Creepy Clowns Take to the Street to Celebrate the Movie "It"

Movie fans tend to celebrate the release of a much-anticipated movie in many ways. Some throw a small get-together before going out to see the movie as a group. Others queue up for the midnight showing while having their own little party as they wait in line.

But a group of L.A. creatives decided to do something a little different. In celebration of the release of the movie #It this week, performers and fans dressed up in their best clown attire and took over a large section of 7th and Broadway in Los Angeles with a massive group of photographers in tow.

Organized by TFTI Los Angeles, the net result of the gathering was nothing short of spectacular—if not a little jarring to the innocent bystander (who are probably already spooked by Pennywise-themed photoshoots with toddlers and eerie red balloons popping up everywhere).

Send In The Clowns

The premise of the meetup was pretty simple: "The newest adaptation of #StephenKing's It is coming out this weekend so let's all celebrate by dressing up as clowns and take to the streets." However, unlike the creepy clown sightings meant to scare and disturb, this meetup was a large collaborative effort between photographers and models to create things together (that are meant to scare and disturb).

The announcement for the meetup was made earlier this week and people responded in droves with their best clown makeup and a handful of red balloons. Both sides of the street were taken up by models and performers with some even setting off smoke bombs or dancing with fire for that nightmare circus feel. As one of those photographers in the crowd, I thought I'd share some pics for your entertainment (or to scare and disturb, your call).

So What Was It Like?

So imagine for a moment that you're walking down the street minding your own business. As you walk, you start to see a suspiciously large group of people gathered at one spot. It's Los Angeles so it doesn't strike you as strange at first—could be a riot; could be the latest gathering of acro-yoga enthusiasts on a bed of kale. There have been stranger things that have occurred in this odd town, after all. But you get closer and then you see red balloons. You see a lot of red balloons and you hear maniacal cackling.

You look across the street and see someone in a clown mask twirling around something that's putting out a lot of colored smoke. You're mesmerized and a little taken aback by it. In that moment of distraction, you're brought back to reality by the sound of something grinding hard against the concrete and you turn too late to realize there's a clown sliding on their hands and knees right towards you. You get very startled and you try to walk away as quickly as possible with either a really good story to tell or a fresh new trauma to work through with your therapist. Either way, it was more than just a typical night in L.A.

From the outside looking in, that's pretty much as accurate a summation of the meetup as I can manage. For those who meant to be at the event, it was simply a wonderful opportunity to collaborate, create some creepy art, and get excited about a remake that's looking to be one that can stand on its own and do the source material justice.

All in all, it was a weird and creepy night but a very good one.