Different types of clowns
- D. M. Wright
- Dec 15, 2025
- 5 min read
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOWNS
There is more than one type of clown.
- Pierrot (whiteface) clowns
- Buffoon (whiteface) clowns
- Auguste clowns
- Tramp clowns
- Character clowns
- Mimes
- Rodeo clowns
- Evil clowns
- Jester clowns
If you don't like the look of one, dress up as another.
PIERROT (WHITEFACE) CLOWNS
Pierrot (pronounced PEER-oh) is a stock character of pantomime and "commedia dell'arte", whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the "Comédie-Italienne".
The name is a diminutive of Pierre (Peter).
His character in contemporary popular culture — in poetry, fiction and the visual arts, as well as works for the stage, screen, and concert hall — is that of the sad clown, often pining for love of Columbine, who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin.
Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons.
Sometimes he appears with a frilled collaret and a hat, usually with a close-fitting crown and wide round brim and, more rarely, with a conical shape like a dunce's cap.
Pierrot's character developed from being a buffoon to an avatar of the disenfranchised. Many cultural movements found him amenable to their respective causes. Decadents turned him into a disillusioned foe of idealism; Symbolists saw him as a lonely fellow-sufferer; Modernists made him into a silent, alienated observer of the mysteries of the human condition.
In short, Pierrot became an alter-ego of the artist, specifically of the famously alienated artist of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
His physical insularity; his poignant lapses into mutism, the legacy of the great mime Deburau; his white face and costume, suggesting not only innocence but the pallor of the dead; his often frustrated pursuit of Columbine, coupled with his never-to-be vanquished unworldly naïveté — all conspired to lift him out of the circumscribed world of the Commedia dell'Arte and into the larger realm of myth.
Much of that mythic quality ("I'm Pierrot," said David Bowie: "I'm Everyman") still adheres to the "sad clown" in the postmodern era.
BUFFOON (WHITEFACE) CLOWNS
Buffoon Clowns, also known as a “Comedy Clowns”, have emphasised features, especially a red nose and red mouth, often with partial hair (bald on top) or a full curly wig.
The Buffoon Whiteface Clown covers their face in white makeup and their body in oversized clothing, including oversized shoes.
They start by covering their face and neck with a coating of clown white greasepaint, then they add features to that, typically using red or black.
Most Buffoon Whiteface Clowns wear bright multi-coloured clothing, so they can be seen and picked out at a distance.
AUGUSTE CLOWNS
Auguste Clowns entertain audiences with exaggerated expressions, slapstick comedy and pranks of all sorts.
Traditionally, Auguste Clowns work in partnership with Buffoon Whiteface Clowns.
The Buffoon acts the 'Straight Man': the more intelligent of the two performers. The Auguste acts the fool who can't figure out
how to get anything right. The Auguste would usually be on the receiving end of the pie to the face from a disgruntled Buffoon whose instructions weren't adhered to.
The Auguste Clown wears white or colours around their eyes, has white paint around their mouth, exaggerated red lips and a giant red nose.
They frequently wear brightly coloured costumes that are way too big for them.
TRAMP CLOWNS
Tramp Clowns can be happy or sad.
The Tramp clown was inspired by homeless people late in the nineteenth century.
During the early twentieth century, there was more variation within the Tramp clown then any other type. There were singing tramps, juggling tramps, tramp magicians, silent tramps, tramp monologists, skating tramps, tramp artists and even tramp pianists.
A Tramp clown paints white around their mouth, and may also paint white near their eyes. They paint an artificial beard using greasepaint. Their clothing is either patched or tattered.
CHARACTER CLOWNS
BUFFOON | AUGUSTE | TRAMP |
Character Clowns' costumes depict a specific occupation, hobby or easily identifiable individual. You can be whomever you want to be, as long as people know what you are by looking at you.
Character clowns' make up can be Whiteface, Auguste or Tramp style.
Costumes don't determine character type; the clown’s personality is their character. A clown can be a cop, a soldier, a doctor and a boxer at different times without changing character as long as their personality doesn’t change.
MIMES
Mimes (from Greek meaning "imitator, actor") use mime as performance or theatrical art. It involves acting out a story through bodily motions without use of speech. Miming is not clowning and clowning is not miming. But clowns can mime and mimes can clown around.
If you're going to be a mime, mimes wear white make up which ends at the jaw line, leaving their neck uncovered. Often, mimes will redden or blacken their lips and add a few dots or diamonds of colour below or above the eyes.
The typical mime wears a long-sleeve black and white striped shirt, red or black suspenders and black trousers.
If you do use this style of make up, everyone will expect you to mime, so get practising.
RODEO CLOWNS
Rodeo performance is a very specialised branch of clowning.
Some rodeo clowns use Tramp or Auguste style make up. There is also a very distinct style of rodeo make up based on geometric shapes instead of the performer’s natural features.
There are two types of rodeo clowns: the barrel clown and the bullfighter.
The BARREL CLOWN uses a large padded metal barrel as a home base in the centre of the arena. They may lure the bull into attacking the barrel, and then brace themselves curled up inside to survive the impact.
A BULLFIGHTER CLOWN will often wear a skirt made from taking out the inseam of a pair of jeans and then sewing the two halves together. This skirt is held up by one suspender. The purpose of the bullfighter skirt is to be able to slip out of it quickly if a bull hooks the material.
Most rodeo clowns have protective pads hidden under their costume. They also wear track shoes with cleats.
Rodeo clowns have the very serious job of protecting cowboys during the bull riding contest. The best rodeo clowns are also all-round entertainers. They help fill breaks in the action and perform featured acts. Many rodeo clowns use trained animals in their act.
THE EVIL CLOWN
The evil clown archetype plays strongly on coulrophobia (the fear of clowns).
Primarily, though, it plays off our distaste for the "Uncanny Valley" (meaning, when something is too close to being human but not close enough, it genuinely makes us feel yuk and unsafe.)
This natural dislike of clowns makes them effective in a literary or fictional context, as the antagonistic threat perceived in clowns is desirable in a villainous character.
JESTER CLOWNS
Jester Clowns, better known as the Court Jesters or Fools, were historically entertainers during the Mediaeval and Renaissance eras who were members of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain him and his guests.
A jester was also an itinerant performer who entertained common folk at fairs and markets. Jesters are also modern-day entertainers who resemble their historical counterparts.
Jesters in mediaeval times are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern, and their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume.
Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills including but not limited to music, storytelling, acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes and magic tricks.
Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style, and many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.
REFERENCES
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