IF YOU GO* What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s “Illuscination” circus.* When: 7 p.m. Thursday and March 12; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. March 13; 2 p.m. March 14.* Where: UTC McKenzie Arena, Fourth and Mabel streets.* Admission: $12 opening night (excludes VIP and front-row seating); $15 and $21 all other shows; $26 and $36 VIP seats (limited supply).* Phone: 266-6627.* Web site: www.ringling.com.Bonus for early birdsRingling Bros. offers access to the arena floor one hour before the show. Ticketholders can try on costumes, walk the low wire and meet many of the show’s performers. Register for a chance to win a masterpiece created by one of the artistic Asian elephants.THE ILLUSCINATORIn keeping with the theme of the new show, “Illuscination,” illuscinator David DaVinci will bridge the fantasy-filled world of magic with wonderment of the circus.* Crowd pleasers: DaVinci performs with a flock of 10 rare birds, including a toucan, African gray, cockatoos and macaws. They’ll take flights of fantasy around the arena and perform illusions of their own.* Big trick: DaVinci will attempt to escape a straitjacket while suspended three stories above a den of lions.
Dean Kelley said he has the greatest job on Earth with the Greatest Show on Earth. He’s a clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
“I’ve wanted to be a clown since I was 4 when I went to my first Ringling Bros. circus in my hometown of Kansas City, Kan.,” he said. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
At 29, Kelley said he’s one of the older clowns with the world-famous circus. Most of his peers are in their early 20s, but Kelley said he’s living a dream and will quit only when his body tells him it’s time.
Kelley will be one of four clowns performing when the circus rolls into town for six performances starting Thursday. The all-new show, called “Illuscination,” showcases magic along with traditional circus acts.
Kelley hired on with the circus eight years ago in Anaheim, Calif. His parents, he admitted, were a little skeptical about his career choice. “My mom was like ‘You want to do what?’ “
After seeing how happy he is being a clown, his entire family has been supportive, he said.
“It’s the hardest work you’ll ever love,” he said. “A lot goes into it. Being a clown means I get paid to play.”
The job isn’t completely stress-free, though.
“I have to make sure the audience is having a good time,” he said. “Everything I do is supposed to be funny.”
But what entertains an audience in one city may not work for the audience in the next city, he said.
“You sometimes have to fine-tune an act to find something funny people can relate to,” he said. “Sometimes it may be blistering cold or rainy outside, and the audience won’t be as peppy. It’s up to me to read the audience and figure out how to make them laugh.”
It’s also up to clowns to divert the attention of the audience if something goes wrong during performances, Kelley said.
“I have done a few shows where something has happened — a performer got hurt and they needed to black out part of the arena to make sure the performer got medical attention. The clown has to be on his toes at all times.”
Kelley has no regrets about his career choice.
“My job is to make people laugh,” he said. “You can’t go wrong with that.”