MST3K - Here Comes the Circus

From the episode The Day the Earth Froze.
Cast:
Joel Robinson - Joel Hodgson
Crow T. Robot - Trace Beaulieu
Tom Servo - Kevin Murphy
© 2008 Shout! Factory, LLC

[@IsItModern]

"And here come the freaks now!" is a top ten best line from MST3K ever.

[@dubbie17]

I was unfortunate enough to have been taking a drink when that line was said......I'm wiping off my monitor screen.

[@CarryLarry]

But really, what kind of madman wants to watch animals get chased around a big stinky tent and poop on *everything*

[@TruthArrows]

Keyser Soze I have done the same thing dozens of times over the years while watching MST3K. Never at any other time though, it must be an MST3K thing. Once it was so severe that I choked and had to swear off snacking or drinking while watching MST3K lol

[@kathyfreebury5713]

And number 1 is Here comes the devil

[@mauricedavis2160]

🤣🤣🤣👌

[@kylestubbs8867]

“Yes, our Betty swings both ways!” “Oh, stop it!” “What? She does. Look.”

[@know-body2519]

Looks like a circus tranny

[@JediBlades42]

"It's Ezekiel, the Amish clown."

[@Humbledingify]

"No buttons!"

[@phylliselizahb1041]

No buttons

[@cammameil]

Children of all ages are confronted by forces they can't begin to understand! Yes, children's windows of perception are open for only a second, only to take in the horror that is the circus!

[@monkeymouse]

"They're doing it clown style!"

[@SNARC15]

AND MADONNA THINKS SHE'S INNOVATIVE!

[@TheWolfgabe]

More! More! I'm a bad clown!

[@dragonoidlover6164]

Oh please tell me this isn't happening... Oh no

[@53subscribersnovideos35]

When clowns mate.

[@angelicadayanafernandez1525]

🤡🤡🤡

[@jonstokes7588]

'Emmet Kelly agreed to appear in this on the condition that it be filmed during his lunch break.'

[@finalunusedname]

"The circus, with its thrills, fun, sawdust and spangles..." Finally, someone paying tribute to the best part of a circus, the sawdust! You can keep your acrobatics and beast-taming and fire-stuff. I'm here for the powdered wood, and ONLY the powdered wood!

[@TimelordR]

+finalunusedname Ah, the roar of the greasepaint & the smell of the lions...

[@UltimateOmegaRed]

TimelordR "The piercing screams of a freashmen!"

[@chrisnemec5644]

Are you sure that's powdered wood and not asbestos?

[@HylianFox3]

Something has to soak up all the crap

[@typacsk]

Found Ron Swanson's account

[@applemask]

HERE COMES THE DEVIL

[@RobotwarsKing]

It's Beelzebub the Clown!

[@VancesMediaTreasures]

dark?

[@JamaicanCastle]

Beelzebub the Clown has a seltzer bottle set aside for me

[@maryannadkins2705]

It's Liza!

[@Dfturcott]

its thomas edison and his electric child!

[@hell5309]

He looks more like Orville Redenbacher to me.

[@tomservo56954]

"I invented that move" "Yeah, right"

[@stanleywilliamson7925]

Nobody's got to tell a Navy man when he's had enough to drink!!

[@thewolfgabe3656]

Bing Crosby's relationship with his son Gary is reenacted

[@bowlingstoned2113]

I fucking howled at that one 😂

[@JHATDRUMMER1976]

oh its a full contact "whos afraid of virginia wolf" dont talk about a clown martha

[@zootopiawilson]

"They're doing it Clown Style!"

[@JHATDRUMMER1976]

OH AND MADONNA THINKS SHES INNERVATED

[@wilshirewarrior2783]

And here come the freaks now....

[@Meonlyme]

Emmet Kelly... The guy is actually pretty interesting. He was involved in trying to save people during the Hartford circus fire. He was pretty damn famous for his time. His son took over when he died.

[@GannJerrod]

Yeah, but his son didn't eat stuff nearly as well as he did.

