The Adventures Of Steve & Ryan

Rainy Days and Thursdays Always Make Me Blog

2012-01-26T12:07:00.011-05:00

TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE

After completing the Bill Hall Christmas tour I hopped on a plane and flew to New York City for some much deserved fun.

While in town I crashed on the couch of my friends, Dan Berkley and Lisa Soverino, both of whom I worked with on Ringling.

I tried to keep my schedule busy while still allowing myself time to just wander the city and visit my favorite haunts: Pommes Frites, Colony, The Strand Bookstore, Veniero's, etc.

One night I went to the monthly Downtown Clown Revue, run by Christoper Lueck. It was a nice chance to see a sampling of the local talent while hanging out with friends and childhood Ringling heroes of mine.

Another day I had coffee with Marni Zalban, who left the Blue Show Clown Alley as I was coming on.

That night I met up with my friends, Josh Shack, Joy Powers, and her boyfriend, Zhang, who were all in town for some of the same reasons I was.

The main purpose of my visit to NYC was to catch Barry Lubin as Grandma one more time in the Big Apple Circus.

It was so cool to see the love that audiences have for him after so many years of getting to know Grandma.

Barry came out to the seats to visit with us during Intermission, but he was constantly swamped with fans. He said he got a lot more attention starting last season with the PBS special on the air, but he said this year has been especially hectic now that people know it is their last chance to see him.

We had more time to visit with Barry after the show, and as always he was full of great advice and inspiration. I even got to meet Big Apple's Artistic Director, Guillaume Dufresnoy, who said he is a reader of my blog. How cool is that?!

The other main event that Josh, Joy, Zhang, and I were looking forward to was our friends', Book and Dobson's, Holiday Party and Sausage Fest.

Book Kennison and Mike Dobson hosted the third annual get together at their apartment. In attendance were many clowns and Circus Smirkus almumni.

It also marked the second meeting of the SSCBN (The Society of Short Clowns Born on the Nineteenth), a very elite club indeed!

Many thanks to Book and Mike for a fantastic party. It was a great way to end my NYC vacation.

HOME AGAIN

I was very happy that I got to spend Christmas at home this year (since I was performing 4 shows in Manila the previous year). I also enjoyed just being home to relax, visit my friends and family, and enjoy my Nana's delicious home cooking!

On New Year's Eve I drove to Savannah, GA to visit my friends, The Kelly family, who make awesome yak hair clown wigs.

They were hosting the 3rd Annual Kelly Family Pie Fight for their family and neighborhood friends; I was around for the very first one, but I missed the second (once again due to being in Manila).

Three containers of soap were whipped up, and countless number of shaving cream cans were used to make one hell of a fun mess!

After we were all cleaned up from the pie fight, we enjoyed eating, drinking, and mingling until the countdown to the new year.

Bring it on 2012!

CLOWN FRIENDS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS

While I was home I got to see many good clown friends. Sam Drummond, one of my mentors, invited me out for a day of fun in the Mt. Pleasant/James Island area.

He showed me many cool places that I had never seen, and we topped it off with lunch at a great little quirky restaurant, Jack's Cosmic Dogs.

My friend, James "Cricket" McGrath, came down from Greenville, SC to spend one weekend with me. Cricket and I worked together in Clown Alley for two years.

He and I hit downtown Charleston one night, and we ended up at a bar to see a band that his burlesque dancer friend, Evelyn, had recommended.

My friends and current Ringling Gold Unit Advance clowns, David and Cherie Gregg, spent the night at my house on their way down to do publicity for the show in Georgia.

I just found out that they accomplished a long sought after dream and are on the new season of The Amazing Race! Congrats Dave and Cherie!

http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/video/2190006432/the-amazing-race-meet-the-cast

LOCO BOY MAKES GOOD

While at home I garnered quite a bit of publicity for myself. The local paper did this great story on me:

http://colletontoday.com/news/copeland-has-a-smile-for-every-working-hour/article_caee538a-3334-11e1-b287-0019bb2963f4.html

In the next issue there was a follow up editorial:

http://colletontoday.com/opinion/columnists/strick-land-the-journey-of-steven-copeland-and-the-horror/article_4ca871c4-3648-11e1-9034-0019bb2963f4.html

This following link is a story from many years ago. My Mom and I finally found it while I was home, and we could not stop laughing over how grossly exaggerated it was.

Don't get me wrong, it's very entertaining and well written, but only about 5% true (that's a politician for you)!

Read pages 13-17:

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/papers/working_papers/2005_03_sanders.pdf

Also, local clown and artist, Bob Carl, painted this picture of me:

I was honored that he felt I was worth the paint. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, e-mail Bob at carltoonz@yahoo.com.

RINGLING REPORT

The second week of January I took off to Orlando to enjoy some fun in the Florida sun. I was staying with my friend, Thula Martin, who I worked with in Guam and Manila.

Her roommate got us into Disney for free one day, and we had a ton of fun in the parks. We even met up with a few of our friends from the Blue Unit Clown Alley. They had the day off, and as luck would have it, we were all in the same place at the same time.

We picked a perfect day for visiting the parks; it was overcast and just a little rainy, so we basically walked on to every attraction that we wanted to ride.

My main reason for visiting Orlando was to see the new Blue Unit of Ringling, "Dragons". Thula and I caught the show on opening night and we had a lot of fun.

I couldn't believe how many friends and former coworkers I saw backstage and on the floor (still working with the show and just visiting); it was like a little reunion.

On one day I had lunch with my friend, Barry Phillips, and then dinner with my friend, Tiny Lambros (who just recently got married).

My final day in Orlando I swung by Ringling Blue one last time to visit with Clown Alley. I figured Saturday morning would be a less hectic time, and I was looking forward to just hanging out with the clowns.

I took them a box of coffee and a sandwich platter from Jimmy John's to sweeten the deal a bit for the Alley.

The clowns were all apprehensive about a media event that was happening during the first show. The clowns do a "knights rescuing a princess" gag, and a reporter from the Today Show was going to play the princess in front of a live audience while the Today Show filmed.

Apparently there was very little rehearsal and the reporter didn't seem to take the clowns too seriously. ("I just wanted to do something with the clowns because they don't do anything")

I offered to videotape the potential train wreck for the clowns; anything for my friends!

Luckily, the gag went ok. No one was killed or seriously maimed, but the "guest princess" did throw off the timing of the gag quite a bit at certain points.

The Alley was laughing about the whole thing backstage while they were watching the video I took.

I'm interested to see the piece when it airs; creative editing can fix anything!

I stayed until the late afternoon, and then I had to leave Orlando to head back home.

I didn't get to visit Ringling's Red Unit, but two of the clowns, Dustin Portillo and Brandon Foster, stopped in Walterboro on the way to Columbia and spent the night.

We were up late geeking out on clown stuff; some things never change!

My last night before returning to Hugo I drove down to Savannah to see the Gold Unit of Ringling with the Kelly Family.

My friend, Dean Kelley, is hosting the show, and I had spent a couple of nights earlier in the week hanging out with him, his boyfriend, Jeremy, and his best friend, Tony Robinette.

One night we went to dinner at the Pirate's House, which had delicious honey pecan fried chicken.

Another night I joined Dean, Tony, and a group of performers and crew from the Gold Show for a night of karaoke. It was so much fun!

Speaking of fun, the Kelly family and I had a great time at "Barnum Bash". I was surprised how many people I spotted that I used to work with on the Blue Show.

BACK TO THE GRIND

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end; the same applied for my great vacation.

I am now back in Hugo and the show takes off for Brownsville, TX in about a week. I will write a little Winter Quarters update before we take off.

Hot Off The Presses

2012-01-02T14:30:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,

Here is that article I promised you. It appeared on the front page of the local paper, and I think the author did a very nice job of keeping all the facts straight. It basically sums up the past 10 years of my career in a nut shell:

http://colletontoday.com/news/copeland-has-a-smile-for-every-working-hour/article_caee538a-3334-11e1-b287-0019bb2963f4.html

You more perceptive readers may have noticed that in the article I said that I have two ducks. That is not a typo. Ralph, my female duck, went missing right before Christmas.

Ryan said that he went to put up the ducks for the evening, and Ralph was gone without a trace. The interesting thing is the cages were not disturbed at all, so we have no idea what happened to her.

The news made me very sad; I am going to miss my little girl...

…but I won't miss my stupid bleached hair! Yeesh!

(thank you to Kerri McMullen for that wonderful photograph)

Coming soon (now that I have the pictures I needed) an update about my exciting vacation in New York City!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:35:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Here's wishing a great year for all of our friends, family, and fans. We hope to see you all during our 2012 tour with the Kelly Miller Circus.

I know I promised a big update the other day, but I am still waiting on photographs from a friend before I can continue. *cough Joy Powers *cough

I can; however, share with you an interview that I did with my local paper, which I think turned out to be a great article. Look for that tomorrow...I promise!

Here's to a fun, funny year!

A Dragon, A Dragon, I Swear I Saw A Dragon!

2011-12-29T16:34:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

From now on I will be using one of my Christmas presents to write the blog. I am using the program Dragon, which uses voice-recognition software to type whatever I am saying.

Right now I'm wearing a microphone headset which makes me look like I've taken a new job working for a telemarketing firm.

I believe that this program will allow me to write my blog entries more easily... once I get the hang of it of course.

Stay tuned for more in-depth update tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T10:18:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas to our family, friends, and fans! Thank you for all of your support.

December 17: New Bedford, MA-4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

2011-12-22T07:03:00.001-05:00

Ryan, Tatiana, and I got very little sleep after we arrived at Ryan's grandparents' house. I at least got a few more winks than Ryan and Tatiana did; Nico woke up at 7 a.m., two hours after they had gone to bed.

Ryan's grandparents took us and Ryan's uncle, Kevin, to lunch at a great Brazilian BBQ/buffet, and then we began the hour and a half drive to New Bedford.

We were playing a nice auditorium; I am pleased that it was our venue for the final shows.

Today was Nico's first birthday! It was very serendipitous that our show played Massachussetts today, since Ryan's family could make it for the party.

photos by Patricia Rivers

Nico loved opening and playing with his presents, and most importantly, he enjoyed chowing down on cake.

My friend, Joy, her mother, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend, Zhang, came to watch the first show. Ryan's family also stuck around to show their support.

I was happy that we had big crowds for both shows and that the audiences were great (especially for the second performance).

By the end of the day, we were all drop dead exhausted, especially Nico (partying is hard work). I was happy to get back to the air mattress at Ryan's grandparents' house so I could catch some more sleep.

Thank you to everyone from "Twas The Gift Show Before Christmas" for a successful tour.

Coming soon, my NYC vacation!

December 15 and 16: Folsom, PA-5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

2011-12-18T12:43:00.002-05:00

All of us were feeling sick on Thursday morning; it wasn't a fun drive to Folsom.

My one memory of the town of Folsom is that in the past no one wanted to get their face painted. That held true this year; we did very poor business in that respect.

I was happy that my friends from Hungary came to visit. When I first started doing the Christmas tour back in 2007, I was working the crowd and somehow found out that a family (grandfather, grandmother, and three girls) was Hungarian.

I told them about my Hungarian friends from Ringling, and I showed off my rusty skill with the language.

Every year they come to see the show (and me), and every year we take a picture.

I was sad that this year there were only two girls. I found out that one of them is in high school now; I guess she is too old for clowns now. Sniff......

We play Folsom for two days every year, so it was nice to just leave everything in the theatre for the night.

After work the cast continued our annual tradition of going out to eat at Applebee's after the shows.

The second day in Folsom we got laundry done, and I also took the rental minivan to get an oil change. We have put A LOT of miles on it in two weeks!

Our clown friends, Chris Shelton and Keith Crabbs, came to see the shows the second night; I was happy that they visited, but I wish we had been able to visit with them longer. They did bring a big case of Guinness as a gift, so that made me feel a little better...

We were crazy busy with face painting for the two shows. Quite a reversal from our usual business in Folsom.

The audiences were bigger for the second night as well, and they were a lot more responsive. It was definitely a good day.

After we were done with work we jumped in the minivan and drove straight through to Ryan's maternal grandparents' house in Marlborough, MA.

My head hit the pillow around 5 a.m.

Thank goodness the driving madness will be over in a day!

Happy Birthday Nico!

2011-12-17T16:49:00.003-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Nicolas Christopher Fusco Combs!

Check back soon for the rest of the blog entries from the Christmas tour. Things have been insane the last few days, and I've barely had time to sleep, much less write a blog!

December 13: Erie, PA-7:00 p.m. & December 14: Williamsport, PA-4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

2011-12-15T18:07:00.003-05:00

On top of our 5 a.m. arrival in Erie, I didn't sleep very well. I got a phone call that woke me up pretty early, and then I couldn't get back to sleep.

We had a lot of visitors in Erie. Karen Deal, a friend of my friend, Katy Hughs, took some time out of her schedule to come hang out with me. Sue Marranconi, a local clown, brought some baked goods and attended the show with some members of her clown alley. Our friend, Eggroll, also showed up for a visit.

I am glad we had friendly faces in the audience, because it was a rough crowd. The fact that the average age of the audience was around 80 didn't help matters.

Apparently Nico was dancing and singing in his stroller during the show's overture. He had the whole section in front of him laughing; he's definitely his father's son...a ham!

A man and his daughter came up to us while we were face painting and said they remembered us from Kelly Miller when we played North East, PA earlier in the year. I thought it was cool that they recognized us.

After the show we had a 4 1/2 hour drive to Williamsport. Ryan and I were both falling asleep during the first leg of the trip. I finally had to pull in to a truck stop and get a 5 Hour Energy drink; it worked perfectly and we got to our hotel around 3 a.m.

There's not much to report from our stay in Williamsport. We play a nice auditorium there; parking is a bit of a pain though.

We had two big crowds, and we made bank at face painting. Ryan and I had a lot of fans come to say hello that remembered us from previous years.

December 12: Hagerstown, MD-7:00 p.m.

2011-12-14T14:42:00.011-05:00

Today we met our friends from the Freestate Clown Alley #30 at the Bulls and Bears Tavern where they treated us to lunch.

It was also a meeting of our CFA tent, the John Ringling North II/Steve & Ryan tent, where our logo was unveiled.

Pretty sweet, huh?!

Katy, from the Alley, made a speech, and then we all toasted the future of the tent with our non alcoholic champagne (which Nico now has a dependancy on).

The Alley presented us with tons of great gifts: scarves, hats, shirts, neck pillows, and patches all bearing our tent logo, gift baskets with fantastic snacks, and even SWANK bathrobes featuring the Steve & Ryan logo and our individual names embroidered on the front.

Nico even received his own robe, a Build A Bear teddy complete with tent logo hat, and other stuffed animals and books.

