Clowns Are Still R*cist | How Blackface Minstrelsy Shap… — Transcript

Explores how blackface minstrelsy influenced American circus clowns, revealing persistent racial caricatures in clown archetypes.

Key Takeaways

Blackface minstrelsy deeply shaped the development of American circus clown archetypes.
Racial caricatures remain embedded in clown imagery, reflecting historical bigotry.
The circus evolved from diverse entertainment forms, integrating comedy, horsemanship, and burlesque.
Masks and role-playing are central to both minstrel shows and circus clown performances.
Understanding this history is essential to recognizing ongoing racial issues in entertainment.

Summary

The video traces the origins of blackface minstrelsy starting with Thomas Dartmouth Rice's Jim Crow character in 1832.
It discusses the historical development of clown archetypes and their racial caricatures within American circus culture.
The creator reflects on a previous video about clown racism, acknowledging inaccuracies and providing deeper historical context here.
Early circus entertainment evolved from blood sports and opera to include horsemanship, comedy, and clown acts.
The video highlights how blackface and racial stereotypes were incorporated into circus clowns by the 1820s.
It explains the cultural significance of masks and roles in both minstrel shows and circus performances.
Historical references include Philip Astley’s riding school in 1760s London and the expansion of circus acts.
The video addresses audience segregation in early entertainment forms and the social implications of racial caricatures.
It situates minstrel shows as America’s first indigenous entertainment form and their lasting impact on popular culture.
The creator invites viewers to support via Patreon for more in-depth content and unreleased creative works.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

[Music] The year is 1832. Thomas Dartmouth Rice enters the stage with a face full of black grease paint. He introduces his brand new blackface character, Jim. Thus begins the reign of America's only indigenous entertainment form, the minstrel show.

Speaker A

didn't mean to stay but there i saw so many gals i couldn't get away wheel about and turn about and do just so every time i wheel about a jump jim crow [Music] hello my name is maud aka the dainty

Speaker A

I didn't mean to stay, but there I saw so many gals I couldn't get away. Wheel about and turn about and do just so. Every time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow. [Music]

Speaker A

caricatures within those archetypes the response to that video was overwhelmingly positive most people was like no you're right and you should say it like i get where you're coming from the big lips the afro hair the big feet it's

Speaker A

Hello, my name is Maud, aka The Dainty Funk. You're a resident poet clown, and clowns are still racist. I made a video like 10 months ago called "Clowns Are Racist," and in it, I go through all of the clown archetypes and talk about what I perceived to be racial caricatures within those archetypes.

Speaker A

going to see it i was figuring out clown stuff myself um so a lot of the information that i present the dates are kind of mixed up some of the countries that i talked about weren't correct so as

Speaker A

The response to that video was overwhelmingly positive. Most people were like, "No, you're right, and you should say it." Like, I get where you're coming from: the big lips, the afro hair, the big feet. It's making sense. And some people weren't amenable to me saying that the big show was full of bigotry.

Speaker A

where i posted this video already as well as a more in-depth look into the articles that i used for this video i also post unreleased poems on there and i post instagram pictures before anyone else can see them so if

Speaker A

So, to be honest, I didn't really do the best job of presenting accurate information in the video. I didn't think a lot of people were going to see it. I was figuring out clown stuff myself.

Speaker A

fight to the death and the opera those were the two options as you can imagine there wasn't an overlapping audience people who liked to see animals eat each other and people who listened to ear splitting operatic sounds they really weren't

Speaker A

So, a lot of the information that I present, the dates are kind of mixed up. Some of the countries that I talked about weren't correct. So, as my return back to YouTube, I wanted to redo that video and give a bit more contextualization, a bit more history, and make you all believe that I am the smartest person alive.

Speaker A

one of the london newspapers that came out during this time says ashley and his riding partner lambeth marsh would ride two horses together with one foot in each saddle firing pistols leaping into the air and demonstrating the manner of eliot's charge against the

Speaker A

Before we get started, I do have a Patreon where I posted this video already, as well as a more in-depth look into the articles that I used for this video. I also post unreleased poems on there, and I post Instagram pictures before anyone else can see them. So, if that interests you, please, please, please help me out. It's hard out here in the pandemonium.

