How David Arquette and Billy Corgan’s Shared Love of Clowns Led to an Unlikely Partnership (Exclusive)

When David Arquette revived the beloved Bozo the Clown several years ago, he knew he had big shoes to fill — literally.

And that he has done, stepping (loudly) into a room of about 100 fans over the weekend at Madame Zuzu’s in Highland Park, Ill. — a café run by Smashing Pumpkins rocker Billy Corgan and his wife Chloe Mendel — to lead a Bob Ross painting class.

Yep, you read that right.

The event was part of a weekend dedicated to the nostalgia of Bozo’s Circus at Madame Zuzu’s from Oct. 18 to 20, bringing together clowns, kids and fans of the loud, red-haired jokester and his crew for a weekend of reminiscing.

“Bozo transformed my life,” Arquette told PEOPLE exclusively prior to the weekend. “The way kids want to run around acting like Spider-Man, with me and my friends, I’d be Bozo and my friend would be Cookie and we’d just joke around. That’s one of my earliest memories.”

Growing up in part in Evanston, Ill., not far where Bozo’s Circus taped in Chicago, Arquette remembers his dad, actor Lewis Arquette, dressing up as a clown named Butter for his own birthday celebrations. “And so then I knew I always wanted to be a clown,” added the actor, 53.

While Bozo’s distinct white makeup actually shows he’s the “boss clown,” Arquette said, he added that some research has shown people are often scared of clowns of such a hue. But when he decided to drop Bozo’s white makeup for a time, “it got real pushback from Chicago,” he added.

In exploring the character — whose eponymous show went off the air in 2001 — Arquette has brought some new pals into the fold, including Jozo (a.k.a. Jessica Harrison), the first female Bozo. He is also working on a documentary about clowns, he shared, since buying the rights to Bozo in 2021.

A Chicago kid, Corgan, 57, grew up watching Bozo’s Circus, and even performed a song on the clown’s farewell special in 2001. In opening his café doors to the recent Bozo-themed event, his hope was to “get back to where clowns are fun and not scary,” he told PEOPLE. “We live in this complicated world and sometimes when things are stripped of their innocence … clowning at its root really is something really innocent and beautiful.”

“I’ve got a bunch of fun ideas,” Arquette continued of what’s next for his character and the clown community. “There are so many incredible clowns that people don’t know about, that are like literally Charlie Chaplin level of brilliance.”

The Bob Ross piece to Arquette’s Oct. 20 event — one of many sold-out activities the Bozo weekend boasted — came out of the actor’s love for the late TV painter.

“I’ve never taught it as a clown,” he admitted. “But at one point in time I went down to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and became a certified Bob Ross instructor.” The moment tied in nicely with PBS and American Public Television’s “Bobtoberfest” — a month-long, multi-platform event commemorating Ross’ legacy.

Unfortunately for Arquette, WGN, the network that ran Bozo’s Circus, “actually threw out a lot of their stuff,” he actor said. “They didn’t even keep a lot of the recordings of the show.”

Though some archival pieces are on display at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, for Arquette, it’s the work of original Bozo, Bob Bell, that really lives on.

“He was such a superstar. He was the face of clowning,” Arquette shared of the actor, who helped embody the character born in the 1940s.

For Corgan, the ask to open Madame Zuzu’s to the event was an easy one — even if both his and Arquette’s wives “are not crazy about clowns,” they agreed.

“I first opened the tea house because I just wanted something to do,” Corgan admitted. “We didn’t necessarily see ourselves as community leaders or anything like that. But then after what happened here on July 4 two years ago, this horrible tragedy, we stepped forward and did a fundraiser.”

The reaction put them “in this unlikely position of being community leaders” he shared. “And we started saying, okay, well if people want this from us, we can do more.”

Combining Corgan’s giving spirit, the serenity of Bob Ross and the fun of Bozo led the pair to this “incredible world,” Arquette said. “When you do events like this — especially with adults who had seen it as a kid — they become kids again. Their eyes light up and they get so happy.”