[@LchanOtakudom]

Meonlyme He was pretty awesome.

[@MrSoopSA]

His son did his act while he was still alive and he basically disowned him over that.

[@kwijung]

"Ice princess zebra" wow, now THAT is an obscure reference

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

kwijung Really? ‘Ice Station Zebra’ was a very big movie!

[@Cowboy24679]

Very much so.

[@2ndpersonshooter713]

"Oh no, they're doing it clown style!"

[@amber-bp5in]

"More! More! I'm a *BAD* clown!"

[@omophagia]

CHUG it CHUG it CHUG it wooo

[@TheAnchorArmsChad]

"It's Ezekiel the Amish Clown!"

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

Deaddy Fazpool No buttons.

[@irisius7551]

GIVE IT TO ME IM A BAD CLOWN!

[@rodneywalker1328]

"Levi's loose-fitting clown jeans."

[@dustinthehuman8626]

"Here comes the devil!"

[@bromodragone8405]

It's Beelzebub the Clown.

[@kumaboi6159]

"....and Emmet Kelly's still eating!!!"

[@Reciter5613]

"....And it's still funny!!!"

[@KenoshiAkai]

"We love it when he eats!"

[@mikezylstra7514]

He was such an established character he really didn't have to do much of anything.

[@kylestubbs8867]

⁠@@mikezylstra7514He unironically was. That’s “Weary Willie”, a sad clown based on hobos in the 1920s. At a time when other clowns were trying to be funny and upbeat, he stood out being the opposite… or at least, making you laugh from the ridiculous tone contradiction.

[@scharb]

“Children of all ages are confronted by dark forces they can’t begin to understand!”

[@cindydott452]

I love when Crow yells "Kitties!"

[@louie40205]

Don’t talk about our clown, Martha!”

[@BaronPalamedeCharlus]

Now I understand why some people have a phobia about scary clowns.

[@mikezylstra7514]

Except Emmet Kelly. He's one clown that never gave me the willies.

[@MWSfan18]

@@mikezylstra7514 I see what you did there!

[@amber-bp5in]

I don't think kids should see clowns until their teen years, because some are scared by them.

[@chrisnemec5644]

"Here comes the circus is always a memorable event." They should have said "One that would take years of intensive psychotherapy to overcome!"

[@nikoincroatia]

The clowns being scary except for the last one was pretty funny

[@katied2659]

Ross Perot ref at 0:43 😂

[@streetness]

Levi's loose fitting clown jeans

[@amber-bp5in]

Joel constantly chastising the bots for going too far in their jokes is the best part. "Yes, Betty swings both ways!"

[@TimelordR]

"Yes, our Betty goes BOTH ways..." Nice...

[@astralsoulmate]

Our Betty swings both ways

[@kylestubbs8867]

“Oh, stop it.”

[@trogdortheburninator3621]

get your red hot moms... haha I could die from the humor 😄

[@jessicajayes8326]

Kitties!

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

Jessica Jayes Meow!

[@rebeccah.4983]

"Wait a minute, aren't the horses supposed to go behind the band."

[@Munchausen45]

“Oops”🐎🐎💩🥁🎷🎺

[@typacsk]

Reminds me of Roger Ebert's review of the 1998 "Godzilla": "It was the [Cannes] festival's closing film, coming at the end like the horses in a parade, perhaps for the same reason."

[@ChanceUriahMiller]

😂😂 *"now make way for the klu klux clowns!"* 🤣🤣 1:34

[@GlitchanBlack]

1:38

[@anthrax2525]

"Nobody's gonna tell a Navy man when he's had enough ta drink! *hic*"

[@adinocc2042]

@4:57 Tom Servo: "Store this image away for A later nightmare!"

[@hodgepodgebuhgodge3739]

Betty Got 'Back'!

[@jackmiller2404]

Kind of strange to think that the whole traditional circus culture is gone now. Something once so popular just completely disappeared. Well time marches on.

[@graphitetailgrace3870]

It probably would have lasted longer if it hadn't been for all the animal abuse.

