Clowning around in the Chronicle

In today's SF Chronicle Sunday Datebook, I wrote about the fine art of clowning.A couple weekends ago I attended a clown class in the Teatro ZinZanni spiegeltent with Peter Pitofsky.Read the story here.I also talked to one of my favorite clowns, John Gilkey. I first saw him as the emcee of sorts in Cirque du Soleil's Quidam back when they were putting their tent in Oakland's Jack London Square.Read the story here.Bay Area native Gilkey came through in a few more Cirque shows and has landed back in the Bay. He's performing with the comedy trio We Are Nudes in Show No Show Thursday, July 9-Saturday, July 11. at the Climate Theater, 285 Ninth St., San Francisco. Call 415 704-3260 or visit www.climatetheater.com.