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends; to be honest, I got a little choked up. Thank you so much Freestate Clown Alley #30! I cannot begin to say it enough.

We were playing the Maryland Theatre, which was old and beautiful on the inside. It reminded me a great deal of the Muppet Show theatre.

Ryan and I joked that we needed to heckle Santa from one of the boxes like Statler and Waldorf.

Our circus fan friend, Dick Flint, came to see the show, as well as our friends from the Clown Alley, so we got to do some visiting after the performance.

After work we went out to eat with some of our friends from the tour. We left for Erie, PA around midnight, and we pulled in to our hotel around 5 a.m. Wheeeee!

December 11: Altoona, PA-1:00 p.m.

2011-12-12T19:35:00.002-05:00

I was not feeling it when I woke up at 7 a.m. We had to leave McKeesport fairly early since it was a two hour drive to Altoona and there was an early show.

I also wanted to give ourselves extra time to account for bad weather. The last few times we have played Altoona there has been nasty weather (ice and snow); besides being cold though, the weather today was beautiful.

There was a big crowd for the show and they were a great audience. We had so much fun improvising during our first few appearances on stage.

Some members of the Adam Forepaugh/Barry Lubin CFA tent (including David Orr and Don Curtis) were at the show, and after it was over they treated us to a meal at a local steakhouse.

From our tour Larry, Cassidy, Gail, and Jason joined Ryan, Tatiana, Nico and myself for the meal.

The tent presented Nico with some gifts, and Don Curtis gave me a yummy looking sampler platter of holiday treats.

We had a great time, and we really appreciated the Forepaugh/Lubin tent's hospitality and generosity.

Ryan, Tatiana, Nico, and I later met up for a dinner my cousins, The Hiott family. They have a beautiful home, and we were fortunate that they invited us to stay with them for the evening.

December 10: McKeesport, PA-4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

2011-12-11T13:36:00.009-05:00

After our five hour drive and bedtime of 3:00 a.m., I was not ready to get out of bed this morning.

This was unfortunate since we had a lot we wanted to accomplish before our shows.

Monroeville (about 10 miles away from McKeesport) is the home of the Monroeville Mall, where one of my favorite zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead, was filmed back in the late 70s.

Every year on the Christmas tour, I make a pilgrimage there to bask in the zombie goodness.

There is a little museum with some props and memorabilia from the movie as well as zombie replicas; I could spend a whole day there!

In addition to that stop, we needed to go to JoAnn's Fabrics and Guitar Center, as well as Half Price Books.

Ok....we didn't HAVE to go to Half Price Books, but we sure wanted to!

On the drive to the high school, Ryan and I did a phone interview for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Ever try to drive, use GPS, and give funny and insightful interview answers? It isn't easy! Or safe!)

Mike, a photographer from the Post Gazette, who spent some time with us this past season, must have turned his editor on to my blog (hello!), because they found out we were going to be in the area.

Here is the article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11345/1196156-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml

You can also find it in today's (Sunday) issue if you are in the Pittsburgh area. It isn't 100% accurate, but hey, it's free publicity!

I was dragging butt for the first show, but the second audience had a lot more energy, so I got my second wind.

The best part of the day was going out to dinner after the shows with some of our friends from the tour.

We all had a lot of fun talking and cracking each other up.

December 9: Philadelphia, PA-7:00 p.m.

2011-12-11T00:24:00.002-05:00

We were able to get some laundry done before leaving Pottstown and heading to the "City of Brotherly Love".

Traffic was bad once we got into the city, even though it wasn't rush hour. I am glad we ended up traveling a bit early; I would have hated to drive to the school when everyone was getting off work.

We had one easy show tonight. The crowd was a bit crazy, but it was a good energy to feed off of.

Once we were done with the show we loaded up and drove the 5 hours to McKeesport, clear on the other side of the state. We were checked into our hotel around 3 a.m.

December 7: Day Off & December 8: Pottstown, PA-7:00 p.m.

2011-12-09T12:02:00.003-05:00

We had a much needed day off on December 7th. When I first saw our route, I wondered if a free day wouldn't be better midway through the tour.

After the craziness of the first two days though, I was more than happy to relax a little bit!

Ryan, Tatiana, Nico, and I went to the King of Prussia Mall, which is HUGE! It is broken into two big buildings, each with a top and bottom floor jam packed with shops.

Later in the day I met my friend, Mary Kelly Rayel, and I took on the job of shopping assistant and bag holder. Then in the evening I treated her to dinner; what can I say, I know how to treat my girl clowns!

Our show in Pottstown was our first relaxed, easy show of the tour. The theater was fairly simple to load in and out of, and the show went off without a hitch.

Here's hoping the coming towns are the same....and the audiences aren't such cheapskates when it comes to face painting!

December 6: Lebanon, PA-7:00 p.m.

2011-12-06T23:54:00.004-05:00

The Eagles' Club in Lebanon, PA is the most difficult venue we play on the Bill Hall Christmas tour. It has a small stage with extremely limited backstage space.

For the past couple of years Ryan and I have dressed in the kitchen area. It isn't very glamorous, but hey, it's showbiz!

Due to the difficulties the venue presented, Ryan and I had to help cover a couple of act set ups with some impromptu comedy. Gail also asked us to roll out a carpet for her act so the dogs wouldn't be sliding all over the wooden floor (a couple of acts had to work on the floor since the stage just wasn't big enough). We even had to go out and kneel on the corners of the carpet to keep it from moving around during the act.

On top of all of that, John Bundy, who plays Santa, asked us if we would try something new with him. He asked us to do a different opening and then to join him for all of the act introductions so there would be more continuity for the show.

Needless to say, the audience got to see plenty of Steve & Ryan. Maybe a little too much....

Lucky for us they loved us and still found us funny when our gag rolled around in the second half.

Between the craziness of opening day and the difficulties of Lebanon, we were ready for our day off on the 7th.

Lancaster, PA-4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

2011-12-05T22:56:00.002-05:00

Today was the opening day for the Bill Hall Christmas Tour. We showed up at the Mennonite School (conveniently located right across the street from our hotel) about 3 hours before show time.

There always seems to be a shortage of time on the opening day of the tour, but today seemed especially hectic.

A lot of folks showed up close to show time, so the cast meeting was held behind the curtain while folks were entering the auditorium.

In fact, when show time rolled around, last minute preparations were still being made. Ryan and I went out and entertained the crowd while everything was settled.

It was actually a lot of fun and allowed us to shake the rust off our clowning. Neither of us has been in make up since the end of the KM season. (Ryan actually forgot the details of his make up process)

There was a small crowd for the first show, but that was actually beneficial for us. There wasn't huge pressure while we ironed out the kinks of the performance.

Here is the line up:

Welcome-Steve and Ryan

National Anthem and Overture-Larry Stout

Bicycles and Unicycles-The Rinney Family

Santa's Arrival-Steve & Ryan and John Bundy

Dogs-Gail Mirabella

Magic-Clive and Tracy Allen

Rola Bola-Jonathon Olivero

Bizarre Balloonology-John and Jen Cassidy

Intermission

Juggling-The Rinney Family

Holiday Hilarity-Steve & Ryan

Ponies-Cassidy Herriott (with the dice throwing assistance of Steve & Ryan)

Bizarre Balloonology-John and Jen Cassidy

Finale

We packed props into the car for two gags, but it turned out that Mr. Hall only needed one for this year's show. We wanted to premiere our brand new (never before done) gag, but due to lack of time to practice with Clive Allen, we went with our other act: the shovel gag that we did on KM in 2009.

It turns out we wouldn't have been able to do the new gag anyway. The pony act has a huge ring made out of fences that takes up almost the whole stage from front to back.

Ryan and I just had a small space in which to work in front of the fences; we could barely move, much less do a gag.

Tomorrow we are going to ask if we can go after the pony act when the fences are cleared so we can actually do a decent job.

We paint faces before the show and during Intermission, and with Tatiana joining us, we added the option of full face designs in addition to our regular cheek art.

We cleaned up in the face painting department, especially in the second show when there was a big crowd. The full face designs were a huge hit; Ryan had to help out. I am going to learn to apply them too so I can help keep the line moving.

Our friend, Carol Lang, came to see the second show. She brought crab cakes, a couple of different salads, cookies, Guinness, gifts for Nico, and cards for us.

It was so thoughtful of her to bring us such a nice free roll. She even had plates, cups, a cooler full of ice, and a little oven to heat up the crab cakes!

Ryan's friends, the Gallucci family, were also at the show. Needless to say, we were very busy visiting everyone!

After the shows I was happy to kick back in my hotel room and enjoy a Guinness from Carol.

One day down, 12 more to go!

374 Miles To Lancaster, PA

2011-12-04T14:37:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,

Sorry that my postings have been slim lately. Ryan and I have been hella busy with preparations for the Bill Hall Christmas Tour as well as the 2012 season of Kelly Miller.

Apparently we did not learn our lesson from the 2010 season, as once again we are going to be in the show many times.

We were happy with our number of appearances from the past season, but the show needs us to cover a couple of transitions next year in addition to performing our production gags.

We had all of our gags planned out, but at the last minute we decided to discard one idea and put in a new (hopefully better) one.

The downside was that we had to make some new, HUGE, props in just a couple of days, but the upside is that we will be the first clowns to perform this gag on a circus.

We are very excited about debuting it on the Bill Hall Christmas Tour first.

Speaking of which....

Right now Ryan, Tatiana, Nico, and I are on the road to Lancaster, PA, which is the first town of the Christmas Tour. It is our second day of travel; last night we stayed with our friend, Jeff Schott, and his sister, Joan, in Louisville, KY.

Jeff is a great host and stayed up sharing stories with us until the wee hours of the morning, only to wake up bright and early to make us breakfast.

Joan bought Nico a little stuffed snowman that he instantly fell in love with. He carried it around all night and gave it hugs and kisses.

Here is our schedule for the 2011 edition of 'Twas The Show Before Christmas:

Monday, Dec. 5 -- 4 & 7 pm -- Lancaster Mennonite School, 2176

Lincoln Highway East (Rt. 30), Lancaster, PA

Tuesday, Dec. 6 -- 7 pm -- Eagles' Club, 116 N. 8th St., Lebanon, PA

Thursday, Dec. 8 -- 7 pm -- Pottstown Middle School, 600 N. Franklin

St., Pottstown, PA

Friday, Dec. 9 -- 7 pm -- St. Hubert's Catholic High School for

Girls, Cottman (Rt. 73) & Torresdale Avenues, (Northeast) Philadelphia, PA

Saturday, Dec. 10 -- 4 & 7 pm -- McKeesport High School Auditorium,

1960 Eden Park Boulevard, McKeesport, PA

Sunday, Dec. 11 -- 1 pm -- Altoona High School, 1415 6th Avenue,

Altoona, PA

Monday, Dec. 12 -- 7 pm -- Maryland Theatre, 27 S. Potomac St.,

Hagerstown, Maryland (MD)

Tuesday, Dec. 13 -- 7 pm -- Mercyhurst College Mary D'Angelo

Performing Arts Center, 501 E. 38th St., Erie, PA

Wednesday, Dec. 14 -- 4 & 7 pm -- Scottish Rite Consistory

Auditorium, 348 Market Street, Williamsport, PA

Thursday, Dec. 15 -- 5:30 & 8 pm -- Ridley Township Community

Center, 801 Morton Avenue, just north of McDade Boulevard,

Folcroft/Ridley Park, PA

Friday, Dec. 16 -- 5:30 & 8 PM -- Same location as Dec. 15

Saturday, Dec. 17 -- 4 & 7 pm -- Keith Middle School, 225 Hathaway

Boulevard, New Bedford, Massachusetts (MA)

If you are near any of these towns, please come out to see the show and say hello!

Keep checking the blog for updates throughout the tour.

Blast From The Past: Walkarounds-2003

2011-11-13T12:45:00.003-05:00

My first year on Ringling one of my favorite parts of the show was doing walkarounds.

I joined the second year of the 132nd edition tour, so I was replacing one of the clowns who was leaving.

When I saw the show for the first time, I saw a walkaround that I really wanted to do, but being a lowly First of May, I obviously had no say in the matter. It all came down to which spots were open and what costume I fit into.

I was first chosen to do a Cinderella walkaround where I would play the famed princess who scares off her prospective suitor with a foot WAY too big to fit into the glass slipper.

The walkaround is a classic that I had seen before, so I was excited to be a part of its history.

I was less excited about the costume. Marni Sussman, who previously played the part of the princess, can attest to what a pain in the butt the costume was.

There was a huge hat that made it difficult to get in and out of doorways, there was a hoop skirt that would become twisted after each performance and would require resetting (which was no easy feat), and one more added inconvenience for me: the shoe inside the big foot was about two sizes too small for me.

But, as an eager new clown, I was just happy to be on the Greatest Show on Earth, and I wouldn't have said s**t even if I had a mouth full of it. (To quote my friend, Natalie)

The current Boss Clown, David Solove, put all of us First of Mays into walkarounds the third night we were on the show. He said the best way to learn something was a trial by fire, and those sink or swim situations certainly did put the pressure on you to not screw up.

Everything went fine for the first performance because David was with me the whole time playing the part of the prince; I simply had to do our bit and then follow him to the next spot.

The only difficulty I had was the big princess hat falling in my face the first time I bent over to lift up the skirt of the dress.

That quickly taught me that to be a princess, I would have to learn to bend over in a more ladylike fashion.

The next day I was feeling a lot more comfortable with the role after having a couple of shows under my belt.

As I was getting dressed for the last show of the day, I put on a different pair of bloomers than I had been wearing. I noticed they were a little big on me, but I didn't think anything of it.

David and I went to our first spot on the floor and went into our routine. When I lifted up the dress to expose my big foot, I had a surprise in store for David and the audience: my bloomers had fallen down around my ankles!

This got a huge laugh from the audience, and David yelled (through his laughter), "Pull up your bloomers!"

I forwent any decency and yanked my underwear up in front of the paying customers, and quickly turned tail and ran after David to our next spot.

Unfortunately, the running caused my bloomers to fall again, and our next presentation was the same as the first.

After a couple of attempts to right the wrong, I simply gave up and accepted my new role as the slutty princess.

On the plus side, the walkaround got an exceptional amount of laughs that night!

My favorite two days of doing the Cinderella walkaround came when David Solove was sick with the flu and I filled in for him as the prince.

I enjoyed it because the prince costume was much easier to get in and out of, and I had a kiss blown to me by Marni every time we did the gag (she was a much prettier princess than I ever was).

After going home for the winter break I returned to the show in Sunrise, FL, refreshed and ready to begin my career with the circus.

Some shuffling was done in the walkaround roster due to the inclusion of a new gag from a father and son team from Hungary.