[@jackmiller2404]

@@graphitetailgrace3870 they should have known better. They shouldn’t have used fear-based training. They eventually switched to treat-based training, but by that time animal activism had grown too strong for them to fight against.

[@DaleGallagher986]

I once listened to a Vocaloid song called "Circus Monster", which portrays the dark side of being a circus performer (or something similar) It's pretty tragic, but I recommend hearing it.

[@LauriMcclain]

One of the best shorts they ever covered. Every joke is quotable and memorable.

[@ilikethecokev2]

STELLAAAAA!

[@cabooseresurrected5183]

ilikethecokev2 Stop referencing "A Streetcar Named Desire."

[@t1p9d]

For all those complaining about Joel telling the bots not to go dark: at the time, the show had been getting complaints from fans about the riffs in the shirts being particularly dark, negative, and "adult" compared to the riffs in the features. The shorts tended to have a lot of jokes woth references to sex, drugs, politics, family dysfunction, misogyny, and violence. Joel tells the bots not to go dark during "Johnny at the Fair" too. He doesn't do it in "Circus on Ice" but he does interrupt Servo's "agents of Satan" song. Remember, at the time this was a show that regularly read letters from children on air (and not in the ironic way that the first season or so of Mike episodes did). There probably is an aspect of the ongoing behind the scenes conflicts as well. There was a point when the show's staff were so dysfunctional that Joel brought in a therapist.

[@Fakan]

That's just rubbish (the complaints, not you). Family shows and movies have always been like that. There's always humor for the adults that goes over kids' heads and then more casual humor for everyone especially the kids. God knows I didn't get half the jokes from this show while growing up and it didn't affect me negatively. =P

[@cr3861]

In a related item, Ringling Bros. Circus to give final show in May 2017

[@guygardner87]

One of my favorite MST3K shorts of all time.

[@danwolf3994]

Levies loose fitting Clown jeans lmao

[@Freebuscus]

This is the one that started it all for me!

[@TechnicJunglist]

"Stelllllllaaaaaa."

[@holographictacosalad]

We love it when he eats!

[@robertdiotalevi285]

03:23 Fifty Shades of Circus 05:19

[@luisreyes1963]

Nightmare fuel right there, bub. 😰

[@robertdiotalevi6073]

@@luisreyes1963 I still have the dreams, LR...😱

[@sarahl701]

"Emmett changed management soon after this."

[@kumaboi6159]

"We love it when he eats!"

[@Munchausen45]

@@kumaboi6159 “And he’s STILL eating”

[@JHATDRUMMER1976]

@@Munchausen45and its still funny

[@Windows100.09TheVideoEditor]

So many riffs in this went way over my head when I first saw this as a 10-year old!

[@pikminfan6778]

It's a full-contact Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf!

[@JHATDRUMMER1976]

dont talk about a clown martha

[@shawnschliepp9637]

oh my Lord, thier doing it clown style

[@kathyfreebury5713]

Yes children of all ages are confronted by forces they can't begin to understand

[@macdaddymandalorian7305]

i miss this show

[@metropod]

The only reason I know who Emmet Kelly Sr. and Jr. are... My parents bought me Jr's endorsed G gauge train set. Then had to explain who the weird looking guy on the box was.

[@jessicajayes8326]

I know who Emmet Kelly was because my dad's favorite movie is The Greatest Show on Earth, plus he was in the circus.

[@silvereagle2061]

+metropod Jr use to have a clown school/museum near me here in Florida.

[@DoctorPorkenfries]

Man, Joel was such a stick in the mud in this one.

[@KyleShiflet13666]

It's cause of the complaints the show was getting at the time

[@DoctorPorkenfries]

@@KyleShiflet13666 What complaints?

[@shawnschliepp9637]

this was one of their greatest, and most frightening sports

[@abcbatman1966]

"That' too dark" LOL

[@hellboy1976]

11 freaks, clowns and daredevils gave this a 'thumbs down'

[@luisreyes1963]

What about the lady who got "too friendly" with those elephants? 🐘

[@jackal59]

6:19 - fantastic impersonation of Alvy Moore, who played Hank Kimball on _Green Acres_ .

