In this emergency roundtable report, we discuss how clownery has become a dominant mode of aesthetic and ideological expression, perhaps symbolizing the defeat of authenticity. Recent carnivalesque incidents include the chaotic spectacle of this year’s VMAs, the meteoric rise of the Savannah Bananas, Jay Guapo’s Italian Brainrot Block Party, the political role reversal of the troll and the triggered, Audrey Hobert’s debut album Who’s the Clown, and more.
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Top Clown Town outfits at the VMAs: Conan Gray in Erik Charlotte, Megan Stalter as hot dog vendor, Doja Cat in Balmain, Ariana Grande’s outfit changes, Sabrina Carpenter in Valentino
Sabrina Carpenter Performs “Tears” | 2025 Video Music Awards
“I need to see you spin first, sista” from Sex and the City S4 E18
Chappell Roan Performs “Pink Pony Club” (Live From The 67th Grammy Awards)
“Chappell Roan on the Queer Origins of her Signature Makeup Look” – Gay Times
Flash Mob! The Savannah Bananas Crash The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
“As Savannah Bananas ursue ‘a billion fans,’ are they real competition for MLB?” – The New York Times
Jay Guapo’s Brainrot Block Party
Tyler Robinson’s bullet casing inscription breakdown – PBS News Hour
The story behind FBI Director Kash Patel’s seemingly random ‘Valhalla’ reference
Trump’s presidential portraits from 2017 to 2025
“What Is ‘Dark Woke’?” – The New York Times
“Why has Gavin Newsom gone ‘dark woke’?” – BBC
Mexican influencer Marian Izaguerre dies after posting goodbye video in clown makeup
Audrey Hobert Who’s the Clown interview in Teen Vogue
“The Clown at Midnight: Coulrophobia, Counterculture, and the Decadent Pierrot Mask” by Samuel Love – Sequitur
Passages from Mikhail Bakhtin on the grotesque body and the carnivalesque sense of the world
