There were many times when I just felt like giving up with the clown, but something always came along to get me motivated again. I was staying at my parents place and deeply in give up mode when I walked up to the shop to buy an iced coffee. There I met an old man with a monkey. The old man asked me “are you this clown I’ve heard about?” I answered “yes I am.” “Then I want you to work in my little circus.” There obviously wasn’t much money in it and it was a long way from the bohemian arts scene I wanted. But life on the road and regular gigs appealed to me; so I became a genuine circus clown for twelve years.
I helped look after all sorts of cool pets in the circus dogs, ponies, goats and alpacas. We also had two monkeys that I avoided as much as possible. While my prime designation was clown, it was a real little circus, so I had to do a bit of everything: putting up and pulling down the tent, loading and unloading trucks, postering, spruiking, sound and lights, running errands, shopping and cooking, the only job I didn’t do was fixing cars.
Circus was hard work and lousy pay, but when people asked what I did I had a really good answer. I got to do a lot of shows and really work on my act. When I was first asked to join I didn’t have a circus act, I had a kids party act, some roving characters and a workshop. Within a few years I was doing seven routines in a show and that wasn’t all my material.
I didn’t become a clown because I wanted to join the circus, I wanted to be a part of the urban bohemian arts scene. But Eden Brothers Good Time Circus was just what I needed, just when I needed it. I got to work on my clowning, I traveled all up and down Queensland, made some great friends and have been left with a good story to tell.
Clown Artist Philosopher 