The latest notch on James Franco's belt: Paris Review contributer. And today he's written about... James Franco. More specifically, James Franco's project that just left PS1, in which he made a film cut from some outtakes of Gus van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. But what we really want to dig into here is the actor's latest appearance on General Hospital, which somehow managed to make us laugh and want to hide in a closet all at the same time. If "clown" were a feeling, we felt very "clown" watching this: more ›

Sunday political talk shows exist for pointless posturing and taunting (you know, how Senators spend 27% of their time?). So maybe White House strategist and 2008 grassroots guru David Plouffe was just doing his job on This Week by saying "there's zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people" to be president, and that Trump pushing the whole birther issue is "sideshow behavior." Our hero gallantly responded on Fox and Friends today by pointing out that Barry's people are "talking only about Trump…I'm their worst nightmare…they know it and I know it." Take that, reasonable assumption-maker David Plouffe! more ›

TV reporter Arthur Chi'en, beloved to New Yorkers for telling off some stupid Opie & Anthony fans during a live broadcast (and then getting unjustly fired from WCBS 2), was the victim of a "marauding clown" during Sunday's Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village. Chi'en was on a float, and then an overzealous reveler tried to climb aboard, only for Chi'en to be dragged down onto the street; the Daily News says Chi'en's face was fractured in six places. more ›

A state appellate court ruled that a convicted carjacker can get a new trial because a Bronx judge called his lawyer a "clown." The Post reports, "The panel of appellate judges did not dispute the evidence against Damian Leggett, who attempted to steal a driver's car at gunpoint," but they didn't like was how Bronx Supreme Court Judge Robert Neary constantly insulted Leggett's court-appointed lawyer. For instance, "During the prosecutor's summation, the judge snapped at Levine: 'Would you behave like a professional, please, and not a clown?" Instead, the panel said Neary should have insulted Levine in a sidebar and not in front of jurors. more ›

L trainers: In case you were wondering why your rush hour subway ride on Friday was filled with more clowns than usual, here's a photographic explanation. Friday, you see, marked the kick-off for the Brick Theater's annual New York Clown Theatre Festival. It is the only festival in New York devoted to clown theatre, and it's also the only theatre festival to begin with a parade, a commute on the L, and a public pie fight near the Lorimer stop. Just another night in Williamsburg. more ›

On Friday, a group of bike-riding clowns associated with Times Up! staged another bike lane liberation action, using slapstick humor to dispel a widespread misconception that bike lanes are parking lots. Dressed in cartoonish hazmat suits and acting as "agent-technicians from the Bureau Of Organized Bikelane Safety (B.O.O.B.S.)," the jokers patrolled the Sixth Avenue bike lane, treating the cars that blocked it like toxic crime scenes. more ›

About two months ago, as Albany was mired in new chaos with two Democrats aligning with the Republicans during coup/power grab, the NY Post sent a clown to Albany to add to the circus of madness. Today, the NY Times looks (fondly?) at the tabloid's move, interviewing Connie Adams, professionally known as Sunny the Clown. She "typically performs at children’s birthday parties and corporate picnics" and was initially "reluctant to cancel her standing Wednesday night gig at a local Burger King and make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to the capital." But now Adams is happy she said yes, what with a mention on NPR, the Post's coverage, the envy of her peers, and a small amount of local fame when she happens to be in public as her alter-ego: "I don’t generally like to go out when I’m in clown. You have to stay in character, and it’s really hard. But some guy turns to me and says: 'Sunny the Clown! I just saw you in the paper!'" more ›

On Saturday a bunch bike-riding of clowns took to the streets to "liberate" bike lanes from the tyranny of parked and idling automobiles. Affiliated with advocacy group Times-Up!, the festive ride represented a mounting frustration on the part of cyclists who say the NYPD has not been doing enough to keep cars out of bike lanes. During the ride, some two dozen clowns simulated crashing into the backs of vehicles parked in bike lanes, and pleaded with drivers to move out of the way. more ›

Yesterday morning, the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell was rung by Grandma the Clown from the Big Apple Circus. The Post has details on what happened next: Master of Ceremonies Carrie "Harvey and Grandma wandered the floor trying to spread joy and merriment, placing funny red noses on exchange officials to touch the funny bones of even the most shaken traders." more ›