This Week's Best Clown Headlines from around the world

Clowning around encouraged at RGH - Most people, when faced with a family crisis, do not become clowns. But when Kelly Spanganberg's husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, she signed up for clown school at Rochester General Hospital. Over the next several weeks, she'll learn how to juggle, make balloon animals, perform skits and do magic tricks. Eventually she'll go into patients' rooms and try to make them laugh.
  Read More of the article

90-year-old clown considers retirement -  The world's oldest clown, after 50 years of Southern California birthday parties, is thinking of hanging up his umbrella hat and parking his merry-go-round. Andy Beyer of Santa Ana, now 90, became Bumber the Clown half a century ago, The Orange County Register reported. He created his own costume and face paint and bought a small second-hand merry-go-round in Boston, paying for the cross-country trip by selling rides on the way back to California.
  Read More of the article

Zippo the Clown and the Trumpet Taliban - , Martin Burton who doubles as Zippo the Clown and proprietor of the circus dropped the music and the show went on in silence. He was even ordered not to play a recording of flamenco music during the act
  Read More of the article

Class clowns reunite - I don’t do class reunions. I’ve never been to a high school reunion, even though my high school has an annual Alumni Day. And I’ve never had a desire to go to my college reunion. Who would I know from my massive graduating class? But I recently made an exception and attended my favorite alma mater’s school wide reunion — the 40th anniversary Clown College reunion held in Baraboo at the Circus World Museum.
  Read More of the article

Worshipers pay homage to clowning in the aisles - A clown on a unicycle, with a Bozo-orange wig and a beep-beep red nose, rolled down the center aisle of Holy Trinity Church just before a reading from the Gospel of Matthew.
  Read More of the article

Watching other people smile takes my pain away - At first, Betsy Ellis' clown friends brought balloon animals when they came to visit her at the James River Convalescent Home. When she didn't get the hint, they brought Ellis, better known as Betsy "D" Clown, bags of long, thin balloons ready to be inflated and twisted into bugs and birds and rainbows.
  Read More of the article

Professional planners help North Jersey families throw the kids a memorable birthday party - When it came time to plan her daughter's seventh birthday party, Peggy Coiro could have called around to find a clown and a magician and someone who could make a 6-foot-tall figure out of balloons for the front lawn.
  Read More of the article

Clowns take it all off -- except the nose --for 2009 Naked Clown Calendar - Graduates of San Francisco's Clown Conservatory Class of 2008 have stripped down to their birthday suits to make a 2009 Naked Clown Calendar, a joyful and humourous work of art the clowns hope to sell in honor of a beloved mentor paralysed from the effects of multiple sclerosis and others stricken with the disease
  Read More of the article

Clowning glory — Circus performer finds endless joy in putting smiles on faces - Look into the face of a clown, and chances are very good you'll see something to make you smile. That's no accident, says Ben Bolin, who has been a clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus for just over a year. Being a clown is all about entertaining, about helping people have a good tim
  Read More of the article

Kids get special surprise - OVER 70 young patients at the Selayang Hospital were treated to a special surprise last Friday when the staff of Bandar Raya Developments Berhad (BRDB) paid a visit to the paediatric wards to celebrate the spirit of Ramadan and spread some festive cheer.
  Read More of the article

Big top fun with human touch - Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the Circo Atayde USA!
  Read More of the article

Hospital clowns spread healing humor - The Philadelphia area is home to some of the nation's best medical institutions. It's also home to a special healing force - a troup of dedicated clowns. Check out the video.
  Read More of the article

Circus clown receives award - Michael Polakovs spent 40 years clowning around. Decades spent as Coco the Clown garnered Polakovs a lifetime achievement award Saturday. He was honored at a 40-year reunion of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, during events at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis.
  Read More of the article

Circus clowns silenced by the licensing laws - The grand finale of Zippo's Circus fell strangely flat before its Birmingham audience. Three Spanish clowns, Nicol, Michael and Pappa, had been due to introduce themselves with a blast of trumpets. However, this had to be cut from the act.
  Read More of the article

First woman to graduate from Ringling's Clown College uses circus to teach kids fitness - Teachers forced to deal with the 'class clown' every year may not be disposed to look to the circus for help with their curriculums. But a program founded by the first female clown to graduate from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College is designed to do just that.
  Read More of the article