fuses Still others have pursued entertain
ment careers through commercials and
performances on such television shows as
"Saturday Night Live” and "Hill Street
Blues"; one even helped produce the Broud
way musical "Ain’t Misbehavin'.”
first barraht: Clown College has produced
many changes in the business of career
clowning The new recruiting system has
lowered the average age of clowns from 58
to 23, ending an era in which clowns came
to the circus after becoming too old for
other performance careers "With the old
clown, that was his last hurrah, the end of
his cureer,” says Duane Thorpe, the 62
year-old clown’s clown who has been with
the circus for .’18 years. "These young
clowns are slurlmf’ theirs "
Today clowns come to the circus from
College-theater groups, from word-process
ing jobs, even from the legal profes
sion Kighteen-year-old Barbara Pike was
studying to become u medic when she audi
tioned. " After 1 saw the show I thought, this
is magical," she says Pike, who is one of
only eight women among the 52 clowns
currently with Kingling Bros., says, "In the
circus it doesn't matter whether you’re a
man or a woman, if you do your job well. I
feel like I have thousands of brothers."
Yet for all its new professionalism, some
things aboutdowning never change Stam
ina is st ill a must; last season the circus was
on the road for 48 weeks and gave 535
performances. And the satisfactions are
still very similar to what they were when
old-timer Thorpe started out. "It’s all been
very gratifying," he says. "Some author
said the circus is the only mysterious thing
left in civilization I haven’t solved it yet .’’
When the arena is tilled with the laughter
of children of all ages, it’s easy to under
stand why he keeps trying
J t n N i r K s (' k c 11. in tUiMt Rutherford. N.J
KINDI.INI i mills ANIlllAKNI'M * IIAII4CY i'UIWNIXH4JV1K
Class clowns: Warming up for acrobatics
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