My only real encounter with clowns was when I was 11 years old and my dad just told me that him and my mom would be splitting up. I ran to some parking lot somewhere. Where it was is not important. Anyway, there was this clown collecting donations for some AIDS foundation or something. He came up to me and asked me if I was lost and I told him why I was crying. He made me a balloon animal and told me some jokes which cheered me up for a while.
If he wasn't a clown it wouldn't have been the same. I probably would have cried more; I was terrified of strangers back then. I guess the unusual outfit and hair took my mind off the fact I didn't know him.