Technically it is possible to run away and join the circus, but you’ll need to join as a rigger, usher, be a dish-hand or sell in the concession stand. Joining the acrobatic team will not be as easy. You’ll need a high level of skill and the willingness to travel most of the year.
Historically people did run away to join the circus in rural America when there wasn’t much to look forward to or to do. With the excitement of a circus brought to a small town it’s a wonder why many didn’t run away to join the circus earlier.
In fact there are many cases where people literally did run away with the travelling circus even in our modern day times. One young chap in England ran away with his travelling circus because he was a bit of a terror and wanted to escape his humdrum life. He worked as a dishand and then graduated to become a clown who breathed fire and juggled.
How to Join the Circus Today
Nowadays it can be a lot more competitive and harder for someone to join the circus. In fact many people not only have to have a strong background in physical past-times such as gymnastics, but they also have to be excellent at their skills.
Are you really willing to spend 3-11 months of the year travelling with a circus, if so it just might be for you. (Of course if you aren’t a freelancer)
You do not need to be born in the circus to be in the circus. In fact it is more common for people to develop the skills outside the circus and audition. Many performers have graduated from Circus Schools from around the world and successfully joined circuses.
Often people who love to be involved in the circus join by becoming a backstage hand or they perform the jobs of service. From riggers to the concessions, to the animal and technical crew. As long as there is an opening for a job and you fill it, you’re in the circus.
If you are wanting to join the crew backstage, it is an idea to become a volunteer or work in a theater backstage. From there you’ll gain experiences and are more hirable in the circus.
Ask the production manager of a local circus or travelling circus get work experience working voluntarily. Either that or ask to work in concessions or merchandise.
What Age can a Person be to Join?
Generally most circuses will accept people over the age of 18, because they are considered adults and can legally make their own decisions. However many children of various ages are performing in a circus at present.
These children either have their parents as performers in acts and or are part of the production and touring team.
Some Circuses such as The Zirka Circus who traveled to Australia and New Zealand have featured many acts with children aged from as young as 10. Many of these children have been sourced from poor rural areas and joining the circus in this way is one way to escape poverty.
By the time these children have begun performing, they would have clocked up over 8000 hours of rehearsal time necessary to perform with excellent skills and professionalism.
There are also many children’s circuses around the world including Circus Smirkus and Circus Juventas. These Circus performers are often performing professionally by the time the are in middle school, with their parents permission of course.
Too Old to Join?
Many young people who join the circus develop their skills relatively quickly and then tend to bounce back quickly from injury. Older people on the other hand take longer, however those who join circus at an older age, tend to bring with them; intense focus, greater vision, perseverance, resources, and more. And apparently those who are in their thirties pack on muscles just as well as those who are younger. So why not give it a go?
So if you are a person who is a little older, there is hope for you yet!
How Much Do You Get Paid In the Circus?
Circus salaries or wages can vary according to the company hiring abd the type of performances and acts a performer is involved in. They also vary for backstage crew in terms of seniority, skill requirements and sophistication of each job. (ziprecruiter.com)
For Performers full time US dollars:
General Performer approx $50,00 to $60,00
Clown $65,000-$70,000 but can make up to $100,000
Rodeo Clowns $40,000
Of course these amounts vary according to experience and time with a company. These salary payments alongside with having accommodation and utilities paid for, make a good living.
Keep in mind some performers are paid per hour or per show. These performers are called freelancers. They tend to work near where they live and can work in shows which require their skills.
What Is It Like joining?
From the smallest circus to the largest, each experience is different and has its own wonderful points and realities.
Working in the circus has personalities which are often larger than life, which come from all over the world, where they bring amazing talents and skills. This can make life exciting and interesting compared with having a humdrum office job to contend with.
Many times, performers get to work with people of different ages and ethnicities. It is exciting and challenging at the same time due to cultural and language barriers. Many performers are completely dedicated to their job and the lifestyle it brings, where money isn’t the only factor.
Working as a performer is very hard work and what you an audience sees on stage is only a small portion of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. The magic happens on stage and the hardwork happens behind.
If you’re interested in how to apply stage makeup, check out my blog post here.
There is a sense of family with performers and alongside with the working crew. Both teams rely on each other for a great performance and their livelihoods. Hence their feeling of family as they travel around.
Many see themselves as a different breed from the outside world, by that they mean the general audiences. They work closely together, share their lives and as a consequence become family.
Circus crew and performers work together to create a fabulous performance and there lies why many of them do the job, to entertain audiences and give them joy and wonder.
Circus is a part of show business and as the old adage says, “There’s no business like show business.” Many people see the circus as a drug which gets them high night after night. However rest of the lyrics are very accurate, the circus is a show and it’s also business.
People who perform live, in front of an audience, such as theater, and vaudeville, have a common bond as well. They are called “troopers” they share a bond similar to circus performers. This is where we get the term ‘you’re a great trooper!’
From power outages to crazy weather, circus troopers bond together to make magic happen. The circus is where they find their home and their family helps them work together and solve these issues.
Working on the road can be very stressful and anxious for some, but often the fellow circus family steps in to offer advice. Many work with their circus companies for many years. Some performers hire themselves out to new circus companies each year. But there is still that bond of being within the circus family.
Working alongside management and production teams are usually harmonious because everyone has the same goal to make a great overall performance. Each group appreciates and skill and experience they bring to their roles.
