The Sad Clown Paradox is a philosophy, stemming back to the 1800's. The idea that comedians and those with humour, are often the people affected most by depression. The outward need to please and make people laugh, can coincide with crippling mental health behind close doors.
For example, Robin Williams, an extremely famous and revered actor and comedian, ended his own life to the shock of the world. How can someone so funny be so depressed?
A joke dating from at least the 19th century exemplifies the sad clown paradox. The joke involves a doctor recommending his depressed patient to visit a great clown in town (typically named "Pagliacci"), but it turns out that the patient is actually the clown out of costume.
This phenomena has been discussed and displayed in art work, poetry, novels, music, film and real life for centuries.
Stańczyk, Jan Matejko, 1862
This piece dated 1862 shows a sad clown, which in itself is a contradiction. This early art work breaks down the 'mask' and shows a melancholy clown in a dark room, breaking the expectation of happiness and joy from the person that makes everyone laugh and entertains for a living.
There has been extensive research into the Sad Clown Paradox, as it is so common. Humour is often used in times of turmoil, to break the sadness or tension in the air, once again masking true feelings to appear outwardly happy.
The Tears of a Clown, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, 1978
This song from 1978 is upbeat in a major key. However the lyrics depict a man 'camoflaguing' his sadness and pretending to be happy to 'fool the public'. For the time, it is very profound, particularly for a man to be talking about being depressed and pretending to be fine. In the 70s, mental health really wasn't spoken about.
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