October 1, 2008 | Hotties

Do clowns turn you on?

Graduates of San Francisco's Clown Conservatory Class of 2008 are taking it all off (except for face make-up) for the 2009 Naked Clown Calendar. They are hoping to raise money in honor of a mentor struck by the debilitating disease multiple sclerosis (MS).

"Our goal was to create this sort of craziness in your mind," says Chad Benjamin Potter, the lead clown on the project. "When you think of clowns you think of costumes and makeup and hair. When you think naked clowns, that's something else entirely."

"But of course we wanted to do something that everyone can enjoy," Potter added.

Sales of the calendar will help raise money for the Judy Finelli Fund, a non-profit organization set up through the Circus Center. The fund works with the MS Foundation of Florida to do advocacy and research. It also will provide scholarships to people with MS who want to do circus arts

"It's done with a smile, it's done with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge kind of thing," Finelli says. "I'm grateful they put me on the back of the calendar, but I'm also grateful they didn't ask me to strip!"

And you thought clowns were scary before!