Would-Be Circus Clowns Learn Tricks of Trade : This Small College’s Curriculum Is a Real Joke

Quick now--make your funniest face. Follow it with your funniest laugh and walk. Pretend you’re bacon frying, then corn popping. Climb an imaginary ladder. Imitate a vacuum cleaner.

That’s all part of the entrance exam for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.

Clown College is a 10-week program that teaches the art of clowning. Classes include acrobatics, juggling, slapstick, mime, makeup and improvisation. Students are taught by professional circus performers.

The college is tuition-free, but students pay for transportation to and from Venice, Fla., the circus’ winter quarters. Students also pay for their room and board.

6,000 Applicants

The circus holds open auditions in major market cities to recruit college applicants. Last year, 65 students were selected from more than 6,000 applicants. This year 50 will be admitted into the program.

At a recent tryout in Phoenix, the 16 hopefuls included four women and 12 men, varied in age and appearance. Their occupations ranged from a quality controller in a tool factory, to students, to a dog groomer. Some were serious in their intent to join the circus. Others thought auditioning sounded like fun.

Steve Johnson, a 23-year-old Phoenix man, wants to be a clown. With his incandescent red mane of natural hair, “I could save a lot of money on wigs,” he says.

“I’ve always been the class clown, the joker,” he says. “I figured I had as big a chance as anyone else. I’m basically right off the street on this.”

Circus Glamour

The glamour of the circus with its “low pay and all the popcorn you can eat” lured Johnson, an ambulance driver.

“I need a change from the ho-hum job I’m doing right now,” he said.

Applicants performed a variety of comedic exercises such as mock fistfights and walking over “hot coals.” The exercises tested their physical reactions, timing and improvisational ability.

“Technical skills are recommended, but they’re no way required,” says Andrew Rose, a Clown College alumnus performing with the circus.

‘Love of Performing’

Boss Clown Chris Shelton says the college, started in 1968, looks for one important aspect in the applicants--the desire to entertain. “Nowadays, it’s a love of performing, for children especially. That’s what makes the job enjoyable,” he said.

The clowns evaluate the applicants and send audition-based recommendations to the Clown College Selection Committee, which makes final selections.

“Baseball players dream of the major league,” Rose said. “Runners dream of the Olympics. That’s the way the circus performer dreams of getting into ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’--through Clown College.”