Clowns Are a Dying Breed

Depending on how you look at it, this could be good or bad news.

It turns out that there is a national clown shortage! Mainly because nobody wants to be a clown anymore. The World Clown Association, the country’s largest trade group for clowns, said that there numbers have dropped from 3,500 in 2004 to 2,500 members.

Other than kids not wanting to be clowns, Clowns of America president Glen Kohlberger said that all of their current member are dying off. Well he didn't say it exactly like that, here's his exact words, "What’s happening is attrition, the older clowns are passing away.”

He also went on to explain why kids don't want to be clowns anymore saying, "They go on to high school and college and clowning isn't cool anymore.  Clowning is then put on the back burner until their late 40s and early 50s."

Other than being really, really creepy I would say clowns can come in pretty handy on a rainy day, or if you want to scare someone to death.

The money is also another issue. The average clown makes anywhere from $38,000 to $51,000 (If you have a steady clowning job like a circus) a year. And in a world where everyone wants more that's just not good enough money to entice the youngsters.

Is this the beginning of the end of clowns? Possibly, but only time will tell.

You may want to hire a clown for your kids now though, while they're still around. That way they can tell their grandchildren about the time they saw the now extinct creatures they called the clown.