Ruining the business?

[BruiserBrody]

Has anyone been around long enough to have been clowning when John Wayne Gacy got busted? I would assume the financial situation for clowns at parties became grave after that point? How did clowns dig themselves out of that hole? Chicago's market for clowns had to have been killed off at least? No balloons, tricks or Pogo sticks after JWG.

[tim]

Actually, while Gacy certainly scared and creeped out a lot of people, my impression (as a Chicagoan and a child at that time) is that it was, generally, a more hospitable environment for clowns. You didn't have all of this clown fear and hate which we do nowadays. And there were positive images of clown which people saw in turn. I can't say whether it hurt the business side of things. But I know that people still hired clowns for I certainly saw them at parties and such which my friends invited me to.

[Love]

I know there was a clown called Love ... in Florida who was a male something to do with kids... when I read it I was very upset but it had been so long I decided it would be ok to use this name since I'm a female. There are bad people everywhere but the majority of clowns don't smoke or drink if they do they do it in private. There are more bad regular people so what is the hangup? Just curious

[Jolly Well]

I think in all probability that on average clowns have as many "bad" people as any other profession. Depending on how you judge it anyway, which is difficult to measure when moral values begin being placed. It will be different for most... Who decides good and bad afterall?

This topic comes up pretty frequently, the effect of the John Wayne Gacy, Paul Kelley, whichever other clown makes it in the news for murder or pornography or whatever and I think the effect on the industry as a whole is negligible. There may be some disfavor in the local community that the "bad" event takes place for a while, but even then I don't know that it would stop people from calling another clown if one were available.

There are going to be rapists, murderers, and all sorts of other hooligans within every profession and most people realize it isn't the norm but the rarity when it happens. It will certainly give fuel to the numerous anti-clown groups out there but do they really need ammunition since there is all ready so much out there that we see recycled in movies, media, or coulrophobia articles that pop up from time to time?

[Darrell]

To BruiserBrody,

Just curious, were you a fan of the late wrestler Bruiser Brody?

[BruiserBrody]

Originally Posted by Darrell

To BruiserBrody,

Just curious, were you a fan of the late wrestler Bruiser Brody?

yup!!!!!!!!!

[TIC TOC]

so was I...

[Dusty B]

In 1989, here in Houston, there was a grizzly murder of two teenage girls. The fellow who did it was a clown. My parents were a bit freaked by the whole incident since he and his father were members of their square dance group.

[Pookie]

Originally Posted by Darrell

Just curious, were you a fan of the late wrestler Bruiser Brody?

Who wasn't?

[Darrell]

Originally Posted by Pookie

Who wasn't?

What's sad is that the man who murdered him never went to jail or was found guilty!