Clowns vs. Mannequins vs. Mimes: Battle of Childhood Nightmares

As the days grow shorter and a cold chill hits the air (at least for our players in the Northern Hemisphere) the spectres and spirits begin their haunting.

And what is more frightening than those friendly dwellers from the floor of the Uncanny Valley?

Will it be giggling clowns, dead-eyed mannequins, or personal-space-invading mimes? pick your favorite nightmare and let the unfestivities commence!

**Please note this competition will run from Tues – Wed rather than the usual Thurs – Fri time slot.

Clowns

Clowns evolved from the zanni or “rustic fool” characters of the Italian “Commedia dell’arte” masked theatre.  But we know clowns are no fools!  Behind their over-exaggerated makeup and horrifying mismatch of prints lies a heart of pure evil!

Mannequins

Mannequin comes from the french, meaning “an artist’s jointed model,” which in turn came from the Flemish “manneken” meaning “little man, figurine.”  Today’s life-sized mannequins are often used to display clothing in window displays.  Though many have a very life-like resemblance to living, breathing humans, they are actually not alive and don’t move around at night or plot against while you are sleeping, no matter how much it looks like that’s exactly what they are doing.  They really don’t!  That would just be crazy!

Mimes

Mimes have their origin in ancient Greece, specifically from a masked dancer called Pantomimus, though his performances were not necessarily silent.  Famous performer Jean-Gaspard Deburau really ramped up the mime creepiness in early nineteenth century Paris, adding mutism and whiteface to the mime character.  We know you’re trapped in a box, mime, but maybe you could take that box another hundred yards away from our faces?  Or maybe a couple countries away?  That would be great, thanks!

The usual bonuses

Earn 5,000 points – 2,500 bonus
Earn 15,000 points – 5,000 bonus
Earn 25,000 points – 10,000 bonus
For every 25,000 points above 25,000 – 5,000 bonus
Member of winning team (if you’ve scored at least 2,500 points) – 10,000 bonus
Highest scorer on each team – 5,000 bonus
Player with #1 overall score – 10,000 bonus
Player with #2 overall score – 5,000 bonus
Player with #3 overall score – 2,500 bonus

The competition starts at 11:00 AM ET on 10/11 and runs for 24 hours. See you there!

Artwork by Tyler Scagliarini