red clown
n.—Gloss: a zany, antic, destructive clown, opposite of a white clown, who is orderly and calm. «Taproot Theatre director Karen Lund supplies a twinkly anti-realistic performance style to accompany Wilde’s ingenious artifices. Her cast includes inspired clowns: Aaron Lamb as Algernon, Kevin Brady as Jack, Charity Parenzini as Gwendolen and Bethany Hudson as Cecily. These four are what are called in comedy jargon “red clowns,” the zanies who are constantly skidding in the direction of disorder. Pam Nolte is the “white clown,” the desperate figure of respectability who attempts to impose some kind of order. And Kim Morris and Bill Johns are what might be called “pink clowns,” a dithering tutor and a blithering clergyman who struggle for propriety but stumble on the facts of life.» —“Darkly comic ‘Halcyon Days’ is smart and timely” by Joe Adcock Seattle Post-Intelligencer Oct. 1, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...