[@Raqio1]

Joel: “It’s Emmet Kelly!” Tom: “That’s great Joel.” Joel: “No it really is!”

[@JoeyLamontagne]

LMAO @ Beezelbub the Clown

[@TUPRBABE]

0:35 please tell me he said PEANUTS for the elephants ... because I'm not sure that's what I heard.

[@robertdiotalevi285]

TURPBABE: No, you heard it right the first time. Kinky elephants.

[@luisreyes1963]

Remember: Animals should ALWAYS be behind the marching band. 😅

[@oldyellercj7]

4:35 had me in tears

[@shawnschliepp9637]

I had too look up who Albert Speer and Dag Hammerskold were

[@Fakan]

And they say television has no educational value. =P

[@scharb]

Fun fact: Albert Speer, Jr, designed the stadiums that will be used for the FIFA World Cup this year. You might have heard about all the migrants who died building them.

[@luisreyes1963]

Dag Hammarskjöld was the 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations. 🇺🇳

[@tomservo56954]

@@luisreyes1963 Killed in a 1961 plane crash

[@gloriaswanson5346]

"STEEEELLLLAAAA!!" 😆😂🤣

[@12yellowcab]

Nobody’s gonna tell the navy man when he’s had enough to drink?

[@yaywhewclips242]

Love those zebras!

[@HamburgerMolester]

This is a good one.

[@wambam1741]

One of their finest

[@JPMadden]

At 5:52 the short's narrator says "pamolino horses" instead of "palomino." I guess the MST3K writers missed it.

[@kylestubbs8867]

2:21 That’s “Weary Willy”, a clown character based on the hobos of the Great Depression.

[@karanojin]

i just see it as joel at his most stoned

[@FelinaofL2]

Geez, Joel, why were you scolding the Bots so much, only to make that elephant riff? The Bots were great!

[@InchonDM]

It's a key part of the comedic pacing. Without Joel tamping down on the intensity of the riffs now and then, they'll get progressively more spicy as a function of escalation and that'll ram into the cap of what you can show on television REAL fast.

[@InchonDM]

I'd also note, you don't usually see this in the main films because those are much longer. From an out-of-character perspective, jokes ramping up and being tamped down will make the episode feel like a rollercoaster, and also hinder any attempt at a coherent flow. This is important because the movies also get chopped up by skits and commercial breaks. The shorts get away with being much faster and intense because they're much shorter -- enough to be shown without commercial breaks.

[@joshpatillo9515]

😂😂😂 More,more I'm a baaad clown 🤡

[@CarryLarry]

1:17 This is a deep cut. Google this, it kinda happened.

[@scharb]

Which part, Thomas Edison’s Electric Child, the drumming up of support for the Spanish American War, or the Ku Klux Klowns?

[@MsTwinkle101]

Am I the only weirdo that doesn't find the circus scary? 😃

[@tomservo56954]

I am also not terrified of clowns...they are neither here nor there for me.

[@vonzigle]

Paul Duca I'm not terrified of clowns, but find most of them repulsive, and definitely not entertaining! 😝

[@shuttittuppitt9355]

I'm not afraid of clowns either (a giant lion on the other hand), but I _do_ remember once when I was 2 or 3, & we went to a circus, & some clown tried to talk to me for a bit. I probably wouldn't have screamed in sheer terror if I had been taller, but at that age, you're tall if you're 3 feet tall.

[@LchanOtakudom]

I think, because Joel knew that the scenes shown would bring to mind the dark side of the circus, that he tried to keep Tom Servo and Crow from dwelling on just those aspects. I admit, seeing the animals (especially the big cats) was really hard to watch, but this is from a different era and it wouldn't do any good to regret what the animals went through. I appreciate the dark comedy, but I think Joel was trying to keep focus off of the sadness and on the silly quips he and the Bots threw out. I love the Emmet Kelly cameos though! TL;DR The circus is a dark topic on some fronts and Joel was just trying to keep the comedy from focusing on that alone. That's just my opinion. Other people in the comments have different takes on things seen here, so it's up to the individual.