Clown Phobia
Clown phobia is a real phenomenon. Many people suffer from fear of clowns. If you or you know someone who is scared of clowns, why not be cheeky and buy them a nice t-shirt which states that they hate clowns. You can check out the t-shirt here.
You know it’s just not fair that people can love clowns and everything they are about and some people completely freak out about it. Well, why not check out these crazy, fun merchandise to contemplate buying for your friend or family member. They’ll love you for it.
Can’t Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me License Plate Frames, Stickers and more.
How To Become a Clown
Often circus clowns come from a long line of clowns, from their grandfather to father to son. Of course there are a few female clowns out there as well. Though children will often learn the same skills as their parents, the collaborative nature of a larger show will expose kids to different types of performers. Hence the succession of clowns through the generations.
Clowns are comic actors who use their physicality in their acts. Their voices are usually silent and they use body language and exaggerated facial expressions in their acts.
There are a number of circus schools which teach the specifics of clowning. The Ringling Brothers have a clown college. There are also many performing arts schools which offer clowning as part of their courses offered in the world.
To become a really good clown you need to fully embrace what it is to fail. To try and fail, try and fail. The audience finds a catharsis in seeing someone else’s failure as their own. You also need to take risks with your vulnerability, really reach the audience with your heart and soul. Also being a clown is very physical. The best clowns know how to fall and tumble as they are often very athletic.
Most circuses have clowns within their troope, they add the comic relief, humour and vulnerability to a dazzling night of performances.
Other types of clowns are Rodeo clowns. These clowns help rodeo riders stay safe if they get into trouble or have fallen from a ride on a bull. They keep the bull from tearing them to pieces by distracting them with colorful costumes and physical antics. These clowns do not travel with a circus, but this is where freelancing clowns can find work.
If your’e interesting in why Juggling makes you smarter check out my blog post here.
Clown Doctors work in hospitals to give patients cheer. They perform songs and chants and crack jokes with children and sick adults.
White Face Clown is a traditional clown with a full white face with a red nose. This type has grotesquely emphasized features, especially a red nose and red mouth, often with partial (mostly red) hair. This clown emerged from the famous clown Bozo.
Auguste Clown
The sidekick to Bozo the clown. He is normally the fall guy. His face does not use as much white as the White face clown. They may wear a colorful wig, or a bald top wig with a fringe of hair around the sides. Their clothes are very colorful and their shoes too big.
The Tramp Clown
These clowns Were inspired by poor homeless people in the 19th Century.
Character Clowns
These clowns and pretend to have any number of jobs from the police to the fire brigade. Generally anything which has authority and they utilize.
Mime Clowns
Think the great mime artist Marcel Marceau who was French. He painted his face and neck in white grease paint. He emphasized his eyes with black and red lips. His character was sad and earnest at the same time. This mime clown told a story using skills with his face, hands and body. He is probably the most well known mime clown in the world.
The Creepy Clown
Think anything which depicts your average clown as evil. The clown from the movie ‘It’ is perfect example as it’s a bastardized version of a Whiteface clown. Sure to give many nightmares at night.
Court Jester
Is a clown originally from the middle ages employed by European Royalty to entertain the court. Often they juggled, told bawdy jokes and performed magic tricks. Those who did not do well got banished from the court or in some cases their heads were chopped off. Court Jesters were often used in battle where they rode up and down the front lines throwing out jokes and making insults to soldier to make them laugh before the battle.
Stars Who Ran Away to Join the Circus
Harry Houdini joined the circus as a child making his debut at aged 9 on the trapeze. He did many jobs while with the circus and took a liking to magic. Harry Houdini changed his name from Ehrich Weisz after his idol French Magician Robert Houdini. He made his name as a world famous magician and travelled with the circus on and off throughout his career.
Yul Brynner
In 1920 a boy named Yuliy Borisovich Briner, born in Vladivostok. He was the son of a mining engineer who abandoned the family in 1923. At 13 he met performers from the travelling circus and he auditioned for their show. He was a star until he fell from a height and broke many bones. He later came back to become a clown before making his name as Yul Brynner starring in the King and I and The Magnificent Seven.
Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen also had a brief stint in the circus. At age 14 he lived with his uncle and wanted to make his way back to his mother’s house, so he joined the travelling circus. But moved into acting while in his late teens and early 20’s.
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster born in 1913 took classes in clowning and theater at Union Settlement. At 19 he along with fellow performer Nick Cravat formed an acrobatic team and later joined the Cray Brothers Circus calling themselves Lang and Cravet. After a stint in the army he became an actor working on films which required his acrobatic skills; The Crimson Pirate and Trapeze.
Marilyn Monroe
On March 31, 1955, Marilyn Monroe Headlined a Circus Show in New York. It’s a star-studded circus benefit called “The Show of Shows”– and Marilyn was the first performer to enter Madison Square Garden on a pink horse. She enters wearing dazzling pink and she had her horse painted pink to set the stage.
This antic occured when she was feuding with her Motion Picture Studio. She wanted to show them that she was independent and wanted to do her own thing, quite successfully too.
In Conclusion
Joining the circus is absolutely possible, but not probable. For those willing to work behind the scenes in the least skilled jobs and being lowest paid, can enter into the profession. However, for those who have excellent talent and skills in acrobatics, juggling, music or animal taming you are more likely to be chosen as part of a travelling troupe.
