Throughout history there have always been people who can make other people laugh. Early clowns often both annoyed and delighted listeners with their comments and songs. They were not the silent performers seen in today's circus rings. Clowns  _ when the big three-ring circuses made it impossible for the audience to hear them. Circus clowns give performances in various ways. Walk-around clowns use an animal or something, like a huge rubber hammer, as part of their performance. A carpet clown moves around, talking with the audience and performing while the acts change in the rings. Then there are acrobatic clowns, riding clowns, juggling clowns and others.  Everything a clown does looks easy, but it is not. Making people laugh can be hard work. Clowns must be in good physical condition to prevent injuries. Each funny move is carefully timed and well-rehearsed  . Most clowns have also been trained as acrobats, jugglers or aerial artists, and many include such skills into their acts. Generally, there are three types of circus clowns--whiteface, auguste and character. Each has a special makeup and clothes. Each has a typical act as well. The neat whiteface is usually a strict, in-charge character who sets up the punch line (the point of a joke) with a partner who is typically an auguste. His facial makeup is neatly detailed in red or black, and his clothes look so loose with a ruffle around the neck.  Old circus stories have it that the auguste clown got his name from a German nickname for someone who is clumsy, acting in a careless and stupid way. The auguste wears light-coloured makeup, but white is used around the mouth and eyes, and there's a big red nose. This clown performs a great deal of humour. An oversized suit or baggy trousers allow freedom of movement for all the clumsy acts. He also wears big shoes. Character clowns perform as different characters--cowboys, grandmothers or concert conductors. The most famous character clown, however, is the tramp  . Tramps wear different styles of makeup and torn clothes. Some tramp clowns are happy-go-lucky. Others are extremely sad. Still others act like gentlemen who just happen to be out of money. By saying that clowns "lost their voices", the author means they   _  .
became silent to avoid annoying people began to perform silently because of larger audiences realized audience members often spoke another language discovered that three-ring circuses were becoming more popular