This change effectively took the Cinderella walkaround out of the line up, and I was put into a new gag.

I assumed the role of a woman (again with the drag!) wearing very stylish alligator shoes and an alligator handbag.

While showing off my accesories, the head on my purse would come alive and start threatening me. Struck by comedic inspiration, I would open the gator's mouth and place my head inside.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

No sooner would I have tamed the beastly bag than a giant alligator (played by another First of May, Mit Calloway) would come along and scare me off, only to show off his stylish clown skin suitcase and shoes.

After a couple of days of doing the new walkaround, David Kiser, our production manager, told me to do something different with my hair so I wouldn't look so strange.

In fact, the day before my make over, I heard a little kid in the audience yell at me, "Look! It's a boy in a dress!"

Before....

and after!

Towards the end of the tour, in Boston, MA, David and Cherie Gregg came to visit us. Dave and Cherie had previously done the alligator clothing walkaround, and with a little prodding and persuasion, we convinced David to don the alligator costume once more and perform the walkaround with me at the evening show.

David did a stellar job in reprising his role; however, the timing of the walkarounds had changed since he had left, and we were WAY ahead of everybody else.

I kept trying to tell him to slow down, but we still found ourselves getting to our spots while another clown was still filling it.

The situation all became worse when we found out that Kenneth Feld was visiting that show. Luckily, he was in the production office during walkarounds, so we were all able to breathe a collective sigh of relief that he had not seen "the alligator walkaround on crack".

Even though Ryan and I performed walkarounds on Kelly Miller in 2010, nothing will compare to the feel of 12 clowns in the spotlight with a live band and an entire arena floor to work.

Sleepless Night

2011-11-12T05:28:00.004-05:00

I woke up at 3 a.m., and I can't get back to sleep. I guess I might as well write a WQ blog update.

On November 5th Hugo held its 3rd Annual Circus Festival, in which artists from the three local circuses (Kelly Miller, Carson and Barnes, and Culpepper Merriweather) joined together to put on three performances for the people of Hugo.

Some of the acts included Karina Perez (Culpepper) on lyra, Alex Acero (Carson) with his comedy trampoline, Julio and Deya Rosales (KM) performing their knife throwing act which will be part of the 2012 production, Natalie Chandler (Culpepper) with her performing dogs, and several other acts such as hula hoops and rola bola.

Ryan and I did a soap gag (where shredded soap is mixed with water using a high powered drill, and then used to simulate different white liquids [paint, pies, glue, milk, etc]) where we were painters on hand to paint the building for the Circus City Museum.

We had a lot of fun making a big mess; less fun was the preparation of whipping up the soap and the clean up afterwards of the ring mat, the props, and ourselves.

BUT, it was only for three shows, and as far as big laughs go, no pain, no gain!

Here are me and Ryan with our 2006 Blue Unit Clown Alley mate, Alex Acero. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of our gag itself.

I have been enjoying having time off in Hugo. I have been watching a crazy amount of DVDs from Netflix, and I have been spending a lot of time at the library.

They have a great circus section, and I have been slowly but surely perusing old issues of White Tops for interesting clown articles and pictures to photocopy.

After a couple of weeks of resting and cleaning/organizing our homes and Ryan's storage unit, we began work on props for next season.

The Winter Quarters crew are in the shops working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but once they are gone, Ryan and I take over and work until late at night.

Our first day of work we went in around 11 a.m., and I finally left around 11 p.m. Ryan stayed for awhile longer because he is a freaking maniac when it comes to creating props!

A couple of days after the Circus Festival, our friend, Jeff Potts, came to visit Hugo for about a week to help us with our prop work.

Jeff helped us build the bee hive for the 201o exterminator gag, and we loved having him visit us in WQ. He was an invaluable help.

We got a lot of foam carving, latexing, painting, and wood work done with him here. We did occasionally take a break from working like dogs; one day I gave Jeff a tour of Hugo, and on November 10th we took time to celebrate Ryan's 27th birthday. I got him this awesome gift:

http://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Hardy-Essential-Collection-Stan/dp/B005BYBZKY

Soon I will post some pictures of the three of us working in the prop shop. For now here is a teaser photo of the frame work (masterfully welded by Oscar Perez) for one of our new props.

Can you guess what it is?

Well, we are taking Jeff to the airport in about an hour and a half, and it doesn't look like I am getting back to sleep. Whee!

Keep your eyes peeled for another blast from our Ringling past in the next few days. Until then....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Blast From The Past: This Story Blows-2006

2011-10-29T19:48:00.006-04:00

Hello from Hugo, OK!

I have been thoroughly enjoying our winter break. As soon as the show got back into Winter Quarters, Ryan and I began cleaning out our trailers and organizing Ryan's storage unit.

We are going to have to start charging admission to see it; Ryan has amassed an amazing collection of clown costumes and props, as well as books on comedy.

Speaking of books, I filled up three 30 gallon tubs with books from my trailer. No wonder I was paying so much for gas!

The sad thing is, I still have a big box full under my bed, and I left about a cabinet and a half full with books I intend to read in the coming year.

I plan to keep everyone updated with our misadventures during the winter, but I also plan on sharing some recollections from my time with Ringling.

Here is a little story from my 4th year on the show, 2006: The Circus of (Broken) Dreams tour.

Dean Kelley, Ryan and I had a music gag in Pre Show where they attempted to play "The Tiger Rag" on trumpet while I constantly tried to help on trombone.

My interruptions led to Big Time Comedy!

Or not....Ryan's expression in that picture sums up the gag pretty well.

Anyway, about a month into the tour we were already bored with the gag, so I started doing stupid things at the beginning to keep things interesting.

One of my new bits involved me bowing and hitting my head on the microphone that the sound guys set up in front of our stage.

Well, one night in Birmingham, AL, I was being extra "funny" since there was a cute PR intern watching with a couple of kids from a meet and greet that I had just completed.

I hit the microphone a little too hard with my head butt, and I instantly knew that I had cut myself.

I decided to just keep on with the gag, and hopefully no one would notice anything. When it came time for me to play the trombone, I was blowing into the mouthpiece, and with the pressure from every breath, I could feel the cut on my forehead bubbling blood.

Ryan noticed and stoically commented, "Wow, that's a lot of blood."

I quickly told Dean and Ryan to cover for me and I beat a hasty retreat off the floor.

Backstage Scott Myers, the guitar player for the band (and an excellent photographer), snapped this shot.

Back in the Alley I could not stop the bleeding. I kept trying to apply white make up over the wound, but it would instantly turn red.

Finally I had a stroke.....of genius!

I applied a red make up dot over the wound (which was conveniently in the corner of the white above my eye), and then I added another one in the same area of the other eye.

It was quite an aesthetically pleasing bit of horror!

Once I got back on the Pre Show floor I found as many clowns as possible to show them my clever idea.

Of course, the fact that I got the injury by being an idiot negated any ingenuity on my part!

Needless to say I NEVER head butted the microphone again, and Ryan left just a couple of weeks later, so that put an end to the gag once and for all.

I can't imagine why he left....

Thank You!

2011-10-21T20:02:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone,

Before you read the final blog entry of the 2011 season that is located below this post, I have a small favor to ask.

As you all know, I did incredibly well at keeping up with the blog this year! I don't think I missed a single day, and if I did take a day off, I believe I gave notice and caught up the next day. Yay me!

But enough back patting. I was wondering if you could all do one teeny, tiny favor for me? Everyone, please post a comment to this entry so I can see exactly how many people read my blog on a daily basis.

You don't have to sign your name, it is fine by me if it is an anonymous comment. You don't even have to write a message; just a letter, number, symbol, anything!

I'm just interested in the number of comments. So I can feel popular....I guess....

It would sure mean a lot to me if you could all do this simple task. Thank you all for following my blog, and thanks to everyone that was able to come out and support the show and me and Ryan with your enthusiasm, kindness, and free roll!

And to everyone I haven't met yet, I hope to see you down the road!

Sincerely,

Steve Copeland

Happy Trails

2011-10-21T19:46:00.004-04:00

Thursday, October 20: Ardmore, OK-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

I got a wake up call at 8 a.m. from the Gordon family. I met Dave and "Shorty" Gordon, and their son D.R. when I worked on Ringling.

Dave went to Clown College back in 86 and spent 20 years in the circus business, where he married his wife, Shorty, and they had their son my first year on Ringling.

Now they live in Oklahoma City, so they made the drive out to spent the day with the show in Ardmore.

The Gordons brought a huge free roll. Shorty made bread and bagels, as well as three beautiful cakes: a duck cake for me, a tent cake for Mr. North, and a circus lot cake for the show.

Today was chock full of visitors. Dudley, the Kelly Miller lot caretaker, his daughter, Carol, and her husband, Rich, came to visit; Pat and Mike, who spent awhile with us this season, were also in attendance.

Tyson Manning, a photographer who spent some time with us in Oklahoma earlier in the season, showed up in Grove, made the jump with us into Ardmore, and spent time photographing the shows and lot life.

He gave me two big pictures: one of the water gag, and one of me getting pied on my birthday.

Lois Proctor, who works at Mr. North's book store in Ardmore, was also at the lot for the tent raising. She ordered a couple of Dexter books for me, and when I went to pay her for them, she said that they were a birthday gift. Sweet!

I got another great birthday present in the mail today from Becky Raborn. She got me the complete Pink Panther film library on DVD (excluding of course the reprehensible Steve Martin remake. Blarf!).

And to top it all off, Johnny Moss renewed his title as "Coolest Teen Ever" for buying me a new zombie video game.

Hooray for birthday presents!

The saddest thing that happened today was that I received my final paycheck for the season.

When the cookhouse opened for lunch I helped Shorty carry the cakes and bread over for everyone to enjoy. Then I took Ryan, Dave, and D.R. to Mr. North's book store, The Bookseller, where we browsed for awhile.

I dropped Dave off back at the lot, and then Ryan and I ran some errands.

The last two shows were performed under the new tent, which was back from having modifications done.

Our final shows were performed to full houses, which was a great way to end the 2011 season.

During the second finale John Moss made a speech about how the audience had just witnessed the final performance of the wild west edition, and he thanked Joel, Nikki, the Poemas, and Lucky and Vickie, who won't be returning next season.

I never know what to feel at the conclusion of the tour, because it doesn't set in right away that we are finished. I always feel like the next day will bring a new town and more shows.

Well, that concludes the 2011 season of the Kelly Miller Circus!

I guess I should write something deep and profound in summation.

Um.......

Uh.......

Ah, screw it!

Oh Happy Day!

2011-10-20T17:48:00.005-04:00

Tuesday, October 18: Grove, OK-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 62

Lot: Sports complex

Ryan and I practiced some music today. We tried a couple of songs on trumpet and trombone, and we also started writing out the notes for a song from the musical, "Sugar", called "Penniless Bums". Coincidentally, that title will describe us pretty well this winter.

The first crowd wasn't very big, but we did good business for the second show, even though it was freezing.

The one good part of the cold weather was that they left the generator on all night.

Wednesday, October 19: Ardmore, OK-Travel Day

Miles: 280

Lot: Corner of Commerce & Veterans

I made good time on the jump today. I only stopped twice for gas, and I was doing a steady 65 mph for the majority of the drive. I made it to Ardmore around 11:30 a.m.

Today was my 28th birthday. Ryan and Tatiana gave me my gift when I got to the lot, and after receiving it I got this great picture of Nico achieving his zen moment.

Later in the day the circus children came around trick or treating. I was waiting for them on the steps of my trailer with all my goody bags full of candy.

As I was handing the children their treats, Ryan called out, "Hey kids, sing 'Happy Birthday' to Steve!"

As they were serenading me, Tatiana removed my glasses. My Spidey Sense started tingling, and I knew what was coming next.

I quickly removed my hat, and as soon as the kids finished their song, Delena nailed me in the face with a pie. Not a shaving cream pie either; a real lemon meringue pie!

Afterwards I told Ryan that it was my first birthday pie since my last year on Ringling in 2007.

The Fuscos had me over to their trailer after I had cleaned up where I was presented a birthday cake addressed to "Princess Steve". Ain't it the truth?!

Tonight Ryan, Casey, Radar, Nikki, and I went to the Gusher Lounge for drinks, dinner, and karaoke. Later in the evening Lucky, Vickie, and the Norths joined our party.

I sang three songs, none of which really fit the theme of the bar (country/western), but no one threw beer bottles or shot at me, so I considered it a success.

Hooray for good birthdays!

28

2011-10-19T17:22:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone,

Since it is a travel day, and in celebration of my birthday, I am taking the day off from blogging.

See you tomorrow!

In the meantime....My friend, Alex Zaprudsky, is an undergraduate researcher at The University of Iowa Department of Communication Studies and is conducting a research study about Circus Fans. The project is still in the process of being approved. Alex will be recruiting participants for his study on my blog, though, so be on the lookout for more detailed information about his study and a link to the survey in the coming weeks.

Mogwai!

2011-10-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 17: Wheaton, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 42

Lot: Gizmo's Event Center

Today's jump was the shortest one we have had in awhile, and the last short drive for the season.

We did good business for both shows; it became very windy during the second performance as a storm started to move in.

Gizmo, a well known local rodeo clown (after which the lot is named), was the guest ringmaster for the second show.

When Ryan found out, he warned John Moss, "Don't get him wet, keep him out of sunlight, and what ever you do, DON'T feed him after midnight!"

And that's all I've got to say about that....

Curse of Carthage

2011-10-17T18:28:00.002-04:00

Sunday, October 16: Carthage, MO-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 67

Lot: Myers Park

On this morning's jump several of us were scared by a man walking on the Interstate.

I was driving along, in my usual stupor, when out of nowhere there was a man walking on the Interstate with his back to traffic. He had his thumb stuck out for a ride, and he was wearing dark clothing.

I came within inches of hitting him since he was walking on the border of my lane and the lane vehicles use to enter the highway.

When I stopped for gas I mentioned the man to Sara, and she said she almost hit him as well. A couple of local ladies also mentioned seeing him.

There was a Wal Mart close to today's lot, so I walked over and did my trick or treat shopping. Even though the kids aren't making their rounds until Wednesday, I wanted to be ready and avoid a scenario like last year.

"The circus kids did their trick or treating this afternoon. I had Sara buy a couple of bags of candy yesterday, but when I saw the mob of children and how much candy they were getting from everyone else, I knew that my one piece of candy a child rationing was not going to cut it.

I ended up hiding in my trailer and then just tossing all the candy on the ground where the kids could fend for themselves.

This did not please the children, so they attempted to flip over my trailer. I hid inside until the bloodthirsty mob had moved on to another trailer.

