Why Are Clowns So Incredibly Terrifying?

We have our share of live appearances that we do throughout the year. Most of the time, I'll say 99.99% of the time, we love being out, live, meeting our listeners, going to fairs, being a part of happy hours etc. and then there's that .01% of the time that makes us want to run screaming back to the studio.

That would be when there's a clown nearby.

I know what you're thinking, "You're all a bunch of clowns, aren't you used to that?" I'm not talking about the Mr. Mornings or the Lou Milanos of the biz, I'm talking about freaky, painted faced, plastered smile, straw hair, C L O W N S!

My understanding is that clowns are supposed to make people smile, they're supposed to make people happy and laugh. Those freaky faces give awkward a whole new meaning.

Case in point, recently, I doing a live appearance at a country fair. There were oxen (how cool is that?), a live band, line dancing, hot dogs, hamburgers, crafts, all the usual stuff that makes one want to go to a country fair. As I stood there at the KICKS 105.5 tent with the Roadcrew taking in all the wonderful sights on this beautiful day, a clown (NOOOOO!) approached me.

Stay calm, Linda, she'll go away.

Well, I wasn't that lucky. She came over and began to talk to us, gave us stickers and then started talking about clowns. Great! My favorite subject! I'm talking to a clown about clowns! How is this happening to me? This was NEVER covered in my college courses pursuing my Radio and Television degree. She was saying that people who hate clowns are freaks. That they don't understand that clowns are fun and happy. I smiled and realized that at least the acting class I took in college was really coming in handy at that moment because I should totally be nominated for an Academy Award.

She finally left (thank YOU!) and I thought about what she said. She said people who hate clowns are freaks. Really? We're freaks? WE'RE freaks? Her smile was painted on, she had yellow - not blond - YELLOW hair and walked around with a skip in her step. So, I thought I'd investigate this phenomenon.

I went to google and began to type, "why are people a...." that's as far as I got. The very first thing that popped up was "why are people afraid of clowns". I took a screen shot as proof as you can see here:

Apparently, it's a popular search! End of research, that's all I need to know!

Listen to Linda G weekdays from 3-7pm on 105.5 FM, online at kicks1055.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.