And when Robin Williams died, our narrative of choice was the Sad Clown myth. Funny people are actually sad — their humor is a mask, a crutch, a coping mechanism.

GRUMBLING Trump-wannabe Audrey Evans lost control of her emotions and later lost her job on last night’s edition of “The Apprentice.” Evans, 22, flopped on the episode’s cha… ...

It’s less clear to me if it’s funny, though. In the show, Galifianakis plays a frustrated clown named Chip Baskets, who prefers to go by the stage name “Renoir.” ...

But very little of this sad clown’s life feels fresh or urgently original. That said, if Christine and Martha went on a road trip in order to get away from the sour man in white greasepaint, a ...

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images 'The idea of the sad clown thing, I think it's the idea of you're funny and then there's that moment of tenderness,' Robin Williams said at the TCA panel. Richard ...

It’s funny, I hadn’t thought too much about that clown up until that time. But that afternoon Leona’s remark about it gave me pause. It made me wonder how many painted ceramic clown faces ...

But the directing chores were handled by Judd Apatow, whose sensibility — as funny as it can be in movies that he writes for himself like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up — feels all ...

For others, speaking openly about difficult, personal or taboo topics onstage — framed, of course, in a funny light — is a chance to align these topics with more positive forces.