His classmates remember him as 'the class clown'. [=a student who tried to make other students laugh]
a rodeo 'clown' [=a person in a rodeo who dresses like a circus clown]
He was always 'playing the clown'. [=trying to make people laugh]
(..) Why are they here. Can we have a meeting without cameras. You invited them. I'm sick of being a clown, sick of play-acting. It's happening way too often. I can't keep hamming it up for TV crews. Is that understood. I don't want them anymore. (..)2016 Me Before You