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First impressions:

- Thank you Kid with Cowboy Tie for further glimpses behind the curtain, where mental and physical planes interweave and interchange.

- Sparkling jewels of mind to magic musical tools that shine.

- Touring the interior some objects look strangely familiar.

- Neither rabbits, daemons nor clowns ever here wear frowns.

- Raindrops are as diamonds here.

- Altars, deities, clocks and dials, hidden truths and Buddha smiles.

- Books of secret knowledge, heroes of the past acknowledged.

- Blossoms, leaves and waving branches to behold while contemplating The One within The Twofold

Clowns are faced with extinction. Only 100 or so remain on the books of their professional organisation in Britain. Some people may respond with relief, which itself helps explain the decline of the species. A feeling that the mask-faced clown is frightening has been reinforced by various horror films. It has spawned the idea of a technical fear of clowns now called coulrophobia, a name with no etymological justification.

Another factor, clowns argue, is the negative portrayal of their profession, on shows such as The Simpsons, which features a dysfunctional character called Krusty the Clown, and the 1990 horror film, It.

So parlous has the situation become that CI’s annual gathering, usually held at the start of March at Butlin’s holiday camp, in Bognor Regis, did not go ahead this year after the company withdrew its sponsorship.

The venue traditionally provided free accommodation and food for the clowns, who, in exchange, offered entertainment for guests, as well as putting on a parade through the town. But falling numbers led Butlins to end the deal.

Blue Brattle – a former chairman and honorary vice president of CI, who performs as Clown Bluey – said membership had peaked at around 800 in the 1980s and that they were now around 100.

“There is an image problem for clowns. There is a very negative view from Hollywood, with films like It, and characters like Krusty. These clowns are so negative. They don’t look at the positive.”