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]
(..) their troubles. That part l like. l might as well speak Greek! What're you up to? Pretend to listen, then play the clown! Your mother's right! You're a scatterbrain! How'd the rascal do it? He learned by watching. l'm telling the manager (..)1988 Cinema Paradiso