Bumbling Clown Knocks A Man Out And Nearly Kills Him In Circus Stunt Gone Wrong

An enthusiastic clown knocked a volunteer plucked from the audience out cold and nearly killed him in a circus stunt that went disastrously wrong.

Anyone who’s ever sat ringside at a circus will be familiar with the mild sense of dread and gnawing unease that accompanies the arrival of the clown.

To some, clowns are dysfunctional, giggling, white-faced half-wits in ill-fitting clothes and red rubber noses. To others, clowns are cheeky and endearing, clumsy buffoons who act out the tragic comedy of the human condition.

Yet to others, these grease-painted monstrosities are the stuff of nightmares. Think Stephen King’s Pennywise and serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Both clowns, and both deeply psychopathic and evil.

The fierce and fluorescent horror of a clown can strike abject terror into the heart of anyone whose presence is registered by the beady and ever watchful eye of this strange circus breed.

Fear of the clown is a medically recognized condition called coulrophobia. Bizarrely enough, considering the roles he has played, Johnny Depp suffers from coulrophobia.

Silent movie star Lon Chaney Sr., nicknamed “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” once reportedly said, “There is nothing laughable about a clown in the moonlight.”

And how right he was.

Anyone who’s been targeted by the clown at a circus as the leering creature slowly waddles through a crowd of terrified audience members to carefully pick and pounce upon its prey will be familiar with the all-paralyzing fear which accompanies a bit of good old-fashioned audience participation with the clown creature.

The bravado and bluster of the intrusive clown will still the most defiant of hearts as it reaches out a garish polka dot arm and plucks some poor soul, mute with terror and compliant with fear, into the arena where a clown is sovereign and emperor of the fates — the circus ring!

In such instances, fear of clowns may not be so much irrational as an instinctive self-defense mechanism, as one unfortunate British man found out to his cost.

When Ben Garnham, 37, of Cefn Fforest, Blackwood, in the heart of South Wales, headed off for an enjoyable evening at the circus earlier this month with two of his three daughters, Jade and Amber, and Jade’s fiancee, Lauren, he had no idea that before the night was over he would be knocked unconscious by a clown called Benji.

Footage from the incident shows the surly and burly clown, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Biff from Back To The Future, strutting around the ring like a lion at feeding time, clapping his hands and making clownish gestures and expressions at the audience, as a hapless Ben stands stock still and nervous, wondering no doubt what the clown has got in store for him.

The clown proceeds to bend Ben over, before taking a firm hold of his waist, and after softly whispering in the poor man’s ear, Benji then does the unthinkable.

The clown aggressively tosses the unwitting man to the floor, lands heavily on top of him and knocks him spark out. Worse still, the clown attempts to drag an unconscious Ben to his feet before it dawns on him that he’s out cold.

Three other circus staff then rush over and carry an unconscious Mr. Garnham out of the ring in a manner which probably isn’t advised for anyone who might have suffered a severe neck injury.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAimw9VHgxI

Thankfully, although he could have been paralyzed or even killed, Ben escaped the incident with nothing more than a short hospital visit, a cut head, a swollen face, and a headache.

Although Ben doesn’t blame the clown, he is upset by the way he was manhandled after the incident.

“I was very lucky. I could have died or been paralysed.

“I don’t blame the clown. What I was upset about was the way I was carried off. I was manhandled when I could have been seriously injured.”

The owner of the circus has since apologized to Ben in person and has given him free tickets to another show.

BBC News reports that Adam Ingham, a director of Circus Zyair, said that Benji, who has been doing the back flip stunt for 10 years without any incident, will never perform that part of the act again.

Mr. Ingham also apologized for the way Ben was removed from the ring.

“It was obviously a panicked response from somebody who didn’t know what they were doing. We are all devastated. We would never wish this on anybody and we are very grateful that he is OK.”

As for Ben, he hasn’t let being knocked out by a clown change the way he regards them and is now proud to count Benji the clown as a firm friend.

“I’m glad I could meet Benji after the incident – I gave him a big hug just to reassure him, I don’t have any animosity towards him and I’ve made a really good friend.”

It’s enough to reduce a clown to tears.

[Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images]