Everybody here likes clowns, right?
A Cavalcade of Figbarfs
I’ve
spent quite a bit of time researching this, and it seems that there’s no
universally accepted collective noun for clowns. Crows are a murder, kittens are a clowder, bison
are a herd, and fish are a school. But
clowns? Just clowns, I guess.
This
is why, several years ago, I declared a group of clowns to be a cavalcade. (And if I were the famous novelist I’d
planned to be by now, that might just be a household term.) There also isn’t a collective noun governing
a group of time travelers, so not long after contributing one for clowns, I
declared multiple time travelers to be a prophesy.
And
yes, I just spent two paragraphs explaining the use of a word in a subheading
of this blog post. You’re oh so very
welcome!
Today’s
Figbarf Friday is a little special.
Normally I present a group shot, followed by shots of the individual
members of that particular ‘barf. But
today we’re bringing you the Council of Clowns!
The group shot is six of the nine clown ambassadors (because I simply
ran out of clown parts before I could finish them all.) So instead of solo pictures, I thought we’d
focus on not just each Clown Ambassador, but the group that person
represents. Crazy! It’s like a Russian Nesting Figbarf (or
something.)
The Council of Clowns
The
Council of Clowns (as pictured left to right):
Ringo, representing the Circus of Clowns. Piccolo Prunepants, representing the
Prunepants Gang. Chaw, representing the
Big Show Rodeo Clowns. Goose the Golden
Jester, representing the Jesters. Lady,
representing the Clowngirls. And last,
but definitely not least, Smiley, representing the Weirdos.
[Not
Pictured: The Jolly Reaper representing
the WFDA (White Faces, Dark Arts), Zeitgeist the Clown representing Zeitgeist
& Friends, and Mister Wrong representing the Creepies.]
The Circus of Clowns
Ringo
is the leader of the ranking members of the Circus of Clowns. His right hand man is Baggo the Clown (whose
large gut and long bald hair mark a striking resemblance to your blogger. Surely, this must simply be an unforeseen
coincidence!) Happy is the circus’
resident sad clown. Pirate Timmy
fulfills the circus’ clown pirate quota.
And then there’s Granddad Clown, whose once infectious grin is now hidden
behind years of wisdom and facial hair.
The Prunepants Gang
Organized
by head miscreant Piccolo Prunepants, the Prunepants Gang is a band of street
level ruffians committing misdemeanors (“--and things you can’t prove they
did!”) in the name of buffoonery.
Inspired by the Joker stories from the Batman comics, these clowns are
far less deadly, but easily offer five times the nuisance value. Piccolo’s second-in-command is
Snakehead. The gang’s mascot is
Piccolo’s brother Frankie, who packs a rubber wiener loaded with lead
shot. Parodying the most famous clown
spokesman, Prunald McDunald wants to know if you’d like fries with that? And finally, Piccolo’s cousin Shorty
Prunepants brings up the rear.
Big Show Rodeo Clowns
The
big man of the Big Show Rodeo is world famous rodeo clown Chaw. Chaw’s ‘deputy’ is Tex, who has copied his fearless
leader’s white face and greasepaint beard motif using white face and actual
facial hair. Then we have the pint-sized
Big Tex, who’s actually too short to be able to jump into the barrel. The last full clown on the roster is ‘the
Brave’ Andy Bold, the sole Indian among this group of cowboys. The final member of the group is the crew’s
pet, Barrelmonkey.
So
who’s next? The Jester? (You guessed ‘er!)
The Jesters
This
group of jesters, fools, and royal buffoons are led by a man named Goose, aka
the Golden Jester. Standing next to him
in this photo are three members of the Bester sextuplets (jesters all): Esther, Chestor, and Nestor [not pictured:
Sylvester, Lester, and Hestor]. The
children of Bester the Jester have done their father proud by carrying on the
family tradition. On the other end of
the Besters is Deuteranopia, who serves as Goose’s second in the Jester
hierarchy.
Not
a whole lot of females in the lineup so far.
Let’s fix that, shall we?
The Clowngirls
The
Clowngirls: Led by the lovely redheaded
Lady, these distaff clowns are a force to be reckoned with. Modern day tramp (from the hobo tradition,
not the more modern meaning) Pinkie wears a tattered and patched outfit with a
rope belt, and usually carries her stuff in a bindle. Pirouette is another classic clown archetype,
the female counterpart to the Pierrot from the Commedia dell’Arte. Angry Nancy is exactly what it says on the
label. And providing that extra, extra
shot of sex appeal with her grass skirt and seashell bra is Tina.
And
last but not least… the Weirdos!
The Weirdos
Led
by the Hawaiian shirt wearing ‘Smiley’, the Weirdos aren’t your average
clowns. Nope, they’re the strangest of
the strange, the oddest of the odd, and the something-elsest of the
something-else. Smiley’s chief advisor
in riding herd on these bizarre clowns is Billy the Hat. Next in line is Late-for-Work, in his usual
no-time-to-dress pajamas, and his unfinished clown face. Funhouse is the Weirdo’s mascot, with the head
of an actual cartoon clown mascot firmly attached to his short body. And perhaps the weirdest of these weirdos is
Rag-a-Doll, who’s greasepaint allergy led to the adoption of a fabric mask. One thing led to another and he went from being
just a masked clown to wearing a full body ragdoll suit.
More on the “Not Pictured”
As
indicated earlier, there were originally going to be even more clowns than
pictured here. But I’ve got clown parts
that are in various stages of getting sent to me via Bricklink. Several minifigure heads I need to get custom
printed. Along with the usual
parts-I-KNOW-I-have,-but-just-can’t-find.
The
Jolly Reaper is a clownish reimagining of the Grim Reaper, and a necromancer to
boot. Most of the clowns in the WFDA are
undead.
Zeitgeist
the Clown is the titular figure of the clown show Zeitgeist & Friends.
Mister
Wrong is…well…just plain wrong. As are
the rest of the Creepies (sometimes alternatively known as the ‘Evil Clowns’).
So
maybe there will be another clown-themed figbarf in the future.
