YOU like jokes and I like to laugh. Especially when we are rather painfully aware of hopes that are so hard to achieve and dreams that feel impossible. Clowns, it seems, can also be signs of melancholy, or the impossibility of achievement. Or futility.

“Send in the clowns!” is what people are supposed to say backstage when a performance is going flat and needs saving to keep the audience from leaving. “Send in the Clowns!” are the words