THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

First came the masked clowns, called Pepinos, in their striped costumes, making a white river between the dark banks of crowd.  You have to get a police licence to wear this costume, and carry its number pinned on your back or chest, so that destroyers of property can be identified.  The Pepinos are armed with a cardboard baton like a golden fan which is known as a ‘kill-your-mother-in-law.’  They use it to slap girls.  The girls often slap back, and then there is a fight.  In order not to be recognized, Pepinos talk in disguised falsetto voices.

Isherwood/Condor, 2013