Tommy the Clown

History

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Thomas Johnson, also known as Tommy the Clown, is an American dancer best known as the inventor of the "clowning" style of dance, which evolved into krumping. Johnson invented the style in 1992 to enhance birthday party clown acts, thereby creating the concept of "hip-hop clowns". Johnson and his followers have performed at birthday parties ranging from inner city communities to celebrities like Madonna, Pamela Anderson, and Cedric the Entertainer. He achieved international acclaim as focus of David LaChapelle's 2005 documentary RIZE. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tommy the Clown, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Movies

Rize
Rize
Himself
A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.