Clown around, at first, to get drink (5)
I believe the answer is:
cocoa
'drink' is the definition.
(cocoa is a kind of drink)
'clown around at first' is the wordplay.
'clown' becomes 'coco' (Nicolai Poliakoff aka Coco the Clown).
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'around' is 'a'.
'coco'+'a'='COCOA'
'to get' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cocoa that I've seen before include "Evening drink taken in rococo amphitheatre" , "Chocolate powder" , "Milky hot drink" , "Hot beverage" , "Kind of chocolate drink" .)