treewind, we've seen Old Glory loads of times, and my husband has sat next to two of them for a chat (This was at Sheringham Potty Festival)
He made them laugh, with his "I'm even blacker than you!" spiel. He did find their 'Fool' sinister, as he kept moving in front of the spectators and staring fixedly at people. But being African, husband found this to be like 'sorcery'.