A clown car is a prop in a circus clown routine, which involves an implausibly large number of clowns emerging from a very small car. The first performance of this routine was in the

Cole Bros. Circus The Cole Bros. Circus was a medium-sized American circus. It was founded in 1884 as "W.W. Cole's New Colossal Shows", by William Washington Cole. In the 1930s, the circus employed two noted animal trainers, Clyde Beatty and Allen King, both of who ...

during the 1950s. The effect is produced by simply removing all of a car's internal components—including the door panels, the headliner and any interior barrier to the trunk—and then filling the enlarged space with as many clowns as possible.The Physics Of: Clown Cars
by John Pearley Huffman, at ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was f ...

''; published March 28, 2011; retrieved November 10, 2018 Greg DeSanto of the International Clown Hall of Fame estimates that somewhere between 14 and 21 clowns and their props could fit into a car prepared in this manner.

References

Circus equipment Clowning {{car-stub

See also

References