

I don’t know if that’s possible, but it certainly seems as if the past is whispering to a large number of modern day people that there’s good reason to head the other way when a grown person wearing big, floppy shoes and a red wig starts heading their way.

And history has a way of, you know. Repeating.

The post Here’s Why So Many People Are Afraid of Clowns appeared first on UberFacts.