Failure as Success: On clowns and laughing bodies

Abstract

The explicit bodied engagement demanded by the humour transaction generally aims for the psycho-physical eruption called laughter. As such, it merits consideration as what has been called in performance studies an ‘act of transfer’ by Diana Taylor, given the direct and potentially coercive bodied effect joking seeks to exert upon an audience. The solo clown in conventional performance, as a figure dedicated to laughter provocation, then becomes an interesting point of focus for the study of such bodied transmission of cultural learning, especially in light of its appeal to young audiences and the notions of competence and conformity it tends to mine toward humorous ends. Various issues are addressed, including the implications of non-verbal joking in clowning, the unsettling proximity of the uncanny to humour production, and the disposition toward conserving the status quo found in mainstream comic performance. A counter-current for clowning effect is then proposed, with some suggestions as to how concepts like failure and social incompetence have been upended or otherwise invoked by clowns to interrogate dominant or dominating discourses.

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