Old clowns are retiring or dying, few young people want to embrace this profession

Feb 18, 2014 21:56 GMT  ·  By
National shortage of clowns threatens to make the US a rather boring country
   National shortage of clowns threatens to make the US a rather boring country

Forget global warming, poor public health and whatnot. There is a far gloomier thing threatening the United States, and this thing is a national shortage of clowns.

Media reports say that, since 2004 until present day, the number of professional clowns who are members of the World Clown Association has fallen from roughly 3,500 to just 2,000.

What's more, it would appear that most of the people who are currently members of the Association are over the age of 40, and very few young people are showing any kind of interest in embracing this profession.

One does not have to be a math genius to figure out that, as long as the number of people retiring from clowning is higher than the number of folks turning to this career, it is only a matter of time until there are almost no clowns left.

“What's happening is attrition. The older clowns are passing away,” says Glen Kohlberger, the current president of Clowns of American International, as cited by Daily Mail.

Glen Kohlberger thinks that the chief reason why very few people wish to make a career as clowns is the fact that this profession is no longer as appealing as it used to be.

“What happens is they go on to high school and college and clowning isn’t cool anymore. Clowning is then put on the back burner until their late 40s and early 50s,” he explains.

“American kids these days are thinking about different careers altogether. They're thinking about everything other than clowning,” adds Cyrus Zavieh, the president of New York Clown Alley.

On the other hand, it could be that the fact that a clown makes about $300 (roughly €218.8) per birthday party also has a say in the matter.

As far as working as a clown for a major circus is concerned, it would appear that The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and the like submit applicants to very tough auditions. Consequently, few make the cut and end up performing in the arena.