Kae’Dyn, or KD, performs during The League of Clowns’ biggest show of the summer, on Saturday, July 16, 2022 in Inglewood, California.

Since Thomas “Tommy The Clown” Johnson first put on his rainbow wig in 1992, hip hop clowns have been performing at birthday parties across South Los Angeles. Around 2000, the birthday entertainment evolved into dance battles, and eventually into the more hyperkinetic “krumping,” which spread globally. Jesse “Roc’co Tha Clown” Philpott hopes clowning will provide career paths for his dancers- The League Of Clowns- and keep them safe, like it did for him. “If you’re not dancing, you can be hanging out on the block,” Philpott said. “And anything can happen on the block.”