Category Archives: Clown History

Historical (and societal) examples of clowns and how they fit into a modern context.

Circus and Politics

Happy First of May!

The First of May is, in circus tradition, considered the first day of the year wagons will be able to make it along the trails without gettting stuck in the mud. The beginning of earning season! People who wanted to be part of the circus found this the best entry point. As in any job, the new hires are the greenest. The least experienced. The “dumbest” when it comes to the ways of the circus, which has many specific customs, methods, dangers, vernacular phrases, and other idiosyncrasies. The new hires are known as “First of Mays,” and as human nature can often be, when they inevitably mess up (or get pranked upon), they provide entertainment for the more experienced cast/crew.

In March of 2019, our nation was in the throes of a very distasteful political climate. As a former circus performer, I found myself feeling trauma to my psyche every time “Circus” and “Washington DC” were put into the same sentence. I poured my anguish into a meme, which resonated with my extended circus family all over the world and got shared thousands of times on social media. I guess it touched a nerve.

So as a shameless, but lazy self promoter, I share it here for the web, where social media doesn’t go so search engines can make me famous again. Have at it, Googlebots!

Photo of Lou Jacobs, beloved, iconic Ringling Bros. circus clown for over 60 years.

Text for accessibility:
People keep referring to happenings in Washington DC as a circus.
For the record, I worked for Ringling Bros.for a significant part of my career.
Everything was run tightly and efficiently with no room for bullshit.
(well, there was every other type of shit, but only in the literal sense)
Furthermore, a circus is made up of people from all over the world: male, female, straight, gay … We worked hard, were tough as nails, and we looked after each other.
Artists, athletes, lighting/sound techs,vendors, riggers, prop handlers, train crew, and shit shovelers all worked together for a common goal.
If this country were run like a circus, our problems would disappear overnight.

012 My Renaissance History

A little navel-gazing about how I got started in the Renaissance Festivals as an awkward teenager with almost no performing experience.

These exploits include finding funny things to say, funny things to do, what things are not funny, and my shoulder-brushing with three people who went on to become celebrities.

008 Blues Brothers, Belushi and Clowns

We explore the “Clown’s Eye view” of classic comedy movie, “The Blues Brothers,” (1980) and look at some of the ways that this modern era movie touches on timeless clown archetypes and situations going back hundreds, if not thousands of years.