[@midwest9757]

Your over thinking it...try to enjoy the humor without reading into it so much

[@TheMinerMan]

It's just a show, you should really just relax

[@LchanOtakudom]

Yeah, I was posting in response to all the comments being all "WHY HATE THE CIRCUS JOEL!". I was just trying to be helpful, while giggling like a maniac at the fact that I was making a serious comment on an MST3k video.

[@LchanOtakudom]

LOL, yes!

[@jekblom123]

The cats were never struck with the whip.

[@airforcemax]

.....Earth........

[@adrianab.5809]

It's Liza and Hell Raiser (scary clowns) 😂

[@blueskye6372]

Hilarious. 😳🤣😂🤟

[@GlitchanBlack]

Heeeeeeeere comes the Devil!

[@shawnschliepp9637]

so was the woman blindfolded, or the horse, going over the wall of fire?

[@davidschwartz6380]

after watching the animal acts i can now see how many protest that aspect of traditional circuses...there justvseems something unatural to the acts n wonder how much pain went into the training? oh well, still, it was mst 3000 funnny

[@angeltosome]

Let the nightmare begin, uh huh ghuh huh huh!

[@jatigre1]

Joel is a very funny and sensitive guy and trying to riff something that involves animal cruelty was more difficult than people are giving him credit for here.

[@paxhumana2015]

You know what the worst forms of animal cruelty and torture are in life? The answers are PETA, vegans, and vegetarians.

[@jgroth3906]

Pax Humana where do you people get your insane bullshit?

[@wesleychalmers7648]

I'd say the short "catching trouble" would have been harder in terms of making fun in spite of animal cruelty, though in that one they directly address the subject matter.

[@mikezylstra7514]

@@paxhumana2015 And large dogs owned by single women who talk to them high pitched like they're children. They're the worst behaved dogs.

[@menslady125eif2590]

Don't mention our clown, Martha.

[@trulor]

I invented that move

[@teedup8995]

Yeah right.

[@scitsalcoryp]

I always hated the circus ... especially the clowns

[@Thornbloom]

Coulrophobia is an unfortunate mental condition partly due to the use of the evil clown trope in media. Like Ed Gein. Yeah he was a notorious serial killer but when he had on the clown makeup he was a genuine entertainer that liked to make people smile. His clown act was totally unrelated to his crime spree.

[@scitsalcoryp]

@@Thornbloom Ed Gein was truly an unheralded hero . Dancing in the moonlight clothed with skins of neighbors is such a noble thing to do . He's right up there with Al Fish .

[@mikezylstra7514]

This short is best viewed after smoking a doobie.

[@pikminfan6778]

Here comes the devil!

[@sclogse1]

People were a lot thinner then...

[@reidsoria3761]

I hate it when he says "Here comes the devil!"

[@Lunar_Blacksmith]

Seeing those lions being whipped into submission made me so sad. I actually teared up a little. :(

[@Lunar_Blacksmith]

+CrazyKraut20 At least it'll be quick then. And they can stop the tears in their tracks.

[@CrazyKraut20]

+Katie Wahl I wasn't serious just putting things in perspective/joking chill also no you can definetely bet that being mauled by a predatory animal will most certainly not be quick... they go for genitalia first you know then they wait till you bleed to death caus they are lazy cowardly jerks

[@Lunar_Blacksmith]

+CrazyKraut20 I was being intentionally melodramatic, lol. I know that Internet intonation is hard to read. Cheers. :)

[@Ripster99]

+Katie Wahl Stick a pencil in my throat and punch the eraser end.

[@Lunar_Blacksmith]

+EHEC19200 Sure! Is it a magic trick?

[@12yellowcab]

4:39 sounds like Pee Wee Herman

[@graphitetailgrace3870]

Those palomino horses were hard to watch, especially the one at 6:19. Rearing isn't a comfortable position for a horse to be forced into and the last one was clearly fighting to get back down.