Speaker A

more acts to the show including the taylor writing to brentford this was a comedy act where they would have one of the members of the writing school tragically mount a horse he would trip and fall and mount the

Speaker A

Alright, let's get into it. Prior to the circus, there weren't a lot of large theater events happening. You had blood sports, where people would watch big animals fight to the death, and the opera. Those were the two options.

Speaker A

clown into circus culture some may say the clown existed long before the circus in ancient egypt there are records of jesters which were servants that were in charge of entertaining people often with gags and comedy after the jester came the harley quinn

Speaker A

As you can imagine, there wasn't an overlapping audience. People who liked to see animals eat each other and people who listened to ear-splitting operatic sounds really weren't mingling and going to the same spaces.

Speaker A

maurice wilson disher says separating the joke from the clown is indeed rather like cutting neither lest no more than a pound of his spirit what he does or what happens to him if it arouses any feeling at all is funny because of his

Speaker A

Then, in 1760s London, Philip Astley creates the riding school. He was an equestrian. He would do flips and tricks and unimaginable things with horses that no one had ever seen before.

Speaker A

incorporation of that kind of vibe into the circus as the years went on they had horsemanship and comedy and burlesque trained animals and gymnasts and contortionists and that was a couple decades before people would start calling it the circus

Speaker A

A quote from one of the London newspapers that came out during this time says, "Astley and his riding partner Lambeth Marsh would ride two horses together with one foot in each saddle, firing pistols, leaping into the air, and demonstrating the manner of Eliot's charge against the French troops in Germany in the year 1761."

Speaker A

big show and the circus were one of the most prominent forms of on mass entertainment in the western world [Music] let that be a lesson to you what's the matter with you boys shooting up that man's hen house

Speaker A

It's giving show. They were into it. They came out in droves just to see Mr. Astley and Mr. Marsh jump on some horses.

Speaker A

to subvert the expectations of his fellow englishmen the association with dark skin in plays at the time was villains evil the devil they would put wiry wigs and blackface and and other garments to denote blackness in order to

Speaker A

A couple months into garnering more of an audience, they started to add more acts to the show, including the Taylor riding to Brentford. This was a comedy act where they would have one of the members of the riding school tragically mount a horse. He would trip and fall and mount the horse with absolutely no swag.

Speaker A

audience members but also to separate them from the audience members and enter the space of the play which seems to be a overarching theme in painting one's face the idea of putting on a mask and entering a role is pretty present

Speaker A

And then, once he got onto the horse, the horse wouldn't go anywhere. And it was a hit. People loved that. I would consider that to be one of the first instances of incorporating the clown into circus culture.

Speaker A

white actors would uh caricaturize and bastardize the image of african peoples by mimicking them their movements their speech all that but the first phase of minstrel c began in the americas in the 1800s among low-class uh white youth in the north a lot of people

Speaker A

Some may say the clown existed long before the circus. In ancient Egypt, there are records of jesters, which were servants that were in charge of entertaining people, often with gags and comedy.

Speaker A

music was a really really important aspect of menstrual c prior to minstrel shows becoming super popular in the americas the only kinds of music that were really popular were operatic music and classical music there weren't a lot of other options for

Speaker A

After the jester came the Harlequin, the lighthearted, nimble, astute servant that often acted to thwart the plans of his or her master in very hilarious ways.

Speaker A

voluten music uh white men who enjoyed minstrel shows at the time often did this to piss rich white people off after blackface became super popular in the american imagination blackface clowns began to pop up within the circus and by the 1820s

Speaker A

The more foolish and bumbling clown that we know today wasn't officially known as such until the 1800s. In Clowns and Pantomimes, Maurice Wilson Disher says, "Separating the joke from the clown is indeed rather like cutting neither lest no more than a pound of his spirit. What he does or what happens to him, if it arouses any feeling at all, is funny because of his irresponsibility and the thickness of his hide."

