Carpet Clown

a comic circus artist, who performs during pauses between numbers in the program (while the carpet is being spread out or rolled up). The carpet clown first appeared in the 1870’s. Originally he was a stagehand, dressed in a special uniform, who bungled everything he did. Sometimes the carpet clown was a clumsy horseman. In Germany this type of clown was called Auguste; in Russia, the Red Clown (because he wore a red wig).