Ryan got a huge kick out of this spectacle and took to calling me The Grinch Who Stole Halloween."

Back at my trailer I made up gift bags for the kids; now everything is ready for them.

We did decent business for the first show and the second show had an average sized crowd. The audiences were dead.

Let me put it this way: My black duck, Emmie, bit me on the eye today while I was holding him. It was less painful than performing for the people of Carthage.

Ouch.

I actually think there is a curse behind the town's name. The audiences in Carthage, IL were noteworthy in their lack of response, and in the movie "Funny Bones", Oliver Platt says, "I was playing Carthage, Tennessee. Ever play there? They brought back the death penalty for comedians only."

I rest my case!

Fab Fawns

2011-10-16T16:11:00.002-04:00

Saturday, October 15: El Dorado Springs, MO-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Miles: 79

Lot: between Fugate Motors and Summer Fresh Market

There were a lot of deer on this morning's jump. There was a dead one in the middle of the road, then later on two ran out in front of me.

The most entertaining sighting happened right outside of town. Six deer crossed the road in a perfect line. Four of them stopped in the street, and their spacing and pose was eerily reminiscent of the Beatles' album cover for "Abbey Road".

(Like this, only with the capacity to do much more damage to your vehicle)

It was nice to be by civilization today after playing in the boonies for the past several days. While Ryan and I were at lunch we got a call from Tavana. The sponsor wanted to know if we would appear at the town's chili cook off like we did two years ago.

We tried to beg off, citing the lack of notice and short amount of time they were giving us to be ready. The sponsor was persistent though, and he said he could take us later than he had planned.

Being the fantastic team players that we are, we agreed to do the publicity.

At 12:30 p.m. the sponsor picked us up and took us downtown for the cook off. We mingled with the locals and plugged the circus. Whenever we saw a family we asked if they were going to the show, and we handed out a few free kid's tickets.

Whenever someone would offer me chili, I would say that I couldn't eat it because I was a Level 9 Vegan, meaning that I can't eat anything that casts a shadow.

Aside from a few teenage girls who were "afraid of clowns", the meet and greet went well.

The first show was 3/4 full, and there was a good turnout for the second show, although the ring side seats were mostly empty.

The lot was pretty rough, so it took a lot of work to do the gags.

10 Mo' To Go

2011-10-15T17:13:00.001-04:00

Friday, October 14: Camdenton, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 75

Lot: Amphitheater grounds

When Tatiana made lunch today, she shared some with me. That was the delicious highlight of my day!

Fridman fixed my water pump, but he said that something inside of it is over heating and causing it to turn off.

When I am not using water, he told me to keep the pump turned off. It is a pain of a habit to get into, but once we get back to Hugo and I can easily get to an RV shop, I will buy a new pump,

There were huge rocks in the backdoor. Apparently the ring suffered the same problem, but thankfully a few guys went in and raked the majority of them out.

The first show was full, and the second show was packed. They had to set up the extra bleachers to accommodate everybody; the audiences were great too.

I remarked to John Moss how wonderful it would be if our remaining 10 shows were like that.

Optimist Prime

2011-10-14T23:04:00.004-04:00

Thursday, October 13: Ashland, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 67

Lot: Optimist complex

Ryan and I drove to Target this morning to pick up a skeleton for one of our new gags. We were directly in between two big towns, each with a Target. Unfortunately we were 20 miles from both of those towns.

It sure would have made things a lot easier if we had played a bigger town today!

Besides going to Target, I was able to pick up duck food and shavings from Orschelin's. At least the 40 mile round trip was a productive one.

Ryan and I got our new clown shoes from Marty Scott in the mail today. There was a mix up with Ryan's order, so if anyone wants to buy these shoes:

send me an e-mail at stclown@lowcountry.com They are a men's size 9 1/2, and they are brand spanking new.

There was horse crap all over the lot. Everywhere. Nothing welcomes you to a town like horse manure everywhere you step; it really showed how much the town cared about us.

I thought about dumping my donniker right in the middle of the lot to return the feelings.

After showering I turned on my sink so I could shave; no water came out. I tried again, I turned the pump on and off, all to no avail.

I called Fridman so he could check out my pump, but he was busy and said he would have to check it later.

This left me without running water, which put me in a bad mood. Grrrrrr.

We had average sized crowds for both shows. Mrs. North filmed our gags for us in the second performance; it was nice to see the progress we have made since the gags were last filmed in Rhode Island.

I wore my new shows for the shoes tonight. Wait a minute.....

It has been awhile since I have worn heavy duty Scott clown shoes, and they gave me quite a work out!

Fridman got my water pump working between shows, but it didn't last long. He said he wouldn't be able to properly fix it until tomorrow when he could have light to see what he was doing.

No running water for me until tomorrow. D'OH!

Luckily Ryan let me fill up a bucket so I could take my make up off, and John Moss gave me a couple of bottles of drinking water.

As I was standing over the bucket of water taking my make up off, I flashed back to 2009 when we were living in the generator truck and took our make up off via bucket every night.

At least now my indoor plumbing is more advanced than a funnel stuck in a hole in the floor.

Avoid the Noid

2011-10-13T18:50:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, October 12: Montgomery City, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 60

Lot: fairgrounds

This morning when I woke up and stumbled out of my trailer, I realized that I was the only one left on the lot!

Apparently everyone moved to solid ground last night in anticipation of a downpour; I didn't get the memo and slept through the whole thing.

It must have rained like crazy during the night, because the ground was absolutely soaked. I was going to be very angry if I got stuck, but luckily I pulled right off the soft, wet grass with no problem.

Once we got to Montgomery City I walked into town to mail a Netflix DVD. The whole downtown was comprised of antique shops.

Ryan, Tatiana, and I checked out one across the street from the lot. I picked up a drinking glass with a Norman Rockwell painting depicted on the side.

It is called "Off Duty Clown", and it depicts a circus clown sitting in a chair, smoking a pipe, and reading the paper; a great find!

Danny came over because Ryan found a treasure chest and powder keg that would be perfect for next year's pirate production.

We did decent business for both shows and the crowds were very responsive.

In the first performance, one of Carolyn's dogs kept running over to Mrs. North and jumping in her lap. Mrs. North spends a lot of time with that dog, and I guess he just wanted to visit with a friend during the show.

Next, at the conclusion of his rope spinning act, Joel ran over and sat in Mrs. North's lap as well.

I really wish I could have seen the whole thing; I bet it was hilarious!

Our friends from the Red Unit Clown Alley, Dustin and Brandon, came to watch the second show along with some of Dustin's family. The Red Show is in St. Louis, so I am glad they were able to come see us.

We visited with them briefly before the performance, and then I ordered pizza from the Domino's right next to the lot so we could eat and visit when we were done with work.

TDS: Torta Delivery Service

2011-10-12T20:14:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, October 11: Winfield, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 33

Lot: Sports Field

On the jump this morning I spotted a coffee shop not very far from the lot that I wanted to check out. After getting everything set up, I walked over just to find out that the shop was closed on Tuesdays. BAH!

For the past several days Ryan has been painting a pirate ship prop that Fridman built for Carolyn's next year dog act. He finished it this morning, and it looks fantastic.

We had a decent sized crowd for the first show. I just was not feeling it, and I couldn't get in a groove. Luckily we did good business for the second show and the audience was great!

They really recharged my batteries and helped me give a great performance.

John Moss sent me a text last night telling me that Reyna was making tortas for dinner. I mistook him and thought he meant that she was making them tonight.

I realized my error after the show, but Reyna was nice enough to make a torta just for me, and Johnny even delivered it to my door.

Now that's service!

You're A Phony!

2011-10-11T21:13:00.001-04:00

Monday, October 10: Warrenton, MO-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 70

Lot: Athletic complex

After arriving at the lot, making breakfast, and getting cleaned up, I unhooked my truck to run some errands in town.

I washed about two weeks worth of laundry, went grocery shopping, and got a much needed haircut.

When I got my hair cut, I didn't feel like answering a million questions about working for a circus, so when the lady asked me why I was in town and what I do for a living, I started improvising and making things up.

I think I worked harder making stuff up than I would have answering her circus questions. I also wasn't very good at such spur of the moment fabricating; guess I need to work on my improvisational skills.

When I got back to the lot I discovered that my trailer was without power. I checked my breakers in the trailer, I checked all my plugs, and I checked the breakers in the gypsy box: all to no avail.

Finally I took out my generator and plugged into that until I could find one of the electricians to diagnose my problem.

Our friend, Sean Carlock, came to visit today. Sean was a First of May clown on the Red Unit while I was starting out on the Blue Show.

He brought us some delicious honey crisp apples as free roll, and he treated us to lunch at a Chinese buffet in town.

Both shows were around 3/4 full. Sean watched the first performance and then had a 5 hour drive home ahead of him.

I found Alex, one of the electricians, at the start of the first show, and he diagnosed my power problem. Something was wrong with my plug in the gypsy box, so he plugged me directly into the generator so I could have power.

I was just relieved that the problem was not on my end!

Mortal Komquack

2011-10-10T21:45:00.002-04:00

Sunday, October 9: Union, MO-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 76

Lot: Jaycee Fairgrounds

There was a Flying J pretty early in the jump. I stopped to fuel up, dump my tank, and buy oil; I thought that plenty more people would be stopping there too, but I was one of only three vehicles from the show.

While I was fueling up, the pump truck pulled in which let me know that I was at the end of the convoy.

I hurried up and finished so I could get back on the road.

I made good time during the jump and passed a few other show vehicles, so I felt good that I wasn't holding everything up.

The first show today was almost full, and the second show was 3/4 full. Even though there were a few less people, the second audience was much more responsive.

As I was waiting to go on for opening of the second performance, Mariana ran up and told me that my black duck, Emmie, had gotten out of his pen.

I ran over to discover that he had stuck his head into the pen of my white ducks and was engaged in a life or death struggle with my normally docile female duck, Ralph.

They had each other by the throat, so I had to pry them apart, push Ralph away, and then gently extract Emmie's head and neck from the pen.

And now people will know why I have to keep the ducks seperate!

After the shows I joined Radar and his family for dinner. Whenever we go out to eat, we manage to pick restaurants with the worst wait staff.

They all had a good dining experience on Friday night while I was at the Halloween party, so I proposed the hypothosis that I was the bad luck charm.

Tonight's waitress proved without a doubt that I am the weakest link.

World Zombie Day!!!!!

2011-10-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 8: Troy, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

October 8 is World Zombie Day (which is a million times cooler than stupid World Circus Day *hawk ptooey*), so I celebrated by watching the George Romero "Dead" trilogy.

Claire Wedermyer and her boyfriend came to watch the first show. She brought some flesh tone make up for me, which was fantastic since I was running out.

Dan Reynolds' brother, Bill, also was at the first show with his wife. He brought some black powder for us (since we always seem to be running out at this point in the tour), and he sold us a trombone.

We did good business for the first show and the second show was almost full.

After work I went out with Radar and his family to eat dinner. Unfortunately our choice destination told us a table wouldn't be available until after 11 p.m...and it was only a little past 8 p.m.!

We went to our plan B restaurant and still had to wait awhile; we were all pretty tired by the time we got our food.

Halloween Party '11

2011-10-08T19:16:00.007-04:00

Friday, October 7: Troy, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 22

Lot: Next to RP Lumber

Radar's family was visiting today; they will be here all weekend since we are close to St. Louis.

Fridman sold a used water pump to me and then he installed it for free; I was very happy to have that problem solved.

We did good business for the first show, and the second show was almost full.

As soon as the performances were done I started getting ready for the annual Halloween party. We were having it early this year because Troy is our last two day stand, and Tavana and Danny really wanted the party to take place under the big top.

It took Ryan almost an hour to apply my zombie make up. I had cut up patches of toilet paper and a rubber glove during the day so we would have tools to distort my face. With a ton of latex and make up added to those, I was ready to go!

I was very happy with how my costume came out; the only downside was that it was a real pain to eat and drink in my make up.

Here are the winners of the contests:

Adult pumpkin carving-Jamie

Child pumpkin carving-Adrian Poema Jr.

Adult costume:

1st-The Fusco Family as an Amish Family

2nd-Johnny Moss as a pimp and Silvano as his ho

3rd-Zombie Steve

Child Costume:

1st-Nico the Smurf

2nd-Mariana as Smurfette

3rd-Adrian Poema Jr. as Chucky (the killer doll, not a Smurf)

Best Unknown-Shirley North as a creepy clown

(Sorry I don't have more pictures; I was too busy trying to navigate the party with only one eye.)

After receiving my prize I went back to my trailer and took off my zombie face. The good thing is that it all peeled off in one piece.

I got into bed around 1:30 a.m. after cleaning everything up. Thank you to everyone whose hard work made the Halloween party so much fun.

The Town Of Livingston, I Presume?

2011-10-08T02:20:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 06: Livingston, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 50

Lot: Memorial Park

On Tuesday, Dave, who booked all of the recent towns, told me that Livingston was a replacement for a town that had backed out at the last minute.

Due to that, and the sign welcoming us to town that said the population was only 850 people, I predicted that we would die a horrible death for the shows.

This Blog Is Just Three Lines Long

2011-10-06T18:41:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 5: Greenfield, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 72

Lot: Rives Lake

On the drive to the lot I noted how small the town of Greenfield was. Due to that and the remote location of the lot, I didn't think we would do any business.

Sometimes I love it when I am wrong!

We did good business for both shows and the audiences were great!

Fin

Special Brownies

2011-10-05T18:26:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, October 4: Sherman, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 50

Lot: Athletic grounds

This morning the Byrd Family CFA tent provided coffee, juice, and donuts for all of us. Bill Prickett tipped me off last night, so as soon as I was parked I made a direct line for the good stuff.

I desperately need a hair cut, and apparently there were two places in town that could have provided that service, but despite my best efforts I could not find either of them.

This afternoon I made chicken milanese, another recipe gleaned from Ryan and Tatiana. It came out well, but I went a little overboard with the garlic.

Let me tell you, there were no vampires to be found around my trailer today!

It was another beautiful day. The good news is that the warm weather is supposed to continue all week.

We did good business for both shows, and the members of the Byrd Family tent attended both of them.

The second water gag was a lot of fun; we were improvising a good deal and the audience stayed with us the whole time.

Dan Reynolds came backstage before finale of the second show with a tray of homemade brownies that a local lady had made for the performers. As I sampled the generous gift, I quipped, "Let's hope these aren't laced with Ex-Lax or pot."

Hudsucker By Proxy

2011-10-04T18:20:00.001-04:00

Monday, October 3: Havana, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles-63

Lot-Business Park

Ryan and I went to the post office this morning to send some money orders. Unfortunately we arrived 30 minutes before the post office opened, so we spent some time exploring downtown.

