San Francisco Conservatory To Sell Naked Clown Calendar

Clowns � make that 21 naked clowns � are coming to haunt your dreams.

Graduates of San Francisco's Clown Conservatory Class of 2008 have stripped down to their birthday suits to make a 2009 Naked Clown Calendar, a joyful and humourous work of art the clowns hope to sell in honor of a beloved mentor paralysed from the effects of multiple sclerosis and others stricken with the disease.

These aren't the usual photos of clowns at kids' parties or falling out of cars. No, they're photos of clowns tumbling though the air, performing songs in the park or flying out of cannons � with pies and top hats hiding their naughty bits.

"Our goal was to create this sort of craziness in your mind," says Chad Benjamin Potter, the lead clown on the project. "When you think of clowns you think of costumes and makeup and hair. When you think naked clowns, that's something else entirely."

The idea came about when clowns studying their first year at the San Francisco Circus Center's Clown Conservatory started talking about how great they felt, physically, thanks to all the training. They also felt they'd bonded in a unique way. They started talking about what they could do together and the idea of a clown calendar came up. Next thing they knew, someone suggested doing it in the buff.

"But of course we wanted to do something that everyone can enjoy," Potter says, noting the calendar does offer a touch of modesty. "I am going to sell it to my grandmother and I also want to sell it to my niece and my nephew."

The clowns have a lofty goal of raising $1 million selling the 16-month calendars. No word yet about what sheningans they've planned for 2010.

Check out a few of the photos released from the calendar below:

 � Copyright 2004-2015 The News Vault. All rights reserved.