Provincetown street clown Perri dies at 51

Cape Cod Times ^ | 4-4-2003 | CONOR BERRY

[Cagey]

PROVINCETOWN - Maybe he did smell a bit boozy and utter lewd remarks at passing women, or coax children to run and ask their parents for a dollar, so he could "get by."

Perri the Clown rests at a bar after a morning of tying balloon animals on Provincetown streets in this August 2001 photo.
(Times file photo by VINCENT DEWITT)

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Perri the Clown nevertheless mesmerized tourists with his antics, then fell out of favor with seemingly everyone in town.

Last week Perri - born Perri David Rlickman in Bluefield, W.Va. - was found dead in his Allston apartment, Boston police said. He was 51.

Boston police spokeswoman Brigitte Walsh said she could not reveal the cause of death, but police do not suspect foul play.

In Provincetown, Perri caused quite a stir when he first washed ashore in the summer of 2000. He'll perhaps be best remembered for his alleged catcalls, homophobic slurs and salacious remarks. Some local pub owners say his behavior got so bad, they had to ban him from the premises.

But in Cambridge and around Boston, Perri will be remembered as a lost soul with a big heart.

"He came across sometimes harsh. But deep inside, he's really a nice, nice person," said Raffi Bezjian, owner of Leo's Place, a popular diner on John F. Kennedy Square in Cambridge, where Harvard and MIT students rub elbows with street performers and the homeless.

Perri was a regular at Leo's, stopping in "three or four times a day," said Bezjian, who befriended the sad clown and extended a helping hand.

When he hadn't seen his friend for a couple of days, Bezjian got nervous and went looking for him.

"He would always tell me when he was leaving town, when he was going to Provincetown," Bezjian said.

In Cambridge, a place with large squares and plenty of curious students, Perri could attract a large crowd in no time.

It was the same in Provincetown.

At first, he was a hit, attracting crowds wherever he went.

He was famous for his constant whistling, which he incorporated into his routine, and his horn-honking and balloon animals. He delighted children, with whom he claimed to share a special bond.

"I can actually communicate with these kids through my whistling," he told a Cape Cod Times reporter in August 2001.

On a good summer's day, he could rake in as much as $500, he said.

Complaints about Perri's behavior started to mount, however, and his honeymoon with Provincetown was soon over.

Perri's list of detractors grew longer each day, causing former Provincetown Police Chief Robert Anthony to yank his street performer's license.

But Perri, a resourceful clown, was no village idiot. He enlisted the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, which managed to get the town to give him another chance.

Simply not liking someone is not a reason to obstruct a person's livelihood, ACLU attorney Sarah Wunsch told the Times in June 2001.

Candace Collins-Boden, executive director of the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce, was surprised to learn about Perri's death.

"I'm very sad to hear of anybody dying. ... He came off with a bad rap," she said. "He could have been a positive influence."

The often obnoxious clown used to perform at Lopes Square, just outside the chamber's front door. And Collins-Boden became one of his critics, complaining about him in a letter to the police.

Bezjian, Perri's friend in Cambridge, plans to create a permanent memorial for the clown, whose autographed photograph hangs on the "Wall of Fame" at Leo's.

"The clown has two personalities," said Bezjian.

"One inside, and one behind the mask."

[Cagey]

"Go fold your little balloon animals, Eric. Eric... What kind of name is that for a clown?"

[MotleyGirl70]

Crazy Joe Divola dressed as the tragic clown Pagliacci: "You still afraid of clowns?"

Kramer: "Uh-huh."