During my long commute to and from work on the train I sometimes stare aimlessly out the window at the passing urban decay. Just tonight I noticed on the side of the train tracks, in the long grass propped up against someones' back fence, all alone, was a rickety old wooden chair. A thought jumped into my mind: what if there was a clown sitting on the chair, doing nothing, just staring at the train as it rattled past. What would the commuters think? I've a good mind to hire a clown costume and go and sit there all day, maybe I would make somebody smile? At the very least I'd be sure to freak somebody out.
-- simonj, Nov 15 2007

William Hiskisson http://en.wikipedia...i/William_Huskisson
monument could be repurposed? [calum, Nov 15 2007]

got a clown, just move him to RR tracks http://www.spraguep...taurant%20Sofia.jpg
[xandram, Nov 15 2007]

'Russian Doll' Easter Egg _27Russian_20Doll_27_20Easter_20Egg
[hippo, Mar 12 2009]

it's looking at me! http://1.bp.blogspo...A/s400/it-clown.jpg
let's hire this guy. [k_sra, Mar 12 2009]

Tentacled House http://www.boingboi...ng-festooned-w.html
Not a clown, but similar in intention I suspect. [DrBob, Mar 12 2009]

Creepy clowns...... http://www.independ...chool-35116498.html
......armed with chainsaws [xenzag, Oct 10 2016]

You could sit on a bench outside McDonalds.
-- marklar, Nov 15 2007


I, for one, have never seen a clown sitting on a chait.
-- theleopard, Nov 15 2007


It could be a model clown. I like the overall idea of livening up the urban decay.
-- vincevincevince, Nov 15 2007


No, I think it has to be a real clown. Occassionaly sipping yak's milk from a dirty cocktail glass and holding a small red helium balloon on a string.
-- lostdog, Nov 15 2007


[+] Excellent.
-- imaginality, Nov 15 2007


One could use a mannikin, possibly implanted with off-the-shelf robonicals.
-- bungston, Nov 15 2007


Yes, clowns don't sit on hindu calendar months. Sorry... but [+] for this horribly artistic idea.
-- daseva, Nov 15 2007


lostdog, every time a commuter train passes the clown would let go of the balloon then shed a single tear as it flew away. He'd get a fresh balloon after the train was gone. Sitting on the ground next to him there would be a small pug wearing a lacy pink ribbon around its neck.
-- Canuck, Nov 15 2007


I'd be scared shitless!

I think that clowns out of context are a bit on the creepy side...
-- Jinbish, Nov 15 2007


Words cannot describe how much I love this idea. A hearty bun I give you!
-- awesomest, Nov 15 2007


// I think that clowns out of context are a bit on the creepy side...//

They're pretty creepy IN context as well if you ask me.

This definately sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. I see a clown watching my train go by I'm guessin' it's a bad omen or something.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 15 2007


Have a pipe band playing at a different station each day of the month. They begin playing as the train approaches and stop after it has left sight.

Some folks would find THAT creepy.
-- Canuck, Nov 15 2007


I love visual jokes. This is a great idea, with absolutly no repercussions...

except for the people that have a phobia of clowns

And this would be better in a subway. Have the clown hold an old lantern and look confused
-- evilpenguin, Nov 15 2007


Could dress as a hobo clown, and hold up your thumb like your trying to hitch a ride.Be sure to bring a bandanna pouch on a stick and a huge bright colored ball. How far away is the chair from the tracks.
-- rascalraidex, Nov 15 2007


How about a clown popping up in your window from below when you least expect it? (Although I'm not sure when you would most expect it.) That would be more "effective" in an airliner cruising at 35,000 feet.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 16 2007


I must also add that Doctorremulac3 NEVER gets caught off guard by popping clowns.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 16 2007


Suddenly a clown pops up in this anno
-- zeno, Nov 16 2007


//And this would be better in a subway. Have the clown hold an old lantern and look confused//

That would work wonderfully on the London Underground if the clown was standing all alone on the platform of one of the disused stations.
-- DrBob, Mar 12 2009


...lit by a sputtering gas lamp. Creepy.
-- wagster, Mar 12 2009


...very slowly turning its head as the train rolls by.
-- hippo, Mar 12 2009


...the eyeless clown raises a white-gloved finger, pointing it directly at you and silently mouths the word "death"
-- zen_tom, Mar 12 2009


Of course, if this happened every morning on your commute to work, you'd get used to it. Also, I'm interested that this seems to be the same clown as is inside my Easter Egg (linked).
-- hippo, Mar 12 2009


Interesting idea but as hippo says it would soon be part of the scenery for regular commuters. Perhaps the original thought can be expanded to include all manner of humanoid icons at random. Wizard of Oz offers a half-dozen at least. Then there's the Michellin Man. Popular comic book figures would work well too but the copyright battles would be tedious. Once in a while Yeti could put in a guest appearance. The rickety old chair becomes the stage against the canvas of a life perhaps untouchable but definitely not unknowable by viewers on the train. This sounds more like a Tate exhibit now. Theme: Everyone needs a sit down once in a while. Added Benefit: If the train includes a healthy population of the younger generation then the chair exhibit provides an opportunity for older culture to be communicated to them; beyond the screens of ubiquitous Nintendos. Then again some fool might just model an iPhone app on this and bang there goes reality, again.
-- essdee, Mar 12 2009


Wow I must have been in a coma or something last year. I really like this idea too! I better start digging through all of 2007's stash.
-- blissmiss, Mar 12 2009


i found a suitable hire, see link. why must this idea be so simple? it offends my convoluted brain patterns.

on a completely almost entirely unrelated note, i and some family saw a chief wahoo sign (cleveland indians baseball mascot) painted on the side of a barn in poland from a train once. that certainly livened up our trip.
-- k_sra, Mar 12 2009


Oh my. That clown gave me the chills k_sra.
-- blissmiss, Mar 12 2009


BlissMiss/k_sra that's Pennywise the clown from Stephen King's IT. Yes, he would be ideal.
-- simonj, Mar 12 2009


Why's he standing in all that spinach?
-- blissmiss, Mar 12 2009


*shudder* spinach gives me the heeby-geebies.
-- k_sra, Mar 13 2009


Has someone in America taken this idea and run with it?
-- simonj, Oct 09 2016


^Kind of difficult to run in those clown shoes.
-- not_morrison_rm, Oct 10 2016


As some woman purportedly asked on social media: "Are they real clowns or just people dressed up as clowns?"
-- AusCan531, Oct 10 2016


Either that's a philosophical and deeply profound question, or it's a hilarious no-brainer.

Presumably the author was American, in which case we suspect the latter ...

There is a point, though. A clergyman or a police officer are still cops and priests without the formal garb of their profession; but a clown without makeup or silly clothes is just an actor that isn't acting - a case where "cucullus non facit monachum" isn't true.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 10 2016


What if they're politicians, though?
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 10 2016


See last link..... Creepy!
-- xenzag, Oct 10 2016


// What if they're politicians, though? //

Then they're just evil. Politicians aren't the remotest bit funny.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 10 2016



random, halfbakery