Comic, as many will admit (5)
I believe the answer is:
clown
'comic' is the definition.
(clown is a kind of comic)
'many will admit' is the wordplay.
'many will' becomes 'cl' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'admit' becomes 'own' (I've seen this before).
'cl'+'own'='CLOWN'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clown that I've seen before include "Comic performer" , "Act comically" , "Circus comedian" , "Slapstick entertainer" , "Red-nosed, long-shoed entertainer" .)