There was a very obvious duck theme in town; a statue of flying ducks, a football mascot called the Angry Duck, even a "Little Ducklings Day Care". I asked someone and they said that duck hunting is HUGE in the town of Havana.

I quickly made a mental note to hide Ralph, Dexter, and Emmie as soon as I got back to the lot.

There was a grocery store right next to the lot, so I took advantage of the convenience and stocked my trailer with food.

During the afternoon I watched the movie "The Hudsucker Proxy". It was great, and I highly recommend it to anyone that has not seen the film.

It was a beautiful day; it is a shame that the audiences for both shows were so pathetically small.

John Moss made an announcement for everyone to move down to the ring side seats, but even then there were vacant chairs.

Bill Prickett was at the first performance, so I visited with him briefly. Mrs. North then came up and said to me and Ryan, "I don't know what you thought of the audience, but I just want you to know that there was one little girl behind me that was laughing like crazy at you two."

That made me feel better, because as the old saying goes, "If you make just one person laugh...then you're a pretty lousy clown."

Oh........

The only other occurrence of note from the first show was when I spotted a woman in the audience filming the water gag.

She just so happened to be right in front of me when I swing into the audience on a web, so I swung right up to her camera and charmingly asked, "You're not filming, are you?"

At the end of the gag I noticed she had put her camera away.

We had a fun water gag in the second show. There was one man who was laughing hard, so we played off of his energy. We also fooled around and tried some new stuff.

Dead Audience Sitting

2011-10-03T18:44:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 2: Carthage, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 113

Lot: Saddle Club

This morning's drive seemed to go on forever; after I thought that I had gone most of the way I checked my phone's GPS and saw that I still had 70 miles to go! Ugh.

Once I got to the lot I unhooked to fuel up my truck. I got back just in time, because Armando was placing a roll off dumpster for the manure right in front of my trailer.

He moved it a bit for me so I could get hooked back up; if I had been a minute later, I would have been screwed!

The first show was almost full, and there was an average sized crowd for the second show. The audiences were dead, so I was happy to be done at the end of the day.

Costume Sweat Shop

2011-10-02T16:08:00.001-04:00

Saturday, October 1: Kewanee, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Miles: 58

Lot: Corner of 3rd & Elm St.

Our friend, Alex Zaprudsky, arrived this morning for a visit. He came bearing gifts too: sugar cookies his sister had made, a portfolio for Ryan, and a DVD of the 2011 Smirkus show for me.

He also brought another spectacular gift for me...a Mac!

When he told me he had a laptop that he would sell to me, I assumed that it was an old PC that I could use until I felt I could blow a grand on a new Mac.

Boy was I surprised that the laptop was a Mac that is only a few years old and in beautiful condition!

The only problem was that the battery was bad, but I switched it with the battery from my old Mac and I was good to go.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons why Alex Zaprudsky rules.

Ryan is making a costume for Alex, so he started working on that, and he continued on it all day.

The first show was about 3/4 full, and the second show was almost full. Bill and Nancy Prickett were in the audience at the 2:00 p.m. show, so I went over to say hello after the performance.

Alex and I went out after work so I could buy a firewire cable for my Macs; next we went to Wal Mart so we could get some accesories for Alex's new costume.

We finished up by going to a delicious Mexican restaurant that served tortas. Score!

Back at the lot all three of us worked to get Alex's costume done, but the hour grew late and there was still plenty to do.

It will be no problem to ship the completed costume to Alex, but Ryan was hoping he could bang it out before Alex left.

Circus Vacation

2011-10-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 30: Granville, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 37

Lot: High School

Those of us returning for the 2012 edition of Kelly Miller met in Mr. North's RV today at noon for a production meeting about the new show.

The meeting went on for about 2 1/2 hours, but a lot was accomplished. The biggest challenge was finding ways to get in and out of each act without pauses, while allowing for the fact that some people need to make quick costume changes.

We had decent business for the first show, and there was a good turnout for the second show. The lot was a lot nicer than the one yesterday; the only bad thing was that it was so cold!

Vincent, a circus and elephant fan from Switzerland, watched the second performance. He is on vacation from his job, and he is here in the states for a few weeks to watch as many circuses as he can.

Radar treated Vincent and myself to dinner after work.

We were lucky that the generator was left on all night for us; I didn't really feel like becoming a Steve-sicle.

Happy Windsday

2011-10-01T00:45:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 29: Marseilles, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 36

Lot: 10 Acre Park

We did good business for both shows today. Tim Tegge watched the first one, and I was able to quickly say "Hi/Bye" to him during the second show.

It was a difficult day to get through because the lot was so uneven in the ring. On top of that, the wind was blowing like crazy, and of course it was blowing right into the back door.

Every time we were waiting on a cue, we were getting slapped in the face by flailing curtains.

The one upside of the day was that I learned to make pasta sauce. Yesterday at Wal Mart Ryan instructed me on which ingredients to buy, and he gave me his sauce recipe.

It didn't turn out as well as he and Tatiana make it, but I will get there.

The wind was blowing at scary speeds all night long. My trailer was rockin' so hard that folks should have assumed they best not come a knockin'.

(Thank you for indulging me for that stretch of a joke)

Giordanno's

2011-09-29T20:39:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, September 28: Channahon, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 27

Lot: Central Park

Today I went shopping with Ryan and the Fuscos. I had not bought groceries in a long time, as evidenced by the high total on my receipt.

It was warmer today and not so cold tonight; thank God for small favors.

Both shows were full, and I actually had fun performing, which is something I often forget to do.

Radar went to pick up a Chicago style pizza from Giordanno's for Armando. As thanks, Armando paid for Radar's pizza as well.

Radar was nice enough to share his bounty with me.

A Kurt Russell Does Not A John Wayne Make

2011-09-28T18:21:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 27: Darien, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 6

Lot: Carmelite Carefree Village

It ws great having only a 6 mile jump this morning. I had planned on going back to downtown Downers Grove again today, but the weather was so dreary and depressing that I didn't really feel like leaving the house.

Instead Ryan and I watched "Big Trouble in Little Chinatown"; what a strange movie!

Both shows were almost full.... Solid.

BILL BRASKY!

2011-09-27T18:22:00.002-04:00

Monday, September 26: Downer's Grove, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 30

Lot: O'Neill Middle School

When I went to bed last night I heard it start to rain, and when I woke up this morning, the rain was still coming down.

Ryan and I went on a mision to Panera Bread, and on the way we spotted a cool book store to check out later.

I went and did some much needed laundry washing in town, and then Ryan and I went back to the Frugal Muse bookstore. It was very similar to a Half Price Books. In fact, the owners used to be managers at Half Price, so the similarties were evident.

There were a lot of great books and movies I wanted to pick up, but I tried to be frugal (to blend in with the theme of the store), so I ended up putting a few back on the shelves.

Even though the rain let up for the afternoon, it was still cold and dreary. Carolyn remarked to me at the laundromat that even though we have hit a spell of unpleasant weather, it helps us appreciate the great weather we have had for the majority of the season.

The first show was full, and the second show was almost full.

One of the DVDs I bought at the book store was "The Best of Will Ferrel Volume 2", and this sketch in particular kept me in stitches:

Watch To be Bill Brasky in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

In the second water gag, Ryan and I were throwing out a few quotes from the sketch here and there, but at the end, I let out a big, loud, "BILL BRASKY!" that made Ryan prematurely spit his water in my face.

This prompted him to start improvising, which resulted in a longer gag and a wetter Steve.

Now mind you, it was FREEZING and normally I would be against lenthening our stay in the ring while soaking wet, but it was a fun little tangent for us to explore, and the audience ate it up.

Win win, I believe.

Our magician friend, Steve Chezeday, was at that show with some friends of his, so I said hello afterwards.

Radar and I went back to the Taphouse Grill that we found last night. I enjoyed sampling their tasty wares and seeing our good looking waitress again.

Stranger Me Like A Kiss

2011-09-26T18:40:00.002-04:00

Sunday, September 25: Norwood Park, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 17

Lot: Norwood Park School Grounds

Today was a dreary day; I didn't really feel like doing anything. I finished reading "KIss Me Like A Stranger" by Gene Wilder; it was a great book that the Kelly family lent to me, and I finished it in just two days.

Both shows today were full. Sam, a young friend of my friends, the Podolksys, was at the first show with his mother, so I went out to visit them during Intermission.

Ryan made new latex clown noses for us (seriously, is there anything the man can't make?), so we were both sporting them today.

The first one he made for me was a little thin, and when I fell on my face in the artist gag, it put a huge dent in the center of the nose.

When Ryan saw me he could not stop laughing for half of the gag. I blew air out of my nostrils until I felt the dent pop back out.

Later in the day Ryan made a thicker nose for me and I didn't have any further problems.

The other silly occurrence of the day was when I wore big foam feet for the horse walkaround.

Ryan made them for a new gag, but to break up the day to day monotony a bit, I decided to break them in. Apparantley I like making things as difficult as possible for myself, because not only did the feet make movement more strenous, I also picked to wear them for the act where I have to run backwards while bent over.

To add to the disasterous gumbo of comedy, the ground was a real ankle breaker, full of lots of holes.

Luckily everything went fine and I won't be drawing disability from the show.

Tim Gault, a local clown that I met several years ago, was at the second show. He caught me as I was loading my ducks into the truck.

We talked briefly, but I had to get on the road to the next town since we were doing a night jump.

The jump was a real pain; I am glad we didn't do it in the morning. There was lots of traffic. stop lights, and bad roads.

Several of us also got caught waiting on a long, slow train to pass.

As soon as I got to the lot I jumped in a truck with Radar and Nikki to get something to eat. We were all starving, and we ate at a great tap room and grill.

Death Of A Salesman On Ice

2011-09-25T15:57:00.001-04:00

Saturday, September 25: Rolling Meadows, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

This morning I met up with my friend, Claire Wedermyer. I first met Claire in 2004 when she was a clown on the Red Unit of Ringling. She also spent two years as the clown on Kelly Miller.

We went to breakfast at the Egg'lectic Cafe; I had to get in one more visit before we left!

Both shows today were packed. Every seat was filled, including the extra bleachers that were put out.

Claire watched the first show, and then her friend, Ariele, came to the second show with her friend, Eric.

Ryan knew Ariele from Skirkus and Japan; and I had met her once before when Ringling played Chicago.

We spent some time catching up with them after the show was over.

I stayed in for the evening to make dinner and call some friends. It was really nice.

Lot Lice Infestation

2011-09-24T19:14:00.001-04:00

Friday, September 23: Rolling Meadows, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 40

Lot: Community Center Park

This morning Ryan, Tatiana, and I had breakfast from one my favorite restaurants in the Chicago area, the Egg'lectic Cafe. They have delicious egg benedicts, and I had been looking forward to a return visit since we played Rolling Meadows back in 2009.

To avoid falling into a food coma after breakfast, I kept busy with some sewing. I fixed the blanket for the horse walkaround, and I cut some stray threads off one of our new gag costumes.

Radar called me and said that Susan Hoss was visiting, so I went over to say hello and chat with her a bit.

There were tons of people walking around the lot all day. Usually there are just people around in the morning for the tent raising, but folks just kept wandering in our yards right up until show time.

The first show was almost full, and the bleachers were packed for the second show. The only empty seats to be found were in the preferred seating section.

In finale I saw a guy in front of me that flashed me a peace sign; he looked familiar, but I just couldn't place who he was.

Backstage Ryan asked me if I had seen Giovanni Zoppe in the audience, and then it finally registered that it had been him.

We went out to the midway to say hello to him and his family.

Breaking parenting news from Ryan and Tatiana: Nico took his first steps tonight! Look out world!

Floccinaucinihilipilification

2011-09-23T18:23:00.002-04:00

Thursday, September 22: Lockport, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 41

Lot: Brett Hassert Park

Towards the end of this morning's jump there was a stretch where not many arrows were put up and the route became a little confusing. For a few minutes I thought that I had blown the arrows, but then I saw one and felt great relief that I was on the right track.

All day today Ryan worked on one of the costume/props for next year. I did little things like ripping seams and cutting out patches. I'm just glad to be a part of the team!

We did good business for both shows, although I thought there would be a lot more people from the amount of lot lice milling around the back yard all morning.

Stupid Backlight!

2011-09-22T21:15:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, September 20: Somonauk, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 53

Lot: Community Park

My computer was still succeeding in raising my blood pressure today by not staying backlit.

The small, dead audiences we had for both shows didn't help my humor either.

There was a group of special needs folks at the second show that were having a great time and being very responsive, but they were sitting all the way at the back of the ring.

Backstage Ryan and I lobbied for them to be moved to the front of the ring where their energy could be better appreciated.

The Norths arrived this evening, and halfway through the second show my computer screen decided to stay lit. Huzzah! (Unfortunately it is a problem that will be recurring, because it all starts over again when I have to turn my computer off)

Between the stress from my computer, the dissapointment from the audiences,my achy wrist (from God knows what), and a terrible headache, today wasn't my best day.

NEXT!

Wednesday, September 21: Crete, IL-Day Off

Miles: 94

We couldn't stay in Somonauk today (which is actually a blessing), and we couldn't go to Lockport, the next town, so we ended up driving almost 100 miles back to Crete, where we showed about two weeks ago, so we could have a place to sit for the day.

That threw a monkey wrench in my plans of catching a Metra train in Lockport so I could hang out with friends in downtown Chicago. Oh well, a day off is a day off.

Unfortunately the lot in Crete has nothing to do for miles around, so Ryan and I jumped in my truck and drove to Schererville, IN to run some errands.

We went to Best Buy to consult the Geek Squad on our computer issues (yep, Ryan's Mac is crapping out too), we had lunch, we bought more gag costume fabric at Joann's, and we picked up duck and pig food.

All in all, a productive afternoon!

Kelly Miller rented two big charter buses, and in the evening almost the entire show went to see Universoul Circus about 30 miles away.

I wasn't going to go originally, but since there was nothing else to do, I changed my mind.

I had a lot of fun at the show; it was my first time at Universoul. I thought the tent and lighting system were great, and there were some fantastic acts. My favorites were the Chinese bicycle act, the Russian swing, and the contortionist.

One of my few complaints was the lack of clowning, since when I go to a circus all I want to see is clowns. The rest of the show is filler to me.

Onionhead, the resident clown, did a warm up gag (which Ryan got picked for), and then you didn't see him again for the rest of the show. He wasn't even in finale!

Many thanks to everyone who made the trip to Universoul possible; it made our day off a lot of fun.

(Just to show you how much I care about our fans, I had to type this on a black screen and proof read by flicking the brightness on and off so I would have a second of visibility at a time. I'm lucky I didn't have a seizure!)

