SYDNEY (REUTERS) - An employee of a New Zealand advertising company hired a professional clown to sit with him as his support person at a redundancy meeting in which he was fired, the Stuff New Zealand reported.

Joshua Jack, a copy writer for advertising agency FCB in Auckland who according to his Facebook page sometimes performs as a comedian, decided to hire the clown to join him at the meeting.

"A while ago, I got a job. A short while later, I lost it,"Jack wrote on Facebook.

"For anyone who hasn't been fired, what happens is they schedule a serious meeting and advise you to bring a support person. Sensing the bad news, I decided I'd need the best support person available." Professional clown Joseph Brosnahan said he had agreed to come into the office and change into his costume in the toilets before stepping into the meeting room.

He blew up animal balloons throughout the Aug 20 meeting, and pretended to cry when the redundancy paperwork was handed over to Jack.

"I'm sitting there in a clown costume so it's kind of like hmm, I'm not sure being serious works," Brosnahan said.

Although Jack was fired by FCB, the copy writer has landed another job at a rival agency, the New Zealand Herald reported.