Editing Clown (section)

==={{anchor|White|White_clown_and_Auguste}}{{anchor|Sad}}White and Auguste ===

[[File:LES ROSSYANN Weisscloun und dummer August.JPG|thumb|right|Les Rossyann, ''white clown'' and clumsy ''Auguste'' from France]]

The ''white clown'', or ''clown blanc'' in French, is a sophisticated character, as opposed to the clumsy Auguste.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schechter |first1=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=avG5rDz3ENUC&pg=PA139 |title=Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook |date=2003 |series=Worlds of performance |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415258302 |lccn=2002026941 |page=139}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=World Book |date=2022 |publisher=World Book |isbn=9780716601227 |edition=72nd |location=Chicago |pages=712}}</ref> The two types are also distinguished as the ''sad clown'' (blanc) and ''happy clown'' (Auguste).<ref>{{citation |first1=Danièle |last1=Berton |first2=Jean-Pierre |last2=Simard |year=2007 |title=Création théâtrale: Adaptation, schèmes, traduction |language=fr}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=q7FLWMA8MiAC&pg=PA330 p. 330]</ref>

The Auguste face base makeup color is a variation of pink, red, or tan rather than white. Features are exaggerated in size, and are typically red and black in color. The mouth is thickly outlined with white (called the muzzle) as are the eyes. Appropriate to the character, the Auguste can be dressed in either well-fitted garb or a costume that does not fit – oversize or too small, either is appropriate. Bold colors, large prints or patterns, and suspenders often characterize Auguste costumes.

The Auguste character-type is often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the Auguste character to perform his bidding. The Auguste has a hard time performing a given task, which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the Auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the Auguste is confused or is foolish and makes errors less deliberately.

The ''contra-auguste'' plays the role of the mediator between the white clown and the Auguste character. He has a lower status than the white clown but a higher status than the Auguste. He aspires to be more like the white clown and often mimics everything the white clown does to try to gain approval. If there is a contra-auguste character, he often is instructed by the whiteface to correct the Auguste when he is doing something wrong.

[[File:G.L. Fox the original Humpty Dumpty. LCCN2014635786.jpg|right|thumb|G.L. Fox, the original Humpty Dumpty, c. 1860s]]
There are two major types of clowns with whiteface makeup:
The classic ''white clown'' is derived from the [[Pierrot]] character. His makeup is white, usually with facial features such as eyebrows emphasized in black. He is the more intelligent and sophisticated clown, contrasting with the rude or grotesque ''Auguste'' types. [[Francesco Caroli]] and [[Glen Little (clown)|Glenn "Frosty" Little]] are examples of this type. The second type of whiteface is the buffoonish clown of the ''[[Bozo the Clown|Bozo]]'' type, known as ''Comedy'' or ''Grotesque Whiteface''. This type has grotesquely emphasized features, especially a red nose and red mouth, often with partial (mostly red) hair. 
In the comedic partnership of [[Abbott and Costello]], Bud Abbott would have been the classic whiteface and Lou Costello the comedy whiteface or Auguste.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCoy |first1=Tiffany |date=2010 |url=http://new.4-hcurriculum.org/projects/theatre/TheatreArts/Clowning/Clown%20Types.html |title=Clown Types |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026152528/http://new.4-hcurriculum.org/projects/theatre/TheatreArts/Clowning/Clown%20Types.html |archive-date=2015-10-26 }}</ref>

Traditionally, the whiteface clown uses ''clown white'' makeup to cover the entire face and neck, leaving none of the underlying natural skin visible.<ref name=MCS117-118 /> In the European whiteface makeup, the ears are painted red.

Whiteface makeup was originally designed by [[Joseph Grimaldi]] in 1801. He began by painting a white base over his face, neck and chest before adding red triangles on the cheeks, thick eyebrows and large red lips set in a mischievous grin. Grimaldi's design is used by many modern clowns. According to Grimaldi's biographer Andrew McConnell Stott, it was one of the most important theatrical designs of the 1800s.<ref name=MCS117-118>{{Harvnb|McConnell Stott|2009|pp=117–118}}</ref>

America's first great whiteface clown was stage star [[George L. Fox (clown)|George "G.L." Fox]]. Inspired by Grimaldi, Fox popularised the Humpty Dumpty stories throughout the U.S. in the 1860s.