In the 21 years it took me to land a job clowning with Ringling Brothers Circus I had many adventures. By the time I was eleven years old I had crossed the United States twice on Route 66, at sixteen I spent the summer with a friend working the harvest in Oklahoma. Two years later in 1969 I celebrated high school graduation with a 10,000 mile victory lap around the US and Quebec, Canada. Then, in 1971 I took a job in the engine room of a 9,000 ton freighter out of Trondheim, Norway. After an eight month tour of New Zealand, Australia and Fiji I kicked back to enjoy a summer of body surfing in Newport Beach, CA. This lead to a psychic convincing my friend Mark and I that we HAD to go to a Clown College audition being held at the Forum. The psychic’s hunch was right and soon Mark and I were competing with fifty hopefuls for 25 clown positions. What a strange trip it was!
