The circus of liberation: Clowning as social creativity in insane clown posse's dark carnival

Abstract

The Detroit band Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and their fan subculture of ‘Juggalos’ have created an alternative culture with its own symbolism, rituals, and forms of kinship, called the ‘Dark Carnival’. This article connects ICP and the Juggalo subculture to the cross-cultural study of clowning in European and Indigenous North American and Oceanian societies. It is argued that ICP and the Juggalos use clowning as a creative method to develop new ways of living and being and mount liberatory political challenges within an egalitarian counter-cultural space. ICP's clowning is situated within the post-industrial Rust Belt and is posed in relation to economic grievances, masculinity, class, Whiteness, and intergenerational violence. Clowned forms of performative violence are used in lyrics and rituals to create a communitarian ethos of ‘Juggalo family’ which accepts participants unconditionally, rejects actual violence, and eschews social taboos in favour of creating its own symbols and norms.