The Existential Clown is an erudite (and warranted) homage from The Atlantic to the work of Jim Carrey. During my childhood, Carrey was my favorite actor — I’d even go so far as to say he was my idol. “Then there’s earnest Carrey, low-voltage Carrey, Carrey the Oscar chaser, dutifully dialing it down for The Majestic and muting himself in The Truman Show. This Carrey excites a peculiar anxiety: you sit there with your scalp prickling, waiting for him to go off. Which he never does.” In the Enneagram personality test, Carrey and myself are the same: Sevens with a six wing (”Quick-witted and insightful to the inner wonders of fun”).