It started in South Carolina back in August. Now, the creepy clown craze has spread across North America, recently making its way to Airdrie.

There have been multiple creepy clown sightings throughout the city and for many, this is no laughing matter.

Adults and children alike who have been scared by the pranksters aren't finding it funny, but the joke has also fallen flat for the lovable children's entertainers who are becoming unintended victims.

"It's really hard on us professionals to get this kind of stuff, you know," says Bud Edgar, a.k.a. Buddy the Clown. "In Europe and places like that, clowns are really well recognized as artists. Now, all this stuff that's coming down the pipe is kind of demeaning to professional clowns."

Edgar has been in the business for 33 years and his clown car is no stranger to the streets of Airdrie.

"It's really a funny way to make a living. Get it, a 'funny' way?" he says with a laugh. "But it's really a weird thing to be on the inside and see how things are going for clowns."

Him and his wife, Sheila (a.k.a. Button the Clownette) have been dealing with negative stereotypes for a long time. Edgar attributes Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, to their portrayal in movies and books such as Stephen King's horror novel, "It".

"We do our best to not be big and not be scary. We've done a lot of research and our make up is gentle. Like, we don't have fangs and you know, these are the Halloween masks you see where they have fangs."

In fact, Stephen King himself tweeted his support of professional clowns on October 3, writing, "Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria--most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh."

Social media and media coverage have helped spread both the panic and the fad but have also sparked a new movement, Clown Lives Matter.

Edgar says him and his wife are just in the business to make people happy.

"If it's not fun, we don't do it."