In oversized shoes, Michael Jaques is accustomed to leading a trail of light into Wollongong Hospital as its resident clown doctor, MJ.
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But he worries the worldwide creepy clown craze is leaving a lasting black mark on his craft.
With mounting attention on violent and intimidating encounters involving pranksters dressed in terrifying clown costume, Mr Jaques is fretting about his next visit to the hospital children’s ward.
“It [the craze] is giving clowns a bad rap,” he said.
“I’m back in the hospital in the next few weeks and it’s going to be hard for me to make my appearances as I normally do.
“I feel a bit anxious about it, because I’m not sure how people will feel when they see me fixed up.”
Mr Jaques has been honing his craft for the past 30 years. He attended clown school for six weeks to learn skills in juggling, balloon animal-making and face painting, and appeared at children’s parties and corporate events before becoming a volunteer visitor the hospital children’s ward.
He stopped painting his face when he realised some children’s fear of clowns could be overcome if he approached them clean-skinned.
The children he worked to cheer at the hospital were “trapped in there – a lot of them can hardly move” and it was unfair for pranksters to have interfered with the goodwill he brought, he said.
“There have been creepy clowns for a long time, but these ones are getting a little bit out of control by doing things to people,” he said.
“They’re not clowns. Clowns are happy and want to bring joy. These people are doing the opposite. They’re people dressing up in scary clown outfits and trying to scare people.”
The fad was borne several months ago in the US, where police have since warned residents not to approach or engage with the clowns. One popular theory for the emergency of the fad is the upcoming remake of the film IT, but many observers suggest the craze is random.
With the recent arrival of the craze in Australia, pages purporting to organise clown activity have bloomed on social media.
Some have promised clown meet-ups or violence in Illawarra suburbs including Warrawong and Berkeley, but according to Lake Illawarra Command acting inspector Matt Glasgow, the online bluster has come to nothing illegal, so far.
"Whilst it's not an offence to dress up as a clown, if you’re doing anything threatening or intimidating, police could get involved and there could be potential action,” he told the Mercury.
