Big Foot at the Big Top Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Bozo the Clown made his first appearance on a 1946 recorded album aimed at children. The recordings were of stories for children with an accompanying book. The character became popular and television shows featuring Bozo appeared across the USA from 1949 onwards. Pooter-the-Clown is a character from the 1989 John Candy film 'Uncle Buck'. Played by Mike Starr, he is booked by Buck for a birthday party but arrives late and under the influence of alcohol, or blind drunk to put it more clearly.

Krusty the Clown is a character from the television show 'The Simpsons', with his voice provided by Dan Castellaneta. The character is the host of the children's show watched by Lisa and Bart Simpson. The fictional man behind Krusty is far from the cheerful clown he portrays and is a miserable cynic. Loonette is a female clown who is the main character in a television show called 'The Big Comfy Couch' which began in Canada in 1993 before being shown in the United States two years later. Aimed at children, the show involved Loonette telling stories to her doll, Molly, and visiting various other characters.

Captain Spaulding is a character created by Rob Zombie for the film 'House of a 1000 Corpses' from 2003. He was portrayed by Sid Haig in this film and its sequels. Spaulding has a criminal past and is not a comical clown but the type to give you nightmares. Zombie took the name, but not the characterisation, from the character created by Groucho Marx in the 1930 film 'Animal Crackers'.

Talking of scary clowns, Pennywise is likely to be at the top of many lists. He is the main character of the Stephen King novel 'It', published in 1986 and turned into television series and films subsequently. He is often referred to as 'Pennywise the Dancing Clown' but his initially cheerful appearance hides his malevolent nature. Kefka Palazzo is a character from video games, appearing in 1994 in 'Final Fantasy VI' as the main villain. He is described as a psychopath and is another character designed to put you off clowns forever.

Obnoxio the Clown appears in 'Marvel Comics' and is specifically the mascot for 'Crazy', a humorous magazine. His first appearance was in 1980 and he has also been featured as a villain in the 'X-Men' stories. Binky is a clown who originated in the cartoon strip 'Garfield'. He was depicted as the typical clown, including the huge shoes, and was first mentioned in 1985 before appearing in 1986 and in occasional stories from then on.

While all the clowns featured so far are fictional, the remainder are alter egos of the performers who created them rather than coming from the imagination of a writer. The first of them is Grock, the performing name of Charles Wettach from Switzerland. He initially developed the character when working in a traditional circus, before moving to Music Hall in the early part of the twentieth century. He was dubbed the 'King of Clowns'.

Coco the Clown was the creation of Nicolai Poliakoff, born in Latvia in 1900 when it was part of the Russian Empire. He was primarily a circus clown, wearing size 58 shoes, initially for the Soviet State Circus before settling in the UK and working for Bertram Mills. Poliakoff became a naturalised UK citizen and died in Peterborough in 1974. Emmett Kelly was the creator of the circus clown known as Weary Willie. The character resembled a tramp, or hobo, who was tired of life and permanently glum. Kelly was involved in the Hartford Fire of 1944 when the Big Top caught fire killing nearly two hundred people, and is said to have behaved heroically while in full clown regalia.

The incorrect answers are Ermintrude, the cow from 'The Magic Roundabout' and definitely not a clown. Looby Loo is a rag doll who appeared with 'Andy Pandy' and Bender is a robot from 'Futurama'. There's nothing funny about Candyman, who is the lead character from the films of that name - he carries out gruesome murders. Finally, Lamb Chop is a sock puppet operated by Shari Lewis.