Day Off

2011-09-21T17:26:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

We had the day off today, so I will resume blogging tomorrow (my computer willing).

Almost the whole show is going to see Universoul Circus tonight; it will be my first time.

Steve & Ryan Radio Appearance

2011-09-20T21:45:00.003-04:00

Many thanks to Gary Podolsky for finding this. For those of you that missed us on the radio Sunday morning (and actually CARE to see us), check it out here!

Watch live video from WRLR 98.3 FM on Justin.tv

The segment roughly starts at the 1:31:00 mark. It continues here:

Watch live video from WRLR 98.3 FM on Justin.tv

Enjoy!

You Could Hear A Pin Drop

2011-09-20T21:29:00.002-04:00

No kidding, several minutes after that last post, my computer decided to cooperate.

Still, if a blog post doesn't go up on time, you will know the reason. (See my previous post)

Monday, September 19: Belvidere, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 52

Lot: fairgrounds

It was raining when we got up this morning, and the jump took a long time to complete due to the wet, dark, two lane roads replete with stop lights.

There was a little mud in the backdoor area after set up, but nothing bad. I can't even remember the last time we had mud on the lot.

My computer was still being a jerk today. Something is wrong with the backlight in the screen, because when I try and make the screen bright, it automatically goes completely dark again.

After much finagling, I finally got the screen to stay lit right before the start of the first show.

To be honest, a part of me enjoyed not having computer access because I got a lot of other things done: I read, I watched a movie, and I got a good way through one of my video games.

Of course I didn't do anything worthwhile like clean my trailer, find us winter work, or get a girlfriend, but Rome wasn't built in a day!

Even though the day started out miserable, the sun came out in the early afternoon and it was a nice day.

There was an average sized crowd for the first show; talk about a dead audience!

When we all styled in finale, the crowd was completely silent. Sometimes all you can do is laugh!

We did good business for the second show, and the audience was much better. Ryan remarked that it was like performing in a different town.

It's funny how much difference a few hours can make in an audience's reaction. Just one of those things that keeps you on your toes as a performer...or causes you to lose hair and sleep....

2011-09-20T20:42:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

My computer is spazzing out on me still. Occasionally I can get it to work, and other days (like today) I can't.

I am typing this with my screen completely dark; I can only check my work by toggling the brightness on and off. In other words, not conditions I wish to type a complete entry under.

Updates may be sporadic at best until I reach a solution. Actually, if anyone wants to take up a collection and buy me a new Mac so I can continue the blog, that would be fantastic! ;)

Sorry everyone; hang in there.

Unite My Electronic Brethren!

2011-09-19T18:21:00.002-04:00

Sunday, September 18: Vernon Hills, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

This morning Jeannie Schwieger picked me and Ryan up at the lot at 8:30 a.m. to take us to the radio station where she works in Round Lake Beach.

We were on the air with Jeannie and her cohost, Dennis, who bought my dinner the other night in McHenry.

We managed to plug both the show and ourselves quite a few times in the hour and a half that we were on the air.

Our friends Toto Johnson and Alex Zaprudsky signed in to the station's chat room and joked around with us via the Internet; thank you guys for tuning in, and thank you to every one else that watched and listened.

We had a great time on the radio; many thanks to Jeannie and Dennis for having us on the show. Many thanks also to Jeannie for the delicious mint chocolate chip cookies she baked!

The first show was almost full. Photographer, Jim Koretz, was at the show with his father, so I visited with them during Intermission.

The second show was full. Jeannie and Dennis were in the audience, as well as Gary Podolksy (a 1985 Clown College grad), his wife, and some of their family.

I visited with all of them during Intermission. I was just sorry that they saw Kelly Miller on Ice...let me explain.

It rained all day, and the ring mat becomes very slick when a)wet and b)on top of cement. Everyone had to be especially careful with their footing during the show so as not to break their necks!

All weekend I had been looking forward to having sushi, so after the shows I got cleaned up and went across the street to a restaurant that promised to be a Brazilian steakhouse and sushi...teria?

After being seated, I quickly realized that it was not a place where you could order sushi; rather

sushi was a part of the salad buffet.

....no thanks.

With my heart set on having a nice sit down meal, I settled for Olive Garden.

On the way back to the lot it started raining harder than it had been. I made a detour to stop in Wal Mart for some necessities, and then I had to load up my ducks before I went inside, so I got soaked!

My phone didn't react very well to getting wet (I was texting while I was walking in the rain), and it started going all Linda Blair in "The Exorcist" on me.

Not only that, my laptop decided to join in the electrical anarchy and the screen kept blacking out.

Luckily Gary Podolsky and his wife Ellyn came to the rescue with a tray full of Ellyn's delicious baked goods to soothe my jangled nerves.

Also, once my phone had a few minutes to dry, it began behaving like a productive member of society again.

Your Opinion Matters

2011-09-18T18:42:00.001-04:00

Saturday, September 17: Vernon Hills, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

This morning I went for breakfast, and then I spent some time making a mental wish list over at Barnes & Noble.

Ryan gave me a call, so I met him and accompanied him over to a Halloween Store, Best Buy, and TJ Maxx where I bought a shirt for a new gag.

Today was sunny and much warmer than yesterday; the first show was about 3/4 full.

During the first half there were dumb people that had disregarded the caution tape and safety cones and were speeding right through the back yard.

That really irritated me since there are circus children and animals constantly walking around backstage.

While we were talking about annoyances, Ryan told me of an occurrence that happened yesterday. While he was out looking at rhinestones and feathers from some guy selling them in the parking lot, a lady pulled up in her car and yelled out the window, "Boo circus! Boo!!!! Go home! We don't want you here! Booooooo!!!!!".

Ryan said he was very tempted to tell the lady (in his most patronizing voice of course), "Good job! You're making a difference! Your opinion matters!"

I found that very funny.

John Moss found me after the first show and told me that Sandy Weber and his family were looking for me. Sandy is on the board of directors for the International Clown Hall of Fame, and he also designed their new logo and website.

He and his family saw the first show and said they had a great time.

We had a full house for the second show, and the audience was good. Mr. Bill Machtel, a former Ringling and Circus World clown, and his family were at the performance.

Afterwards they took me to dinner at an Irish pub where I had a great time picking Mr. Bill's brain about his first few years on Ringling.

We ended up getting our meal for free because the pub's computer was down. Hooray!

Radio Reminder

2011-09-17T20:22:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder, we are going to be on the radio TOMORROW morning, Sunday the 18th, starting at 9 a.m. central time.

You can watch and listen to us here!

http://www.wrlr.fm/tv.html

Be there or be L7!

Great.

2011-09-17T15:50:00.002-04:00

Friday, September 16: Vernon Hills, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 20

Lot: Vernon Hills Mall

This morning after I had been parked at the lot, I went into my house to get water for the ducks. My bathroom door had come open on the jump, and my underwear drawer had come open behind it, thus blocking me from accessing the back of my trailer.

This has happened a couple of times before, so I knew the protocol. A little bit of space is left for me to get my fingers behind the door to inch the drawer shut, but this morning something was jamming the drawer so it couldn't close. Great.

I went outside to unlock my bedroom door so I could go in the back end of my trailer to close the drawer, but a key was broken off in the top lock of the door. Great.

I tried using needle nose pliers to get the broken key out, but to no avail. Finally I got my screwdriver set out, which has a small pointed tool.

As I was trying to pry the fragment out, I managed to stab myself in the thumb. Great....I mean...OUCH!

Finally I found that if I pressed the key fragment from the left side, it would open the door. I guess if times get rough I can always find work as a lock pick....

I climbed into my trailer via the bedroom and saw that some of my boxers were sticking out of the drawer, blocking it from closing all the way. I threw the boxers on the floor, closed my drawer and the bathroom door, and proceeded with my morning routine.

Radar and I had breakfast across the street from the lot, and later we went with Nikki to explore the mall.

It was an overcast, cool day; luckily not as cold as the past couple of days though. We had average sized crowds for the shows.

I was feeling very emotional while I was getting into make up; I felt like I was going to start crying.

I have no idea why I felt that way, or what set it off, but it was a very strong feeling that continued until we started doing the first show.

All the emotion found a release in the water gag. I could not stop laughing towards the end of the act, and I laughed for maybe three full minutes after the gag as I was getting changed in my trailer.

I don't know what was up with me, but I'm glad that laughter was the end result. There's not much that's funny about a crying clown.

Well.....maybe it is KINDA funny.

Jeremiah went into the show with his fire breathing act today; I am glad that I don't have to rush so much after the water gag now to do finale.

During our earlier tour of the mall, I found an Irish pub with a good menu that was having karaoke tonight. After getting cleaned up from the shows I walked halfway around the mall to get to the pub, only to discover that they weren't serving their full menu...at 10 p.m.....on a Friday night!

I decided to check out the sushi restaurant across the street from the lot, but they too were closed...at 10 p.m....on a Friday night!

I decided to just go home to sit and pout in my trailer. I was pretty tired anyway, so I went to bed early.

Steve & Ryan On The Radio!

2011-09-16T20:49:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

THIS Sunday, September 18th, tune in at this website:

http://www.justin.tv/wrlr

to see us LIVE as we do a radio interview. It begins at 9 a.m. central time, and the plan is for us to be there until 10 a.m.

Check it out!

B.E.D.

2011-09-16T20:12:00.001-04:00

Thursday, September 15: McHenry, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

This morning a septic truck came by the lot to dump our donnikers. He instantly became the most popular person on the lot!

Ryan and I went to Staples to get our new letter header printed out, and then we went by Wal Mart so I could buy some new bed sheets. I never realized bedding was so freaking expensive. Yeesh!

Today was warmer thanks to our good friend the sun, who decided to grace us with his presence. It still got cold at night though!

We did good business for the first show, and there were more people at the second show. The second crowd was really good too, which helped us deal with the cold.

Jeannie Schwieger came to the second performance with her coworker, Dennis, and his daughter. They took me and Radar to Steak 'N Shake after work where Dennis treated us to dinner. Groovy!

The Cry Of The Banshee

2011-09-15T21:27:00.003-04:00

Wednesday, September 14: McHenry, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 10

Lot: Peterson Park

This morning after enjoying a delicious breakfast at Panera Bread, I visited the laundromat and the post office.

Ryan, Tatiana, and Nico went shopping, and then I met them for lunch. After we ate we checked out the Halloween store in town. Nico bravely faced the vampires, zombies, and other assorted ghouls, whereas Uncle Steve wet himself from fear twice.

It was a very chilly day. I didn't particularly want to leave my warm trailer and do shows in the cold.

We had decent business for the first show, but there were less people at the second show. There was; however, a group of young girls that screamed the entire show.

Now, there is nothing wrong with the audience having a good time and showing it, but these girls just let loose blood curdling shrieks at the strangest times conceivable. In short, they were being obnoxious.

In the water gag Ryan and I had heard enough from the banshees. When the music stopped in the gag, the girls all screeched one more time.

I turned to them and yelled, "Shut! Up!"

The audience laughed loudly, and then bit by bit, the majority of the audience gave me a round of applause.

It was so funny! All I could do was bow to each section while marveling at how annoying the girls must have been for my reprimand to be met with an ovation.

After the shows Casey, Radar, Nikki, and I went to a bar a little ways out of town that had karaoke. We found the place last year, and after singing a few songs for the clientele, we had them in the palms of our hands.

This year was no exception; the locals quickly remembered us from last year, and they treated us like the rock stars we are!

I got to sing a lot of songs. My selections ranged from "My Kind of Town" in the style of Sinatra, to "The Curley Shuffle", "Rainbow Connection", and selections from "Avenue Q".

Our friend, Susan Hoss, from Brookfield Zoo, joined us about midway through our singing soiree. She then came back to the lot for awhile to hang out after we closed down the bar.

Sleepy Time

2011-09-14T19:54:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, September 13: Island Lake, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 20

Lot: Water Tower Park

This morning, after releasing the ducks (which is almost as frightening as releasing the Kraken) and making breakfast, I collapsed into bed for a nap.

I didn't get much sleep last night due to our night out, and I was also not feeling so hot. Apparently the cold I have been fighting is slowly gaining ground.

I wasn't the only one that was beat today.

We did decent business for the first show, and the second show was almost full.

Once again the second audience was fantastic.

We had a great water gag that helped me forget how crummy I was feeling; it was so much fun.

After the shows I took some Nyquil and went right to bed.

High Lining It: The Steve Copeland Way

2011-09-13T20:00:00.001-04:00

Monday, September 12: Round Lake Beach, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 40

Lot: Civic Center

This morning's drive took forever due to horrible traffic and about a million stop lights.

On the plus side, the lot was set up a lot better than last year. In 2010 a lot of folks were parked across from the tent in a METRA parking lot, where they had no power.

This year only a couple of people were on the outskirts of the lot, and to the best of my knowledge, they did have power.

This morning I was "high lining it" as Dudley Hamilton says. I had Starbucks AND Panera Bread! OOO DA LOLLY!

Ryan and I walked over to Hobby Lobby and Joann's Fabrics to do some shopping for new gags.

While at Joann's we ran into Jeremiah, who was looking for materials to build a fire eating table.

He hired Ryan's services for construction of said table, and Ryan also helped him pick out fabric to make a skirt....for the aforementioned table. Table table table.

Before heading back to the lot I stopped for lunch at Chipotle. The cute girl behind the counter was flirting with me while I ordered. As I was paying she told me, "You'll have to come back tomorrow and let me know how your food was. I made the meat myself."

I told her that I was only in town for one day, and then I made the mistake of dropping the dirty C word.

Circus.

After that, she quickly lost all interest and went on to the next customer. I do have a way with the ladies....

The first show was 3/4 full, and the second show was full. Jeannie Schwieger, Barbara Yurisich, and Suzanne Flynn were at the second show. They got to see us in front of a fantastic audience. I had so much fun performing!

The ladies joined us for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, where Casey's magician friend, Paul Lee also met up with us.

I had a good time hanging out and watching Paul Lee do magic and hearing some of his circus stories.

I was pretty tired though, and we stayed out a little later than I had wanted.

Ryan went with Armando, Buckner, and Dan to see the new movie "Contagion", which Dan was an extra in.

They said you could see the back of his head in a press room scene. A star is born!

Steve & Ryan Are On The Web!

2011-09-13T01:55:00.003-04:00

It's done! After a year in the making (only two days of which consisted of any actual work on the site), the Steve & Ryan website is up and running!

www.steveandryan.com

Many thanks to Alex Zaprudsky for designing such an awesome site for us. After your visit, don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and any other social media website you can think of.

Hair Pulling Stress

2011-09-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

Sunday, September 11: Harvard, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 32

Lot: Milky Way Park

When we woke up, Alex and I called GoDaddy's tech support to see why we couldn't upload the Steve & Ryan website.

