Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

====Clown====
[[File:John Gacy Pogo December 1976 Martin Zielinski.jpg|thumb|upright|Gacy as Pogo the Clown|alt=A heavy-set man in a clown costume, with balloons and waving]]
Through his membership in a local [[Moose International|Moose Club]], Gacy became aware of a "Jolly Joker" clown club, whose members regularly performed at fundraising events and parades in addition to voluntarily entertaining hospitalized children.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=140–147}} In late 1975, Gacy joined the clown club and created his own characters "Pogo the Clown" and "Patches the Clown", devising his own makeup and costumes. He described Pogo as a "happy clown", whereas Patches was a "more serious" character.{{sfn|Foreman|1992|pp=68–77}}

Gacy seldom earned money for his performances and later said that acting as a clown allowed him to "regress into childhood". He performed as both Pogo and Patches at numerous local parties, political functions, charitable events, and children's hospitals.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=140–147}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2023 |title=John Wayne Gacy: The "Killer Clown"|url=https://www.biography.com/crime/john-wayne-gacy |access-date=April 23, 2025 |website=[[Biography.com]]|language=en-US}}</ref> Gacy's voluntary public service as a clown throughout the years of his murders led to him being known as the "Killer Clown".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-wayne-gacy|title=John Wayne Gacy Biography|work=Biography.com|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=May 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522032202/https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-wayne-gacy|url-status=live}}</ref>