Bobcat Goldthwait wrote, directed, and starred in this dark comedy from 1991. I had heard it referred to as the
Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies, but
GWTW works as well.
Shakes is a trashed out clown who works kid's parties and the like and hangs out in a clown bar with his friends. He is trying to get a headlining gig on a local show (IIRC) and is in competition with Binky the (cokehead) Clown for the slot. Shakes gets caught up in a murder mix up and in the course of hiding ends up at a rodeo clown bar and a mime school (mimes and clowns are bitter enemies in this world, and an uncredited Robin Williams is hilarious). Love subplot involving Julie Brown who is an aspiring bowling champion is mildly entertaining as well.
One of the best scenes is the opener, in which Shakes is woken up being pissed on by the kid of the white trash slut he'd banged the night before: Florence Henderson. Adam Sandler puts in a great bit as one of Shakes' sidekick buddies.