They were very helpful, and in just a few minutes our website was online!

Alex made a new business card for us while I worked on the photo gallery for our website.

Unfortunately, when I tried to update the site I managed to crash the whole thing.

*%$#^@*&*^^&**&!!!!!!!!!

Alex had to take off right before the first show; it was so nice having him visit. He helped us out SO much while he was here.

Greg, Karen, and Emily DeSanto came to visit today. I chatted with them while I got into makeup, and then they went into the tent to watch the first show.

Hey performers, you know the feeling when you can't do anything right when there are people in the audience that you want to make proud?

Yeah, that was the first show for us.

At least both performances were almost full, and the second audience was much better. I wish the DeSantos could have seen us perform for them instead.

We did get to visit with Greg, Karen, and Emily for a bit between shows, and Ryan and I bought a few books from Greg.

I got an autobiography by Charlie Rivel, and a book on the Fratellinis written by Albert. Score!

During the second show I called GoDaddy once again to find out how to fix the monumental mess I made of our site.

I didn't like the answer at all, but there was not much I could do about it. I deleted the site and started from scratch; uploading each and every page, file, and image manually.

Ugh.

Website Work

2011-09-11T23:45:00.001-04:00

Saturday, September 10: Lake In The Hills, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Miles: 34

Lot: Sunset Park

My friend, Don Lansu, came by the lot this morning to visit. I met Don back in 2001 when I was attending the clown training program, Moosecamp. Don was filming the camp's activities and the student show at the end of the week.

We have kept in touch since then, and he always comes to visit me when one of my shows is in the area.

He came bearing gifts: Guinness paraphernalia for me (a shirt, two drinking glasses, and an 8 pack of Guinness) and a NASCAR blanket and steering wheel for Nico.

It was very thoughtful of him to bring us gifts....and to teach Nico how to drive a race car!

Don took me to breakfast at a restaurant I discovered last year called Burnt Toast. We had a delicious meal, and then he took me to Wal Mart so I could do some shopping.

Back at the lot I joined Alex and Ryan who had been working on our website all morning; they continued all the way up until the second performance as well.

The first show was almost full, and the second was full. Don and his family came to the first performance, and Alex watched the second show to take photographs.

We had to jump to the next town after the shows because Lake In The Hills likes the circus enough to have us back every year, but they don't like us enough to let us stay overnight.

Luckily Reyna was making my favorite Mexican dish, tortas, for supper, so Alex and I both grabbed one for the road.

Once we got to the lot in Harvard, Ryan, Alex, and I jumped right back into work on the website.

We got everything finished, but we couldn't figure out how to upload it online. Finally around 1:30 a.m. we gave up and went to bed in a state of frustration.

Bo & Bello, Bello & Bo

2011-09-10T19:51:00.006-04:00

Friday, September 9: Elmhurst, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 16

Lot: Sandburg Middle School

We have encountered some horrible roads on these suburban Chicago jumps. I'll be lucky if I don't lose a tire in a pothole!

Alex took me and Ryan to Panera Bread for breakfast. That's how you start a day off right!

Ryan and I did a PR after the tent raising where we did a meet and greet and mini performance for a group of special needs children.

John Moss hosted the event, Carolyn and Gigi presented dog and pony tricks, Joel did some rope spinning, and Ryan and I provided general numbskullery.

It was fun doing some different, slightly improvised material for a change, and the group seemed to receive it well.

Alex started helping us with our website today. I cannot wait until it is done; Ryan and Alex have some incredible ideas as far as page layouts go.

We took a break from work to have lunch at Burger Heaven, a little corner restaurant that my friend Lisa introduced me to last year.

We also checked out a book store a few miles from the lot, but they didn't have anything that I just HAD to buy, especially after spending money at Tim Tegge's mobile store yesterday.

It was a dreary, drizzly day, which didn't help motivate us into getting ready for the shows.

The first performance was almost full, but it was an off show for us. The second show was full, and we were back on our game.

We ordered dinner from Buffalo Wild Wings so we could eat at my trailer and continue to work on the website.

When I went to pick up the wings, I discovered that Alex's car has bad luck with trains.

There was a railroad crossing I had to go past in order to get to the restaurant, but the guards were down and the lights were flashing as if a train was preparing to pass.

I waited for a few minutes, and when there was no train to be seen, I turned onto the street running parallel to the tracks and parked.

I noticed that a train was parked far away from the crossing; despite the fact that it wasn't moving, several crossing points were blocked.

After checking to make sure that the train was indeed stationary, I crossed to go pick up our food.

There are little car statues with different themed paint jobs all over downtown Elmhurst. The one outside Buffalo Wild Wings had a circus/sideshow paint job, and it included several clowns.

Upon closer inspection I realized that they were all Red Show clowns from Ringling's Bo and Bello tour in 2001.

I could pick out Karen Hinrichs, Eddie Medrano, Bryan Fulton, Pamela Ramirez, Mitch Freddes, and Christine Duenas.

Gloin Haven!

Of course, after I picked up our wings, the train started moving again and I had to wait before I could cross back to Alex's car.

Luckily this train was moving a lot faster than the one from last night!

Hello, I Must Be Going

2011-09-09T21:24:00.002-04:00

Thursday, September 8: Berwyn, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 16

Lot: Janura Park

This morning started off on the wrong foot when the generator truck broke down on the lot in Posen.

Julio took one of the other show trucks to go get it, so it didn't arrive until around 10:30 a.m.

That also delayed the set up of the new tent, because they couldn't begin setting up until the generator arrived.

Ryan and I left the lot around noon to explore downtown, and even though the generator had been parked for an hour and a half, the tent set up still had not begun.

Ryan and I stopped by the vintage store that we visit every year, but unfortunately they didn't have any outstanding dresses for us to purchase for clown drag.

Yes, that's it....clown drag...

We also went back to a great coffee shop that I found this morning. In addition to having delicious coffee, they had a hang out area where you could choose from a selection of books to read or movies to watch.

Susan Hoss, a senior animal keeper at the Brookfield Zoo, and one of her coworkers, brought me and Radar lunch from Culver's. Thanks ladies!

The set up of the new tent was finally completely finished around 3 p.m.

The first show was almost full, and the second show was full. The audiences were fantastic as well.

Nothing was too drastically different for us about doing the show in the new tent, except the area between the curtain and the ring was bigger.

Circus collector extraordinaire, Tim Tegge, was visiting during the shows; he sold me some awesome circus books.

My favorite purchase was a tome that had a photo of Lou Jacobs jumping out of the firehouse in that classic gag. Sweeeeet.

Our friend, Alex Zaprudsky, arrived tonight; he will be visiting for a few days. He watched the second show with Will, one of the Smirkos he worked with this summer, and another local circus performer, Phil.

The two audiences today can say they were the only ones to see the Kelly Miller Circus under its new tent in 2011. Tomorrow the tent is being taken back to have some things fixed and adjusted, and we will use the old tent for the remainder of the season.

After the shows Alex and I met Radar, Nikki, and Casey at a bar for dinner. When we went to leave, there was a train stopped on the tracks outside, blocking our path back to the lot.

Of course it had to be the longest, slowest train in the history of train-dom!

We drove several blocks, looking for for an open intersection to cross, but the train just kept coming! And then stopping for long periods of time....

Finally after about 10 minutes or more of waiting to cross, an intersection opened up and we were able to go back to the lot.

Yeesh!

Day Off And A New Tent

2011-09-08T16:43:00.014-04:00

Tuesday, September 6: Posen, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 16

Lot: Memorial Park

Up until a couple of days ago, I thought we were going to be playing Midlothian today, but we were actually in the next town over, only about 3 miles from the old lot.

I had heard that it was a bad neighborhood, but it didn't look scary at all.

Ryan found out that not many tickets had been pre sold, and when Tavana told him about a restaurant in town with a food challenge, he asked her to call them and set up a publicity.

The restaurant was Bartolini's (http://www.bartolinis.com), which was featured on the Food Network in their program, "Outrageous Food".

The restaurant makes a 10 lbs. meatball sub that folks are challenged to eat in a limited amount of time.

Ryan and I got made up, and along with Armando, Dan, and Jeremiah (our cheerleaders), we hopped in the circus van and drove over to Bartolini's.

We met the owner, Dominic, who was a lot of fun and joked with us constantly.

While we waited for the sub to be cooked, we were intimidated by the Food Network footage of the 10 pounder, which was shown in a loop on a TV by the counter.

Finally, after my dread had reached its peak, the sandwich was brought out. 40 meatballs, 1.5 lbs. of sauce, 1.5 lbs. of cheese, and 1.5 lbs. of peppers adding up to one big challenge!

(And no, I don't know what "Soya" means. I'm just an idiot.)

We were told that we had 45 minutes to eat the whole thing, we had to eat equal parts to win, and if anything "came up", we could eat the regurgitation and still win.

Good to know...

If we won, fame and a t-shirt would be our reward. If we lost, shame and disappointment would hang over our heads for the rest of our lives (which is the norm for us).

We tucked in with a lot of enthusiasm, but as our sinuses and arteries began to fill with meat and sauce, we began to slow down.

Together we finished about a quarter of the sandwich. We are just not as gluttonous as we thought.

Even though we didn't succeed in the meatball sub challenge, we made friends with the staff at Bartolini's. What a cool group!

(On a side note, it should surprise no one that neither of us was hungry for the rest of the day.)

There was an average-ish crowd for the first show, but the second show was 3/4 full. They were a great audience too!

Ryan and I tried a new bit in the artist gag that worked great; we have a keeper!

Casey arrived tonight for a visit. We joined him at a bar downtown where they had karaoke. Score!

Wednesday, September 7: Posen, IL-Day Off

I had planned to sleep in this morning, but I was so excited about having the day off that I woke up early, and I was ahead of schedule by an hour.

I walked to a METRA station about a mile from the lot and rode it all the way into downtown Chicago.

I started out my exploration by walking to Millenium Park. My favorite spots in that area were Buckingham Fountain and Cloud Gate.

Next I walked the Magnificent Mile and shot over to Navy Pier where I had lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. On the way I saw the world's largest exhibitionist.

Sweet!

When I was ready to head back to the train station, I took State Street, where in 2004 and 2006 I performed with Ringling Bros. in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I found out that I had awhile to wait before the next train to Posen, so I went to get an hour long massage that left me feeling great. My legs and lower back were killing me from the 20 or so miles I walked downtown.

When I returned to the LaSalle St. Station, the lady at the desk told me that the train that was just about to leave was the one that would take me to my destination.

I got on, and after about 15 minutes the intercom announced the first stop: Midlothian.

I thought to myself, "That can't be right, it took me an hour or so to get to Chicago from there; this must be a different stop with the same name as the town I'm heading to."

(As you can see, I'm not always smart. Thank God I'm good looking!)

As we were leaving the Midlothian stop, I whipped out my phone, pulled up my GPS program...and found out that the lot was a mile and a half from the station we were leaving.

At the next stop I asked one of the METRA employees if the train was going to the Robbins stop. He laughed and told me that we were heading in the opposite direction.

Great.

If I could see the lady at the train station again, I would punch her right in the ovaries!

Luckily the station where I got off was only 5 miles from the lot. I called Casey, and he came and picked me up at the CVS across the street.

As a bonus, I was able to pick up some much needed supplies at the shop.

Back at my trailer I took a quick shower, and then I joined Casey and Nikki for dinner at Bartolini's. Rest assured, I stayed away from anything with meatballs in it.

It was nice to meet the staff out of make up, and our sponsor for Posen and Dominic bought me a beer for doing stupid human tricks, such as juggling quarters and balancing a chair on my chin. That's right, subtlety is my middle name.

I was happy that even though I had a great, full day off, I still was in bed by 9:30 p.m.!

And now the part you've all been waiting for. We all know you tolerated my antics from the past two days just to get to this part.

In fact, most of you probably scrolled to the bottom to see these pictures before you even read the post.

IF you even read the post!

But don't worry, I'm not offended.....

ANYWHO! We had a day off on Wednesday because Kelly Miller's new tent arrived! Here are some pictures:

New Tent Day

2011-09-07T22:08:00.002-04:00

We had the day off today (Wednesday) so the new Kelly Miller tent could be set up.

I walked around downtown Chicago, so I didn't even see the new tent.

I will catch up with my blog tomorrow, and I will get some tent photos.

Right now I am tired because I walked about 20 miles today.

That's right, you heard me....20 MILES!

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-06T18:39:00.002-04:00

Monday, September 5: Crete, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

It was chilly and windy today. I stayed inside where it was warm, and I did a little housekeeping.

Beth Grimes and her boyfriend, David, came back to visit today, and they brought Becky and Conner, two young members of their clown troupe. They also brought me a free roll. Whoo hoo!

Michael Johnson also came back to visit, and all of us hung out in my trailer while I got ready for work.

The first show was almost full, and the audience was fantastic. I was glad everyone that came to visit got to see us at our best.

Ryan and I tried a different bit in the artist gag; it went alright, but it wasn't quite what we were looking for.

However, the tightening up we did in the water gag was much to the act's benefit.

Besides our friends who were in the audience, there were (at least) four other local clowns in the crowd. Talk about a supportive group!

We did good business for the second show. Mike took off, but left me with the movie Iron Man (since I started it last year and only got 30 minutes in). Beth and her group stuck around to keep me company during the performance.

With the temperature dropping and the wind blowing, the water gag was not so much fun today.

Valerie got a good picture of it though: (http://themudshowdiaries.blogspot.com).

Radar's family once again took us out to dinner, this time to Olive Garden. Our bad luck with wait staff continued this evening with a klutzy guy who dropped a tray near us and almost spilled food and drinks on us throughout the meal.

I'm not sure if it was the area we kept visiting that produced such numbskullery, or if it was the curse of our group being together.

Entertaining The "Crete"ins

2011-09-05T22:47:00.001-04:00

Sunday, September 4: Crete, IL-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 17

Lot: Balmoral Race Track

Hello short city jumps! The 17 miles took a little while this morning thanks to stop lights and slow speed limits, but there was plenty of civilization to look at.

Radar's family arrived today for a visit; they brought tons of free roll for him and also for me (their adopted son).

Since we were on cement, Ryan couldn't stake Chancho's pen to the ground, so he was moving it over to my ducks' pen so he could eat their food.

I spotted him doing that, so I moved him back and gave him some duck food of his own to eat.

As soon as my back was turned, he moved his pen right back to steal from my ducks. What a pig!

Michael Johnson, a 1982 Clown College graduate, and his son, Alex, live not too far from Crete, so they came out to visit today.

Mike treated us to lunch at an Italian restaurant with a kick butt breakfast buffet.

