How I Got Here, part 1

First things first: How did I get this gig?

I'd heard of Kinoshita Circus through the clown grapevine when I was on Ringling Brothers. People know people and former Ringling clowns would come to the show and visit the clown alley and every now and then one would hear about someone having spent some time on Kinoshita Circus. All I had known at that point was: 1)it was a Japanese circus, 2) the pay was good, and 3) IT'S IN JAPAN, MAN! I had thought it would make for a cool gig and a unique experience culturally and career-wise, but I didn't know at all how to get from where I was to there.

Cut to 2003.

My third year on the road with Ringling brought me to Austin, TX, one of my favorite cities in the US. A free roll (a gift usually consisting of great amounts of food, but not always) arrived at the arena for the clowns, courtesy of Gloria and Chuck Van Cleave, parents of former Ringling Red Unit clown Kelly Van Cleave. Kelly and I had been pen pals from years back, when I was still a teenager who was half in denial, half driven to attend Clown College and join Ringling. We had fallen out of touch for a few years and here I was finally on The Show. Her folks told her what I was up to and got us back in touch. It turns out Kelly had been spending the last few years on the road as a clown with Kinoshita Circus.

Cut to 2006.

I was on tour with another Feld Show: Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh as part of a clown trio with good friend and Ringling road associate Leo Acton and the eager, fun, self-educated Tony. We made a great team. I made sure to let Kelly know that I was in Japan for the show and we found out that we'd be in Nagoya when Kinoshita was in Nagoya.

Nagoya came and we saw the show and hung out a couple of times. Kelly, Leo, and I talked about how good the Kinoshita gig is and Kelly suggested that we pursue it if it really interested us. I kept it in mind, as I was still feeling good about where I was.

Cut to 2008.

I had decided in late 2007 that I wasn't going to continue for a fourth year with Disney Live. Nothing was changing with the show and I was sick of living out of a suitcase and moving every week, traveling with people some of whom were Ugly American types who complained about their jobs for one reason or another; others for whom the experience was like a big school field trip or spring break. There was nowhere else for me to go in the show. There was no "up" towards which I could or wanted to move. Three years on the same show was enough. I submitted materials to the agent for Kinoshita, but someone else was hired.

I refilmed some things for my demo, redited, and resubmitted. To be honest, to this day, I still don't think that my demo is strong and nothing I have shows what I can do. That's not even considering that I don't have any fully-baked routines to show. Be that as it may, what I had and what Kelly had to say were good enough to get me the contract once an opening came by.

In the meantime, I formulated plans to move back to the Twin Cities and hand successfully auditioned for the Science Museum of Minnesota and began my employment there in January 2009. While there, I edged my way back into the Brave New Institute's Six Ring Circus. I had a studio apartment that I loved in a great location that would have allowed me to take the bus anywhere I wanted. The only thing was that my jobs were in Roseville and Saint Paul, so bus rides would have carved three or so hours out of each day.

I hadn't heard from the agent and I had settled back in the marvelous Twin Cities. In October I emailed the agent to get a final word on what was happening. The reply came back with an offer. Six weeks out, I had to uproot everything I had gotten rolling in the past ten months. However, there was no telling when I'd get this chance again.

And so here I am. I'm a resident alien in another country, being the best American example I can be, making more money than I've made to date in my entire life doing a job that many would be happy to have. Things are good and I hope to make the most of it.