And the church bells rang with clarion sound. The pigeons flew out of their nests. Men cheered, women applauded, kids screamed. The pastor smiled and the groundskeeper waved. The town clown finally got married.
His shtick-full existence had caused the clown to become rather lonely since very few people bothered to talk to him and really understand what he was about. As time wore on, his antics became stale and his clowning lost it's edge. That was when the citizens of Townsvilleburg decided that it was time to mobilize. The clown had to get married.
It was not easy task mind you. I mean, who in their right mind would want to marry a guy with a pale white face, red nose, a permanent goofy grin and orange hair who wore shoes that were eight sizes too large? It was hard to get to know him too. If you approached him directly, you'd get shot in the eye with a jet of water that sprayed out of his fake flower on his plaid coat.
The citizens put wanted adds in the major newspapers all across the country - from San Francisco to New York, from Chicago to Cape Canaveral - calling out to the citizens of the world "We need a wife for our clown!" Applications poured in from all over the globe including exotic places such as Zimbabwe, Timbuktoo, and Rhode Island.
So they held an audition. They screened nearly three hundred candidates for the role of Town Clown and they wanted to be just as rigorous for the role of First Lady Clown. The prospectives had to dance, sing, act, perform stand-up comedy, acrobatics and cook - all while dribbling a basket ball. They even hired a city clown and she had to make him laugh. Have you ever tried making a clown laugh? It's hard.
After the initial screening, they settled on five potential candidates and called in their town clown. He walked into the auditorium and saw the lineup of women. Five lady clowns stood lined up in the middle of the room. He began to walk in front of them, pacing up and down. The third one squirted him with her fake flower. He shook her hand with an electric buzzer. They gave each other a great big smooch.
The wedding was brief but all of Townsvilleburg was there. As they left for their honeymoon, the town clown said to his new wife, "You know, for a town of their size, they treat us clowns pretty well!"
"I'll say" said his wife. "And wait till the Mayor sees the Jack-in-the-Box under his pillow!"
