University of South Carolina Libraries
This Week In USC History January 30, 1908 - The Gamecock published its first edition. I C|o«n\ng around Passion for the job keeps clowns happy despite long hours, living in a train car by Mackenzie Craven Assistant EtCetera Editor The life of a clown isn’t as much of a joke as some might believe. Larry, 21, an eight-year professional clown from Memphis, Tenn., has been with Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey circus since No vember. “We are normal people; we just have a life of performing,” Larry said. A typical clown day involves practicing, eating, meeting people and performing. The circus’s first show in Columbia this year was Friday evening. Although it was a one show day, Larry still had a morning agenda. Larry woke at 6 a.m. in the mile-long train where he and the 14 other Ringling Bros, clowns live, and he reported to the Coliseum at 9 a.m. An hour later, Larry and two fellow clowns went to the Children’s Hospital of Palmetto Health Alliance. For five hours, they enter tained, performed and played Sega with the children. When Larry returned, he practiced his jug gling routine. Then, two hours before the show, he came out to participate in the touch tour for the blind, sponsored by BellSouth and WLTX. The children selected for the special tour had visual impairments. The children were escorted to different animals by the clowns. Later, during the show, BellSouth gave the chil dren special headsets to listen to news anchors narrating the performance. After the tour, the clowns performed as part of the Three Ring Adventure. Some of the tricks included juggling and using onlookers to dress a man as a woman and make a human puz zle. Each clown has his own personality that’s reflected in his dress and makeup. Some clowns have a makeup artist help them create a look to suit them. Clown make up is meant to be an extension of the individ ual. Its intention is to be seen from a distance. “If I smile, you should see my smile. It shouldn’t be forced; it shouldn’t be sitting on my face,” Larry said. Clown noses are just another part of the job. Larry made his own nose with a clay mold. “It’s made for me, by me,” Larry said. Clowning wasn’t a career his mother, a dean at the University of Memphis, and his father, a real-estate agent, seriously considered for their son. “I first put on makeup when I was 2,” Lar ry said. “I was able to get real designs out of it for being a 2-year-old, a kind of a star for mation on this side but a definite diamond on the other.” His parents thought it was a stage he would grow out of, but by the time he was 14, Larry was a full-time clown. He attended college for two semesters at age 17 to please his mother, but he didn’t enjoy it and spent a lot of his time juggling. Larry is one of the only performers in his family. An uncle from about five generations before was a midget who played the violin. Lara, a fellow clown, attended clown col lege, where she learned how to throw pies, make her own clown nose, spit water, juggle and handle the media. She went to clown college right after high school. The clown she became was an extension of who she already was. She liked pink and had three older broth ers. So, as a clown, she wore a pink dress and put a pink bow in her short blond hair. Her makeup made her young and cheery. Like Larry, Lara doesn’t have a fake smile drawn on her face. Two small dots are drawn at the comers of her mouth so that if she smiles, you see a smile, and if she frowns, you see a frown. Lara has had the same look for 13 years. Lara thinks that the only necessary pre requisite for being a clown is loving the pro fession. “If you don’t truly love it, you can’t fake it,” she said. A clown (above) puts on makeup before the cir cus Friday at the Carolina Coliseum. Larry (below) practices his act during the circus preshow. Ann Marie Miani EtCetera Eoitor ! »N*: L*-i?i" : t". A ’ 11 ’ " “ A performer lets a child try on her hat during the touch tour for children with vlsu **’ Impairments. The children were taken around by clowns a couple of hours ' re the circus began to pet animals and meet the performers. A WLTX anchor ed the circus for the children afterward. Circus welcomes youngest ringmaster to the show Staff Reports The Gamecock EtCetera When the 129th edition of Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey opened at 7 p.m. on Christ mas, a new voice earned through the circus in Tampa, Fla., grabbing the audience of all ages. Un der the spotlight, in a red, sparkling vest and black top hat, 23-year-old, 6-foot-3 Johnathan Lee Iver son began his professional entertainment career in a fashion he had never dreamed it would — as the Ringmaster for the Greatest Show On Earth. Iverson captured the audience as he de livered the first song on opening night, “Welcome to the World of the Circus,” while lights flashed, music played, ac- Jx robats spun, clowns clowned around I and the animals and their trainers paraueu aruunu uie rings. Iverson was born and raised in Manhattan JjJP and began performing at ™ age 11 with the Boys Choir of Harlem. u was mere mat ne received ms iormai ■ voice training. | After attending the Fiorello H. La Guardia 1 High School of Music and Art and Perform- ] ing Arts in Manhattan, he won scholarships to