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{{Short description|English priest and clown (1954–2016)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2016}}
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After serving as a parish priest, Bain decided to convey the Christian message through a different route, inspired by his lifelong love of clowns. His father had written a biography of the famous clown [[Joseph Grimaldi]]. As a young boy, Bain had loved the sad-faced clown [[Nicolai Poliakoff|Coco]]. So he took a clown's training and became a freelance clown-priest, presenting the Gospel message through jokes and pratfalls. He performed in churches, conference halls, hospitals, schools, football fields, and prisons. He would enter the venue on a unicycle, open with the invocation "Let us play!", and preach while balancing on (or falling from) a [[Slacklining|slackrope]], a speciality of Bain.<ref name = "economist" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNeM9SRK24kC|title=Serious Play: Modern Clown Performance|last=Peacock|first=Louise|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Intellect Books|isbn=9781841502410|pages=161|language=en}}</ref> Like Coco, Bain performed as an [[Clown#White clown and Auguste|Auguste]], a clumsy character who is on the receiving end of water buckets and accidents, and who often works as a foil to the more clever and arrogant stage personality of the white-faced clown. According to Bain, the Auguste role allowed him to provide a mirror to everyday personalities, if it was not too exaggerated.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxagAwAAQBAJ|title=How to Become a Creative Church Leader: A MODEM Handbook|last=Nelson|first=John|date=28 February 2008|publisher=Canterbury Press|isbn=9781853118135|pages=17ff|language=en}}</ref> He often took on the [[stock character]] roles of the Jester and the Vulnerable Lover.<ref name = "website" /> He performed routines like juggling and egg-smashing and blew [[soap bubble]]s. According to his website, he had [[pieing|custard-pied]] ten bishops, and "most were grateful – or at least happy to play".<ref name = "website">{{cite web|url=http://www.rolybain.co.uk/index_files/Page590.htm|title=Why, What & Where|work=Roly Bain website|access-date=8 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021123408/http://www.rolybain.co.uk/index_files/Page590.htm|archive-date=21 October 2016}}</ref>
Bain traced the origins of his clown ministry to the "[[Foolishness for Christ|holy fools]]" and "[[Feast of Fools|feasts of fools]]" of the [[Middle Ages]], and quoted [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]] saying "We are fools for Christ
He wrote several books: ''Fools Rush In'' (1993), ''Clowning Glory'' (1995, with Patrick Forbes), and ''Playing the Fool'' (2001), a memoir. In 1994, he was named Clown of the Year by [[Clown#Clowns International|Clowns International]], and in 1999 he received Clowns International's Slapstick prize.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/22/the-reverend-roly-bain-priest-and-clown--obituary/|title=The Reverend Roly Bain, priest and clown – obituary|date=22 August 2016|work=The Telegraph|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="times">{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/reverend-david-roly-bain-9wcpxgxz2|title=Obituary: Reverend David 'Roly' Bain|date=31 August 2016|work=The Sunday Times|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref>
== Mentions in academic publications ==
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[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
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