MouseOver Clowns for Names...

The heart of any circus are the clowns and Circus World had a world of them. Clowns are a different breed. And believe me, most of the clowns at Circus World were the real thing. Not just a bunch of yokels dressed up funny. Most took the job very seriously although at times it was hard to tell. Our very favorite show at Circus World was the Illusion Circus which was a magic show in the big-top conducted by the clowns. It was a well rehearsed classy production from the git-go.

After one day elsewhere (that's another story), we (the Dizzy Rambler Band and clogger troupe) were privileged to have a dressing room in "Clown Alley". Clowns don't like to share their space with outsiders but it was the only space available. It gave us a look at the circus that most people will never see. After they got used to us we were accepted and grateful. In the beginning, none of the clowns wanted to work our show. In fact they gave our show the name "Yee Ha" on their posted schedule and it wasn't meant to be cute. But after a week or so, they began to realize that we wern't a bunch of yokels either but very serious about our work and anyway -- we thought they were all hilarious. Respect usually breeds respect and before long most of the clowns didn't mind doing our show and some would even trade off other tasks to be a part of it. Some days they would crack us up to the point that we almost couldn't sing. And then there was Myron House. Myron was insane and Myron was funny, but talk about another story -- I could dedicate a whole page to Myron. Maybe later.

Click image for a great photo of the 1985 cast of Circus World clowns posing with Ringmaster, Norman Riggins         –from Ron Johnson.

Ron "Toto" Johnson was 18 when we worked together at Circus World.
He is still in the clown business today. Visit his web-site at:
www.totojohnson.com

Check out Crazy Irving's Magic Circus.
He has some great Circus World photos here....
www.CrazyIrving.com