The Nutty Professor Einsteins & Wacky Graduates are a unit of clowns from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
The Class Clowns made their debut in the 2000 Macy's Parade, graduating from Clown U. for learning the FUNdamentals of being a clown. The troupe sported colorful graduation gowns and matching hats, and were led by their "Wacky Einstein" professors. The group would generally appear alongside the Alphabet Block Clowns unit, spelling out a colorful Thanksgiving message.
In 2006, the Class Clowns were joined by a School Bus clown vehicle, which travelled joyfully along the Parade route carrying the recent graduates from Central Park to 34th Street. The School Bus occasionally appeared alongside the clown group until the 2016 Parade, when it was retired.
The Class Clowns were renamed the "Nutty Professor Einsteins & Wacky Graduates" for the 2011 Parade, and were given plastic hand clappers to celebrate graduating from Clown U. and to hype up Parade spectators. The clown unit appeared in the Parade for several years, briefly retiring in 2017, but returning to the lineup the following year.
The Nutty Professor Einsteins & Wacky Grads were originally planned to appear in the 2020 Parade, however they were later removed from the lineup as the number of participants was further reduced in the weeks leading up to the event.
The clown unit returned to the lineup for the 2021 Macy's Parade, once again joined by their very own School Bus.