His act is viewed as buffoonery or tripe maybe (7)
I believe the answer is:
pierrot
'his act is viewed as buffoonery' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'or tripe maybe' is the wordplay.
'maybe' is an anagram indicator.
'or'+'tripe'='ortripe'
'ortripe' anagrammed gives 'PIERROT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pierrot that I've seen before include "Seaside clown" , "French stage character with white face and costume" , "Aged entertainer" , "Type of clown" , "he's white-faced at work" .)