Killer clowns are way more popular than their therapeutic counterparts. Although that shouldn’t be surprising.
It’s been shown that people respond better to negative stimuli.
I typed the words, Killer Clown, into Google search.
The result: About 53,600,000 results (0.76 seconds).
I then typed the words, Therapeutic Clown, into Google search.
The result: About 1,580,000 results (0.46 seconds)
In Yahoo search, Killer Clowns offered 15,100,000 results while Therapeutic Clowns listed 9,350,000 findings.
After all, everyone knows that bad news sells.
My side gig is as a clown (school clown, therapeutic clown). When I’m not clowning, I am a good news journalist. Of course, I know that bad news outperforms good news in readership by far.
And yet, I’m optimistic that good news – and positive clowning – can inspire. Even if I know we’ll never see the headline: Killer Clowns Share Joy and Positivity With Therapeutic Clowns on Internet.
Update: I clowned in schools from 2018-2019. I now give talks and blog about this extraordinary experience.