Mike and Alex came to watch the first show, for which there was good business. Afterwards Ryan and I visited with them until it was time to go back to work.

There was an average sized crowd for the second show, and they were witness to probably one of the worst artist gags we've ever done. About everything that could go wrong technically, did.

Radar's family treated me, Dar, and Nikki to dinner at Cracker Barrel after the shows. Our waitress was less than ideal, but through some mistake we got a couple of free desserts. I guess that evened up the score a bit.

Down Came The Rain And Washed The Festival Out

2011-09-04T18:49:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 3: Griffith, IN-2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The Kelly Miller advance clowns, Dave and Sherri Shepard, came by to visit today. They treated me to breakfast downtown before the shows, and then they stuck around to watch the first performance.

We did good business for both shows. At the end of the first performance a storm hit us hard. It was pouring down rain, and the thunder and lightning were right on top of us.

It started raining during the second show as well, and it continued off and on all night.

Needless to say, my plans of attending the "Rock 'N Rail" festival again were washed away with the downpour.

Radar and I still went out to eat though, and we went to an Oberweis afterwards to buy half gallons of their delicious chocolate milk.

The Cracker Squirm

2011-09-03T19:58:00.004-04:00

Friday, September 2: Griffith, IN-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 33

Lot: St. Mary Church grounds

There were rough roads on this morning's jump; I was afraid my whole trailer was going to jolt apart.

I walked to a cafe that I remembered from two years ago and had breakfast. On my journey I noticed a lot of posters advertising a "Rock 'N Rail" music festival going on all weekend.

Live music, good food, and a beer garden were all promised. Sweet!

My phone's GPS told me there was a laundromat a half mile from the lot, but I walked there first to make sure it was in operation before schlepping a bag full of dirty clothes there. I would have driven, but my truck was blocked in by trailers.

Lucky and Vickie came in to the laundromat while I was there, and the lady behind the counter asked if they were with the circus. When they replied they were, the lady commented on how much she hated clowns.

I sat in silence reading my Stieg Larsson book until Lucky pointed out to the woman that I was a clown.

Afterwards the lady must have felt pretty bad, because she kept giving me excuses for her fear, and she was suddenly very helpful with my laundry.

I didn't really care, I just wanted to be left alone to do my laundry in peace; however, I did find the whole situation a bit funny.

Back at the lot I went over to Ryan's house where he was working on my new agent suit; we spent a couple of hours designing and sewing.

Here is what we came up with:

It is in no way a finished product. The yellow shirt needs more, we just aren't sure what yet.

There was an average sized crowd for the first show, and we did good business for the second show.

All day I was looking forward to going to the music festival downtown, so after we were done with work, Ryan, Radar, Nikki, and I walked there to see what all the hubbub was.

Several blocks were...blocked off (harr harr) to create space for the festival.

There were street vendors set up with different types of food, there was a fenced off area that created the beer garden (or the drunk tank as I referred to it). There was also a stage in the middle of the road with a band playing rock 'n roll covers.

While we were sitting and taking in the music and the crowd, Ryan commented, "No wonder we didn't get anything from the audiences today! A rock concert can't even wake these people up! We didn't stand a freaking chance!"

There were a few people enjoying themselves and dancing; it looked a little something like this:

I can't judge though, I would have looked just as bad or worse!

"Sweating Like A Christian Scientist With Appendicitis"

2011-09-02T19:41:00.001-04:00

Thursday, September 1: DeMotte, IN-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 58

Lot: elementary school grounds

This morning was our last "long" jump for a couple of weeks; hooray!

Ryan fixed the pyro on the artist gag prop; I served as supervision and screwdriver fetcher, very important jobs!

The first show was 3/4 full and the second show was full. Once again it was like pulling teeth to get a reaction from the crowd because of the heat. Even the night time show didn't bring any relief; it was extremely humid. I was sweating like....the title of this post!

"It Worked In The Movies"

2011-09-01T18:36:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, August 31: Watseka, IL-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 24

Lot: Roff House Grounds

Once again we got to the lot very early because we had a 6:00 a.m. call, even though it was only a 24 mile jump.

I slept a long time this morning; I must have been pretty beat. While I was dead to the world, Ryan and Buckner walked to downtown Watseka.

They went in a video store where the owner tried to sell them a DVD of "Risky Business" for $20.

He went on to tell them that it was a very difficult movie to find, and it had a special place in his heart because it gave him the idea to open up an escort service.

Apparently he ended up in jail for awhile because of his business venture, even though it looked so easy in the movie....

At about that time Ryan and Buckner excused themselves and made for the nearest exit.

It was very hot today; both shows were 3/4 full, but I think the audiences would have been more responsive if they weren't so miserable from the heat.

After the shows Ryan and I went to the Roff House, a supposedly haunted house right next to the lot.

The story is that a man and woman lived there with their daughter. The daughter started exhibiting strange behavior, like cutting off the family cat's head and drinking its blood, so they assumed that she was possessed. Their decision was aided by the fact that they were spiritualists.

Well, the daughter died suddenly, and later a girl down the street claimed to be possessed by the daughter's spirit.

The family took in the possessed girl for 100 days...as was the fashion at the time.

We got an in depth tour from the owner of the house, but I did feel a little gypped. Ryan and I had to pay $5 a piece, but a few other people that showed up after the tour had started (as well as people that went earlier in the day) didn't have to pay anything.

Oh well, I guess haunted house owners have to eat too....

Cast Iron Skillet

2011-08-31T19:36:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, August 30: Goodland, IN-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 81

Lot: Community Center Grounds

This morning's drive took a long time for me to complete. Besides it being 81 miles, I stopped for gas AND I stopped at a Flying J to dump my tank. This Flying J gets two thumbs up from me because they didn't charge for using their dump station.

You hear that, other greedy Flying J's!?!

Goodland is a small, small, small, small, small town with nothing going on. I walked to Main Street and everything seemed to be closed down.

A young clown, Adam Schill, came to visit today. He hung out with me while I got ready for the show, and then I took him into the tent.

There were small crowds for both shows, but the audiences weren't that bad. There was one family in particular that was having a blast and laughing loudly during the first show.

Before the first water gag Ryan noticed some kind of dirt stain on the crotch of my pants (easy everyone). I took some water from my jug and cleaned it off, but then it looked like I had wet myself.

I asked Ryan if it was too noticeable and he burst out laughing. Ok...I guess so.

I ran into my house, grabbed my space heater, and quickly dried the spot before going in to do the act.

There you have it folks, the things you don't know are happening backstage as you watch the show.

Between shows I met up with Beth Grimes and her boyfriend, David, who have an Indiana clown troupe based about an hour away from Goodland.

They visited with me between shows and then they joined Adam to watch the second performance.

Adam, Beth, and David brought us a ton of free roll, and then Beth and David were nice enough to treat me and Adam to dinner after the shows.

I was afraid we wouldn't be able to find anyplace to dine, but there was a 24 hour Iron Skillet restaurant in a truck stop about 7 miles from town.

A good time and many laughs were had by all.

Time Keeps On Slippin'

2011-08-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 29: Chesterton, IN-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 70

Lot: Dogwood Park

I thought I was going to fall asleep on this morning's drive. I am glad I didn't...me being a big fan of living and all....

We entered the central time zone on the drive. So even though it was a 70 mile jump, and I left at 6:00 a.m., I got to the lot in Chesterton around 6:30 a.m. Trippy.

I loved having the extra time; I used it to sleep. My bed was a much more comfortable resting place than a ditch on the side of the road.

Ryan and I finally finished the movie "Hook" today, well over a month after we started watching it!

Both shows were full and the crowds were great. Adam Gertsacov, a 1989 Clown College grad, and his family were in the area on vacation, so they came to see the second show.

It was nice meeting them, and I am glad they saw such a good performance.

They brought delicious cupcakes as a freeroll. Yay sugar!

Darned Technology!

2011-08-29T18:36:00.000-04:00

Sunday, August 28: Hartford, MI-2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Miles: 74

Lot: Hartford Motor Speedway

(I wrote the cliff notes for this blog last night, but my computer decided to delete them. I am going off my terrible memory here.)

This morning's drive was very boring for me, and it seemed to go on forever.

Today's town was lot and license, so I was worried that no one would show up, but there was a line at the ticket window during set up.

We ended up having good business for the first show, and an average sized crowd for the second show.

I saw circus fan and blog reader, Charles Klute, in the audience, so I went out to say hello during Intermission.

The second audience was much more responsive than the first one, which was a relief. The first performance was a tough one to get through; Buckner helped by bringing me a torta from a Mexican market. He is one of my new favorite people now!

After the show Radar and I went to a bar and grill where we found Dan. We all had dinner, and I ended up answering questions for a few locals once they found out we were from the circus.

My favorite question was when they asked if Dan was the fire breather.

The Agulars

2011-08-28T16:36:00.001-04:00

Saturday, August 27: Grand Haven, MI-2:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Miles: 61

Lot: Harbor Island

Even though we went 61 miles today, it was a quick drive for me; almost all highway.

The Agular family, our biggest fans, came to the lot this morning to watch the tent raising.

Afterwards they took me to Russ' where they treated me to two breakfasts!

Next I got a driving tour of Grand Haven, where I was shown the beach. In the next town over I got to see a wake park, where you pay to zipline across the water on a wakeboard and jump ramps.

Finally the Agulars showed me where they live, and I was taken to a local coffee shop where Landon treated me to an iced mocha.

The area they live in produces a lot of blueberries, and you could definitely tell from the merchandise in the coffee shop. They sold everything from blueberry coffee to blueberry jams and jerky!

The first show was full, and the second show was almost full. The Agulars were at both performances, and Ryan and I visited with them at Intermission.

Between shows I made the mistake of taking a nap, and for the life of me I could not fully wake up before the second show.

Before opening I told Ryan, "I may fall asleep playing the trumpet. If I do, just wake me up before you leave the ring."

After the shows the Agulars took me to Holland, MI to a hibachi restaurant and treated me to a sushi dinner.

They then took me by Wal Mart so I could buy groceries.

Many thanks to Landon, Rachel, Dennis, and Michael Agular for showing me such a great time and taking such good care of me whenever I am in the area.

The Last Supper

2011-08-27T18:17:00.002-04:00

Friday, August 26: Howard City, MI-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 52

Lot: Ball Field

There was a great cafe in Howard City that I discovered last year. On the drive this morning all I could think about was enjoying a nice cup of coffee and a tasty breakfast sandwich.

Wouldn't you know, the cafe is now closed. This is the second time this week that my coffee plans have been thwarted!

I need to stop getting so attached to small, locally owned businesses!

Luckily Brian LaPalme made delicious panini sandwiches for lunch. Score!

Ryan and I practiced playing trumpet this afternoon (working on the first song I learned to play three years ago), and we did some gag brain storming.

I got a package in the mail from Katje Sabin, who contacted me awhile ago with an offer that piqued my interest.

She had a 2005 Ringling Blue Show Clown Alley t-shirt, which has this awesome photograph on it:

I had a whole bag full of them at home, but Mom thought they were to get rid of, so she gave them as gifts to a lot of family and friends.

MOM!

This left me with only a few shirts remaining in my possession. Katje knew that I was looking for that particular shirt, and she just happened to have one that someone left at an IJA convention (I think that is the story).

Thank you so much Katje for the awesome gift!

The first show was 3/4 full, and the second show was full. The second crowd was a great audience too!

Bright Balls Of Gas

2011-08-26T17:29:00.000-04:00

Thursday, August 25: Evart, MI-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 76

Lot: Airport grounds

This morning I executed a very tricky "buy and fly" breakfast operation for Radar.

Ok, actually I just went to McDonald's to pick up food that he paid for. I just wanted to make it sound cool...

There was a grocery store on my walk that I spotted; however, when I went back later to shop it was a bust as far as having the things that I wanted.

We did good business for both performances; the crowds loved the water gags, even though Ryan and I were trying to make each other laugh in the second show by making vomit noises at every possible chance.

Brian LaPalme wowed us with another dessert for dinner tonight. Besides the delicious main course: beef tips marsala, he served brownie a la mode.

(Sorry Johnny Moss, I don't have a cheesy 70's kid show clip to reference for this dessert)

Tonight was beautiful. The sky was clear and I could see millions of stars.

I went out to get something to eat, only to find out later that Reyna was making my favorite Mexican dish, tortas, for Pie Car.

I guess there is always next time!

Bottoms Up!

2011-08-25T17:47:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, August 24: Manistee, MI-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 56

Lot: Seng's Lot

After getting parked in Manistee I walked to downtown, which was right next to the lot.

I found a coffee shop where I had a hot pick me up and some breakfast.

And then the hot pick me up served me some coffee.

Ba dum ching!

Later in the day I ventured back into town to have lunch, and Ryan and I went antique shopping.

Two years ago Ryan made a great haul of circus programs from one shop; unfortunately he must have cleaned them out, because we couldn't find anything this time around.

We ended up going back to one shop to look at a couple of steamer trunks, and as we were leaving, something caught my eye.

It was an envelope full of Ringling postcards! Lou Jacobs was the clown featured on several of the cards. Score!

We had good business for the first show, and there were more people at the second show.

I went to the back door for the first water gag with my shirt hanging open. I was in a daze getting dressed and didn't even button it up. I guess I didn't notice since my chest is so white; it must have matched the shirt!

I am happy that Ryan pointed out my mistake before we went out instead of exposing it during the gag like he was thinking of doing.

In the back curtain before the second finale Sara's skirt fell off. I yelled, "Alright! I didn't know it was THAT type of show!", before dropping my pants.

Both wardrobe "malfunctions" were corrected just as the curtain opened.

"By The Pricking Of My Thumbs..."

2011-08-24T17:46:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, August 23: Empire, MI-4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Miles: 75

Lot: Eagles Meadow

We were actually set up on a lot almost 7 miles from Empire today. It was a campground type of set up, so in the back yard we each had our own little parking area with a picnic table and a fire pit.

Natalie and I went to downtown Empire two years ago and I visited a cool little coffee shop with three cute women working the counter.

I unhooked my truck and drove into town expressly to visit that establishment, but unfortunately a lot can change in two years, and the coffee shop was now a laundromat.

At least I was able to fill up my gas tankin town. Yay?

Ryan spent time working on my new agent suit today. The sketch he drew looks fantastic, but once we started looking at fabric samples in real life, the color combinations just didn't do it for me.

Back to the drawing board!

We did good business for both shows; I remember packed houses here two years ago.

Once again the crowd for the first show was more responsive than the second audience.

The weather forecast called for storms after 5:00 p.m., and the wind was gusting, sending dark clouds flying by all day.

We got off with light sprinkling until after tear down was complete. Then we got some action!

It was the perfect weather to read my current book, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury.