Or, a bag of holding embedded in a doll’s butt. Try being taken seriously when you’re fisting a plushie for a magic potion.

“You slurred the word ‘golden.’ Roll a d4. You need 20 to live.”

Amulet of speak with the dead - cursed. Once attuned the user can speak with the dead, but can only interpret chat with the living as wailing, any attempts to speak with the living will sound like wailing to the other entity. Removing the item does not break the curse.

OK so what's the downside?

This sword is enchanted with fire magic! ...The handle is made of super flammable material, though, and a bunch of people got third degree burns trying to weild it. There was a massive recall. You know what "recall" means, though? Collector's item! These are rare af.

Praytell the price on yon banana blade to your left, fair merchant? I find it somewhat a-peeling

Ask the beholder you were trying to hit with a magic missile.

A magical sword that extends, but the longer you have it, the longer the incantation you have to say to get it to extend... Maybe show it some pictures of people cleaved in two, or try stabbing somewhere else to get it going.

Scroll of Gorilla Warfare. When used summons 15 gorillas. These gorillas are wild and do not obey orders given by the caster.

If my PCs responded to the clowns this way, I would absolutely make the clowns demons and the "bag of holding" a portal to a circus themed layer of the Abyss. And that's the campaign now.

I don't know about you, but the prospect of becoming a warlock themed around blood, flesh and clownery sounds pretty sweet to me! I'd definitely play that campaign.