Dr. Steven Hayward, the conservative commentator, is the
fastest political wit in the West (he teaches at Pepperdine
University), and he beat me to the political punch on the
announcement, just published in the New York Daily News,
that the World Clown Association has revealed a dramatic
fall-off in its membership (reportedly down from 3500 to 2500).
Dr. Hayward is a bit more partisan than I would be, suggesting
that many congressional and White House Democrats could
fill in for the shortage. My take on the clown crisis is that both
parties might be well served if some of their members
realized they are in the wrong profession, and would make a
mid-life occupational change and fill in at Ringling Brothers,
Barnum and Bailey Circus and other circuses still performing
across the country.
The problem, according to circus officials, is that the clown
population is aging, with fewer and fewer young persons
attracted to the profession. Since I have been a circus buff
since childhood, and have even known a few professional
clowns, I also know that clowns are fine performing artists
who work hard to bring laughter and tears to their audiences.
That might pose a problem for any political clowns who might
want to turn professional, since the political variety are most
well-known for their primary goal of getting attention (and not
doing hard work).
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Copyright (c) 2014 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.
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