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Heavy metal band Slipknot and hip-hip duo Insane Clown Posse popularized the creepy white mask as a gimmick to draw crowds. While the 12 or so percent of Americans suffering from coulrophobia (fear of clowns) likely steer clear of these bands, 51-year-old singer Michael Geier hopped on the literal clown bandwagon when he donned a circus-worthy look for Atlanta-based band Greasepaint back in 1999.

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The sitcom trope of “annoying next-door neighbor” is often the character audiences love to hate. Bewitched had busybody Gladys Kravitz, Everybody Loves Raymond introduced sharp-tongued mother-in-law Marie Barone, and perpetual do-gooder Ned Flanders was the butt of Homer’s jokes on The Simpsons.