Speaker A

the blackface mask in many ways the circus was the stepping stone for menstrual c to be born and you can see that menstrual shows and menstrual troops also had very similar vibes to the circus the blackface mask was a clown's disguise

Speaker A

If the clown is the act that people laugh at or the clown is the person that causes people to laugh, then I think the Taylor riding to Brentford was the first incorporation of that kind of vibe into the circus.

Speaker A

to why blackface became so popular amongst these poorer communities but we can't forget that after emancipation when poor white people were threatened by the possibility that there would no longer be an entire class of people below them the minstrel show shot up in

Speaker A

As the years went on, they had horsemanship and comedy and burlesque, trained animals, and gymnasts and contortionists. And that was a couple decades before people would start calling it the circus or the big show.

Speaker A

song jump jim crow which topped the charts of the western world for months after he performed the mitchell show became the first fully american form of mass entertainment this ushers in the era of the menstrual troop which started out as a four-man band

Speaker A

After the American Revolution in 1783, circus tents started to pop up pretty naturally, like two years after colonists started to settle into the Americas.

Speaker A

their performances to their performance spot i got a lot of this information from the book black like you black face white face insult and imitation in american popular culture and in it the author implies that the act of menstrual c

Speaker A

Between the 1780s and well into the 1800s, you have the era of the circus, where the big show and the circus were one of the most prominent forms of mass entertainment in the Western world. [Music]

Speaker A

menstrual c that both white americans and black americans were doing menstrual c equally when the participation of black people in menstrual c was purely because that was their only option and the people who profited off of menstrual c

Speaker A

Let that be a lesson to you. What's the matter with you boys, shooting up that man's hen house?

Speaker A

the fields were later on revealed to have been lying many black people came out and said that no like we taught him this song that we used to sing all of the time when we were slaves removing racism from

Speaker A

I'll shoot any chicken trying to follow me home. Just like the clown, blackface existed well before minstrel C in the United States. Othello, in Shakespeare's Othello, is described as having dark skin.

Speaker A

but i wanted to contextualize it and give you all my thoughts on the situation a lot of people asked me in my original video how can i not be racist how can i participate in clowning and not be racist the short answer is i

Speaker A

Shakespeare often did this in his stories to subvert the expectations of his fellow Englishmen. The association with dark skin in plays at the time was villains, evil, the devil.

Speaker A

job nor is it my responsibility and it can be very tiring for me to be experiencing racism while at the same time being asked to help you not be racist that being said there are aspects of the black face

Speaker A

They would put wiry wigs and blackface and other garments to denote blackness in order to show evil-doers in their plays. And Shakespeare would often use that assumption to subvert the expectations of his audience by making the villain the white character in the story.

Speaker A

the emancipation like maybe don't do that in terms of how to be completely anti-racist in america i don't think you can at the end of the day most things in this country are racist it is simply a matter of how we

Speaker A

The actors would paint their face white to be seen from far away by audience members, but also to separate them from the audience members and enter the space of the play, which seems to be an overarching theme in painting one's face.

Speaker A

it was i'm i'm pretty proud of myself uh if you got to the end of this video i know it was long thank you for sticking by me and watching to the end if you're interested in seeing more videos like

Speaker A

The idea of putting on a mask and entering a role is pretty present in both the circus and minstrel C.

Topics:blackfaceminstrelsyAmerican circusclown racismracial caricaturesThomas Dartmouth RiceJim Crowminstrel showcircus historyThe Dainty Funk

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main argument of the video?

The video argues that blackface minstrelsy significantly influenced American circus clowns, embedding racial caricatures that persist in clown archetypes today.

Who was Thomas Dartmouth Rice and why is he important?

Thomas Dartmouth Rice was a performer who created the blackface character Jim Crow in 1832, marking the start of minstrel shows as America's first indigenous entertainment form.

How did the circus evolve before becoming known as the circus?

The circus evolved from earlier entertainment forms such as blood sports, opera, and Philip Astley’s riding school, gradually incorporating horsemanship, comedy, burlesque, and clown acts.

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