Inked Mag Staff

April 19th, 2022

65 Sad Clown Tattoos

Do you know about the sad clown paradox?

In general, we typically see clowns in one of two ways—happy entertainers or absolutely terrifying figures. But there’s a whole other side to the painted smile: the sad clown. These melancholic jesters frequently appear in art, with their struggles captured in everything from paintings to, you guessed it, sad clown tattoos. Even music explores this theme, with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ famous song, “The Tears of a Clown,” perfectly encapsulating the sadness behind the mask.

But there’s more to sad clowns than haunting paintings or a hit song. The sad clown paradox is the contradictory connection between comedy and mental illnesses such as depression. Many comedians source their humor from dark places and use it as an outlet. Often times, this trauma revolves around early childhood, school or family relations. Several well known comedians have discussed the hardships they experienced early in life and why they leaned into comedy, notably Tommy Smothers, Johnny Carson, Woody Allen and Norman Lear. It just goes to show that there can be more to a comedian than the funny jokes they include in their sets or specials.

Comedians or not, many have taken the paradox head on through symbolic tattoos. Take a look at 65 of our favorite sad clown tattoos in the gallery below and let us know your favorite piece from this list in the comments section on social media.

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A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀AARON FRANCIONE TATTOOS (@aaronfrancione)

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