Marceau Picard Babineaux was a non-binary individual from France with parents who were disapproving of their child’s dream of becoming a circus clown. Marceau was kicked out after their parents decided that “no child of theirs” would be a clown. Now on their own, they tried to audition for circuses all over the nation, but no one wanted them. Attempting to take on the role of both ringmaster (M.P. Babineaux) and clown, they tried to hold auditions for their own circus. Once again, nobody wanted anything to do with them, with one person saying “you would have to kidnap me for me to be a part of your circus!” This gave M.P. an idea. In order to fill out their newfound circus, Marceau kidnapped people from each of the shows as the circus traveled internationally. Thus, Cirque des Rires was born.

          Pictured above are all of the characters that make up Cirque des Rires. Marceau Picard Babineaux is also known as M.P. Babineaux (when they’re fronting as a ringmaster) and Babi the Clown (when they’re fronting as a clown). The rest of the characters are all uniquely talented kidnapped carnies that come from all over the world. Corresponding individual descriptions can be found when clicking the slideshow.

          If you would like to learn more about these characters and the experience as a whole, I encourage you to take a look at my lore book!