Chaplin is the prototype of man overwhelmed by the overstimulation of civilization. He has to scratch constantly; the slightest noise makes him flinch. This nervous hypersensitivity was known at the beginning of the 20th century as neurasthenia. The symptoms of hysteria and epilepsy were first adopted by late 19th century theater and then silent film. “Regressing Clown” goes back the way, from the socially accepted, lighter tics to the pathological, uncontrollable outbreaks.