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Musings/Essays | Sara Toby Moore

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The many Covid deaths and illnesses, the never-ending quarantine, the smashing of our American democracy and the constant Orwellian presence of Herr Tweetler has made daily life nauseatingly anxious and depressing. Now THAT’S comedy, right? Mel Brooks famously said “Tragedy is VERY funny. World War 2? Hilarious!” That kind of paradox is the root of being human. It’s our base. Funny-Not Funny, Love-Hate, Real-Fake, I-you, Dead-Alive. The dialectical nature of humanity is where our greatest comedies and tragedies, our greatest stories, are born. It may not be funny but our current reality has “clown” written all over it, adorned with out-of-tune bells and harsh whistles. And as someone who’s proudly identified as a working stage and ring clown my whole life I’ve had to wonder: are people are right to use the word as an insult, especially in relation to individuals with such amplified, entertainment-level cruelty? I mean, we are living inside a clown act right now, even an entire sideshow

--> Musings/Essays | Sara Toby Moore top of page The State of the clown I am a clown. I've shared the same trailer, the same dressing room, the same midway, with all manner of people who enhance the idiocy and paradox of their own bumbling humanity by turning themselves inside out and presenting themselves to an audience. I have performed with everyone from Carol Channing to "Freckles." I have been on the bill with every type of performer from opera singers, stand-ups, storytellers, jazz singers, "bubbleologists", psychics and eccentric dancers. I've also played Shakespeare's clowns and stood

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