August 10, 2007
The Ex Is Coming, But So Are The Clowns...
Doo Doo the clown.
If you're not afraid of clowns, you might know someone who is. Several celebrities, for instance, are decidedly anti-clown: Johnny Depp had nightmares of clowns as a kid, and, of course there's Bart Simpson, who said, "Can't sleep, clown will eat me." Clowns like Bozo and Ronald McDonald are, without a doubt, the "Oh, my God—that clown's kind of freaky!" clowns. And then there's the story of John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer who dressed up as Patches the Clown to entertain at parties, and who killed more than thirty young men and buried them in his basement.
Please don't take it upon yourself to go out and beat the shit out of a clown, however; some are actually happy and fun. They make balloon animals, spray water down their pants and hundreds of them can fit into one tiny car. Amazing! Clowns are, after all, just regular people wearing makeup and big shoes. This year at the Ex, Doo Doo the clown returns. Doo Doo has been a clown since 1980 and calls his hometown Clownsville.
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE or Ex) is, as you probably know, an eighteen-day fair, and the fun starts this year on August 17. The Ex has been running for 128 years and has grown to be the largest annual fair in Canada, attracting over one million visitors each year. Popular to any fair is its midway, and the CNE features a large one, with many rides and games. With its unique variety of entertainment, the Ex offers something for everyone. For many families it is a tradition and, for many, the clowns will entertain, blowing balloons and spraying the children. Just stay away from Kids World if you have Coulrophobia.
Photograph by James Helmer.
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Dagnabbit, Torontoist!
I open up my bookmark and up this pops... I shall be traumatized all day long!
No word of a lit, an ex-gf cheated on me with Ronald McDonald. The guy that appeared in the commercials. No word on whether they settled down, if Grimace was the best man, and Mayor McCheese officiated, etc etc etc
Should be no word of a LIE
I vote we change the text of this article to just:
I WILL EAT YOUR SOUL
Balloon animals are scary too! All that folding and squeeging! horrible, balloons are evil, clowns are evil and circuses are evil!!
http://mividaentoronto.blogspot.com/2004/07/circuses-and-clowns.html
MARIA!
Surely SOME of you don't loathe clowns, right? RIGHT?!!? They are just trying to be happy for you, you know.
Hey...I think he is kinda cute...
To be fair, Bart was being stalked by a homicidal Sideshow Bob, that probably accounts for at least some of his fear. Wait, is Sideshow Bob a clown too?
I'm not afraid of clowns, I just don't like them.
I actually was taken home screaming from the Ex as a kid for being freaked out by a clown...or quasi-clown in this case - i suspect it was around the time Wendy's launched in Canada and there was a booth with somebody dressed up as Wendy.
Don't you mean Gacy dressed as Pogo the clown? How hard would that have been to look up?