Clown Lingo

Stumbled across this on the internets..

•Basket Animal — A costume made with a basket in the middle, looking as if the performer were riding a horse or other animal. Suspenders hold the costume around the performer's waist.
•Blow Off — The visual "punchline" of a clown gag or joke.
•Boss Clown — The clown responsible for coordinating both the clowns and the various gags in a show.
•Caring Clown — Non circus term used to refer to clowns who specialize in hospital visits.
•Carpet Clown — A clown who works among the audience.
•Charivari — A raucous acrobatic clown routine, typically done by a large group of clowns, consisting of a series of fast-paced acrobatic maneuvers and comedy jumps off of a mini trampoline, over a vaulting horse and into a mat.
•Circus Report — Name of a bi-weekly circus trade magazine.
•Chase — a quick run around the hippodrome track, usually with one clown literally chasing another.
•Clown Alley — The clowns' dressing and prop area.
•Come In — The period an hour before showtime when the public is entering the arena before the circus begins. Elephant and camel rides are offered for a fee during come in; butchers are selling their wares, and clowns are on the arena floor and in the seats. Some clowns specialized and only performed during come in.
•First of May — A term also used in the carnival, meaning a novice performer in his first season on a show. Shows used to leave winter quarters for their opening spot on the first of May, and there are always some new workers hired on the first of May who have never worked shows before.
•Hippodrome Track — The oval area between the rings and audience.
•Joey — A clown (derived from Joseph Grimaldi, a famous clown in 18th-century England.) Some sources say it only refers to an acrobatic clown, others say it is a non-circus term and was never used by professionals. The Clown character used in Punch and Judy shows is traditionally called Joey.
•Knockabout Act — Comedy act involving physical humor and exaggerated mock violence.
•Producing Clown — The clown who writes, directs and procures props and costumes for a gag.
•Production Gag — A large scale ring gag.
•Shows — The overall production that a clown is a part of, it may or may not include elements other than clowning, such as in a circus show. In a circus context, clown shows are typically made up of some combination of Ring Gags, Track Gags, Walkarounds and Chases.
•"Stars and Stripes Forever" — The band reserved this Sousa march as a signal that an emergency had come up calling for the clowns to come running out from the Alley directing public attention away from the emergency or for the audience to be evacuated.
•Suitcase Gag — A visual pun that is carried inside of a suitcase and used during walkarounds. The set-up is written on the front and the suitcase is opened to reveal the punchline.
•Trouper — A person who has spent at least one full season with the circus, and whose response to the demands of life and work on the road are those of a seasoned veteran. Also used in vaudeville (and in theatre in general) to mean a veteran performer.
•Walkarounds — A clown feature in which they stroll the hippodrome track performing very brief visual gags that can be easily picked up, moved and performed again for another section of the audience.