Drawing red lines down his face to exaggerate his saddened eyes and adding enormous brows of navy blue greasepaint, Kelly added, "Funny men are rarely funny off stage or screen. The only one I know - that is, the only comedian with a clown instinct who is occasionally a clown in real life - is Danny Kaye. He has fits of humor and practical joking when he is uncontrollable. But only rare intervals; at other times he goes around with a long ***** sad heart. A real clown." Clowning Is Serious Business! - The funny face of the clown oft masks a serious face and heart, as every audience of "I Pagliacci" knows. Perhaps the greatest exemplar extant, outside of the classic halls of opera and inside the realm of real life, is Emmett Kelly, who has kept circus fans in stitches for 30 years which his sad and solemn clowning. January 01, 1950.