Silver Lining to Creepy Clown Sightings

BALTIMORE, Md. (WJZ)-- For many people clowns are all about the entertainment. But for many clowns, making people laugh is there livelihood and that is being threatened with the rise of the so called "creepy clown" incidents across the county and in Maryland.

It's no secret that some people fear or feared clowns well before the creepy clown hysteria, but for those who view the painted faces and colorful clothes as fun. Creepy clowns and their tweets are bad for the clown business.

Clowns, once the main attraction of a circus or party bringing laughter and a good time, but that is now threatened with so called "creepy clown" sightings and a violence threatening tweets.

In Maryland alone, there have been seven teens arrested in recent weeks, all accused of making threats masked as clowns.

For Greg May, the fear isn't the clowns nor the threats, but rather what this could do to the business of this 20 year professional clown and now owner of a circus training school.

"Because these aren't clowns, they're people dressed up like clowns. If somebody was in the woods and they put on a white coat and they were out there scaring people, people wouldn't say doctors, 'doctors are in the woods scaring people,' they would say people dressed up like doctors are scaring people," said May.

May says the "creepy clown" scare hasn't affected his business or the business of other professional clowns he knows.

"I certainly feared it, because it puts people in the other direction from what we do," said May.

At May's Center Ring Circus School, the kids keep coming and parents don't seemed phased by recent clown fearing incidents.

"I don't have any adults who have said, 'are you sure you want to have them in clown school? Do you know what's going on and the connection between them?' we haven't had anybody asking anything. There hasn't been too much hysteria at this point," said parent Dawn Najmy.

When it comes to clowning around, May says it's his job and way of life, so remember "there are professional clowns, and there are amateur clowns and there are people who dress up like clowns."

May says there's a silver lining, he says he talked more about clowns this month than he has all year.