In a nutshell life here sucks. I’m bored -really bored- at work and school and I’ve been very unsatisfied with everything as of late. So I’ve decided I’m going to do something romantic with myself and leave everything behind to run off and join the circus.
I figure there’s a bunch I need to know before I travel all the way to Omaha incase maybe there’s a circus in town at the time. A good thing to know would be how many circuses are there and how often they travel to a place like Omaha.
What else do I need to know about this? What’s the job market in the circus like? Is the pay any good, considering the rent’s free? How old must I be for certain jobs? Being a tightrope walker isn’t in my cards (the whole dying aspect and all), so I figure I can get a job as a clown maybe or if that fails, a roustabout. What’s that like?
Anyone ever been part of the circus or leave home for something similar and want to share any stories?
My parents never took me to the circus when I was little, will that hold me back? Other than psychologically, I mean.
Hot damn! There is a juggling club in Omaha that you can join. Juggling is a useful life skill as well as a valuable circus skill. You’ll be able to juggle your bills and responsibilities with style, man!
Ringling Bros. Barnum& Bailey will be in Omaha next month, on Oct. 15th. Click the smiley for the schedule.
We have a circus comming to where I work in two weeks (no, seriously) I’ll ask for you.
I’ll warn you though; most of these guys are jack-of-all-trade types, they help set up the rings, they juggle, they spin on a little rope-thingy, everything. Our visiting circus is pretty small though, one ring, so it may be different elsewhere.
If you do join the circus, just don’t have a normal act, combine a bunch into one, you’ll be like your own tightrope unicycling, flaming knife swallowing, sword juggling one man circus with an insurance policy that costs more than the national debt.
Sadly, I really can’t say too much about them–they were the black sheep of the family and most of the people who know the details aren’t telling.
Hm. That reminds me of another circus link in my family–my great-grandfather on my mother’s side ran off on my great-grandmother for several years. Turns out he was living with an ex-circus peformer–a woman with bright artificially red hair and a wooden leg. My mom gave me the picture of the family reunion where he returned. Great-grandfather at one end. Great-grandmother at the other end, looking like she’d swallowed a bucket of ammonia. (Very young) mom in between looking like she’d rather be somewhere else…
Really, my family isn’t as abnormal as I’m making it sound.
