Acting silly or funny, usually to make people laugh, often in a playful or mischievous way.
From 'clown,' which originally referred to a country person or rustic in the 1500s, then became associated with comedians in circus and theater who performed silly antics by the 1600s.
Ancient Rome had the 'scurra' (jester-clown) who could mock even powerful people and get away with it because their role was understood as entertainment—clowning has always been paradoxically powerful and vulnerable at the same time.
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