“The clown’s come out when the world is ending”

As I consider these words and I look at the state of the world, it strikes me that the thing holding me together, that is currently keeping me from sliding off my kitchen chair and into a puddle of existential despair is this knowledge that the clowns are coming. When things go dark, someone somewhere finds a way to make you laugh. I mean the kind of laugh that makes your belly ache and tears flow and... well, you know, who hasn’t accidentally- you know, while laughing too hard?