the Hartt School of Music, where he continued voice training studies. ! He landed a role in The Fireside Christ- J mas Show, directed by Phil McKinley, McKinley invited Iverson to audi non lor me roie 01 ringiuimei. “1 was planning to earn some extra cash to trav el with -1 never anticipated that 1 would be in vited to an audition for this incredible role,” Iver son said. “But 1 knew that this was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, and I went for it.” He was up against several other candidates for the role, but producer Kenneth Feld and McKinley believed that Iver Ison was undoubtedly the one for the role. “He had the look of a su perstar and the gift of an amaz ing voice,” Feld said. “There was no doubt that he was our man ^g|piP When Iverson took his place f;.on the ringmaster’s platform on the rehearsal arena and sang one of the circus songs, which were specifically writ k ten for his voice, the 222-member cast ap 4 plauded him and he became part of the family. Although Iverson never l imagined himself in this role, he takes I the job seriously. Holding the circus’s I most coveted job, he’s responsible for ■ leading the audience through the ex *perience. “Not only is he the youngest, but he is also the strongest vocalist we’ve ever had as a ringmaster,” McKin ley said. “He’s doing a phenomenal job, and the audience and performers love him. No other ringmaster has had a singing voice like him.” But Iverson is modest about being the renter of attention. “I feel like I have the easy job -1 get to present all these amazing acts, he said. “ But I’m not the guy who is standing Circus not the same through adult eyes When the news release about Rin gling Bros, came to the newsroom about a month ago, my co-editor and I decid ed that we should go to the circus for the first time in our adult lives. I’m not sure about anyone else out there, but I haven’t been to the circus since I was a child. And from what I can remember, I al ways had a great time watching the three rings of ex citing, death-defy ing fun. So when the opportunity arose to go to the circus, 1 was very excited to travel back to a part of my childhood that was full of happy, fun memories. So as I’m sit ting in the Caroli na Coliseum on Friday night wait ing for “The Great est Show on Earth” to start, I began to wonoer wnen me last ume was mai i nao been to the circus. I used to go every year with my parents or on class trips. But 1 think the last time 1 went was when my aunt took my cousins and me to see Rin gling Bros, at the New Haven Coliseum. I was about 10 years old. As I sat in the Coliseum at age 19,1 realized that the magic of the circus is still there, but it was different somehow. I couldn’t quite put my Gnger on it, but it was different. It’s all the same as I re member - the three rings, the trapeze acts, the high wire, the clowns, the ani mals - but instead of seeing through the eves of a child. I was watching it through the eyes of an adult. However, when the ringmaster came out and said, “Ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages,” I was momentarily transported back to my childhood. It was as if I were 10 yean old again, sitting in the New Haven Coliseum with my aunt and cousins instead of at the Carolina Coliseum with my fellow Gamecock staff memben, watching the elephants, llamas, dancers and clowns all come out from backstage. In fact, I think that I was as wide-eyed as some of the children there. After the opening act, reality start ed to set back in. I was not back in Connecticut, I was not with my aunt and cousins, and I was not 10 years old. When the acts began, I sat watch ing as dogs jumped through hoops, a cat walked on a high wire, men and women stood on horses, and trapeze acts flew gracefully (and sometimes not so gracefully) through the air. I watched as a man taunted tigers and people rode on elephants as if they were horses. As a child, you see the performers doing what they’re trained to do and you are amazed. However, when you watch the circus through the eyes of an adult, it’s still amazing, but you also realize just how dangerous the stunts can be. I can remember when my mother would hold her breath during the trapez and high-wire acts. I always wondered why she did that, and now I know. Even though these people are trained and do it almost every day, they are still risk ing serious injury to themselves. During one of the trapeze acts, the performer, Mark David, was flipping and twirling around, and then he did a flip and caught himself (on purpose) by his heel. When he did that, I felt my heart jump up to mv throat. I guess going to the circus is just like everything else: It changes as you grow up. You go as a child and everything is amazing, fun and new. If you go as, say, a college-aged person, it’s still fun but different. Now, when you go as an adult, with your own children, you go for them so they can experience the same joys you did as a child. Now if I had to do it over again, woiu~ I go see the circus Friday night instead of going to Frve Points and partying? I would go in a heartbeat. Even though I experienced the circus differently from what I remembered, I still had a great time. Ann Marie Mani is a journalism sophomore and etcetera edi tor. She can be reached by e-mail at gckfeatures© yahoo.com.