The Clown is a studio album by the jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus.

According to Nat Hentoff's liner notes, Mingus explained why he chose those four tracks for the album: "I selected these four over two others that were more intricate because some of those guys had been saying that I didn't swing.

"Reincarnation of a Lovebird" is a composition dedicated to bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker, known commonly as "Bird".

My version of the story ended with his blowing his brains out with the people laughing and finally being pleased because they thought it was part of the act.

[8] A deluxe edition of The Clown was issued in 2000 on Rhino featuring two bonus tracks.