Canada’s Clowns

The comic spirit, in fact the need for comedy, exists in every known culture. Comedy is as old as humanity itself, older than recorded history. The theatre is believed to have originated in religious ceremonies, and most present-day tribal peoples do not seem to feel, as we do, that clowning and capering are out of place in the midst of solemn ritual. Among the Hopi and Zuni Indians of the American Southwest, the clown is an important member of the community, credited with special healing powers and a particularly close relationship with the forces of nature. In return, he is allowed the privilege of ignoring or deliberately violating ordinary social conventions: he may use the coarsest language, play the lowest pranks, mock the performance of the most sacred rites, without fearing retaliation, or even loss of respect. He is permitted, even encouraged, to be profane, boastful, gluttonous, and foolish, to defy all the standards and customs of his community, since his clowning is really a skillful dramatic commentary that illustrates and interprets the laws and rituals he appears to ridicule. - Lowell Swortzell, Here Come the Clowns