If At First You Don't Succeed...

Above: My second of two rejection letters for the Ringling Brothers Barnum ad Bailey Clown College.

In 1991 my life changed in a huge way, for the better, when I walked into the old Woodlawn Theater in the early spring of that year. Up until then I was working as a freelance artist. The trouble was I was not very good commercial artist and I was simply bored with my life so I needed a change. That change turned out to be acting which was soon accompanied by clowning for which I'm most grateful for my wife's stories from her time at Clown College then the road with the Greatest Show on Earth. She taught me about acting and clowning and encouraged me to audition for Clown College when the show came to town in early July.

The first time around was shortly after I'd begun acting so I was very green and my audition had to be the worst but being naive I didn't know any better. I didn't make it in that year so I tried again the following year and again I was rejected. Between auditions I'd work at improving myself as a clown by studying the silent comedians and watching other circus clowns at work. I was also working as a clown doing everything from birthday parties to fairs.

After the second time I was more determined than ever to make it into Clown College. But on the off chance I'd get another rejection letter to add to my collection I attended three clown workshops the spring and summer of '93. The last two were the best: One was in at the Dell Arte School of Physical Theatre taught by Joan Mankin and Jeff Raz of the Pickle Family Circus and the other was at the Advanced Studies in Clowning taught by several Ringling clowns most notably Frosty Little. He taught the class on circus clowning where I learned more in one week than I thought possible. He was a great no nonsense teacher who really loved and respected the art of circus clowning. At the beginning of the week his class started with about two dozen eager students and by mid week it was down to about eight. Circus clowning is not for the weak, baby!

After all those workshops I felt I was ready for anything. July rolled around so my best friend,Chad Miller ( A very talented clown) and I both auditioned in July of 1993 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio. At the end of the audition I felt like I'd nailed it. It was the best audition I ever had for anything. Now it was a matter of waiting. If you got a letter in the mail you didn't make it but if you got a phone call you'd better start packing. I was like a kid when I got the call. I don't remember the exact conversation. All I knew was that my life was about change again and would never be the same after that all thanks to a bit of stubbornness and boredom.