What’s With All This Clown Nonsense?

Did savage, murderous clowns kill 23 Canadians? Nah. Was a clown plotting kidnapping and carnage at Lincoln-Way Central High School? The sheriff says it was actually a teenage boy, so probably not. But what about those two clowns down in Texas, the ones with a stick who were chasing people around? That actually happened, says NewsFX, but when the clowns were captured and unmasked, they turned out to be be just another two teenage boys. And they would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling cops.

What’s with all this clown nonsense? Did these kids all get bored with playing Pokemon at the same time?

The International Business Times went to the trouble of putting together a comprehensive timeline of all this clown nonsense, starting with an August clown sighting in South Carolina right up to a clown appearance in Idaho on Monday.

And now they’re here, lurking around Chicago. For some reason.

Social media lit up over a clown walking around Worth. ABC reported that police were investigating whether a clown chased a bunch of students on the South Side.

"Parents said they were asked by school officials to pick their students up from school in person at the end of the day in light of the morning's incident," according to ABC. "'They wouldn't even let the kids out the house because of this clown,' one parent said."

Way down in Granite City, the police department posted on its Facebook page that it received several calls about clowns around town but was writing them off as pranks. But pranks or not, the police in Granite City weren't amused.

"Although we live in a safe community, a simple prank can get out of control resulting in danger for all involved," the post said. "Parents and everyone should be aware that these incidents are at the very least a breach of the peace, which can result in charges against the perpetrators."

And then there's this guy on Twitter, Illinois Clown. He brags about going out to scare people in Naperville ("LOCK YOUR DOORS YOU RICH BASTARDS"), Plainfield and St. Charles, and how he frightened people outside Walmart. But it's OK because it's just a joke.

Illinois Clown might just wanna have fun, but up in Waukegan, three guys in clown masks not only taunted and threatened elementary school children, they said they're coming back on Friday to kill them.

It's not clear what prompted the three Waukegan clowns to menace some kids, or why they showed up at Greenwood Elementary carrying a knife, a briefcase and a gun in the first place.

While this clown phenomenon appears to have begun just a few months ago and only recently gained footing in the city, suburbs and even Downstate, some Italian jokers were playing clown gags years ago.

The Italian outfit DM Pranks has a series of clown gag videos on its YouTube channel dating back to 2014. Before they started their clown nonsense, DM Pranks did some prank videos with titles such as, “Touching People," “Confusing People” and “Putting Hats on People.” They’re hilarious, if you’re into that kind of thing.