Evening with the Circus Load-In
Hi all! Anna here. I decided to head over to the grounds this evening to see how the circus load-in was going.
I didn’t have anything really going on so I decided that I wanted to see what it actually takes to set up a traveling circus.
I grabbed my bike and headed over there around eight, and after asking a few of the crew, found John Ramboli (yes, that’s his name) and Lawrence Banks. I think what surprised me the most is that they weren’t sitting in a trailer. I found them setting up the big top with the rest of the crew. I learned a little about their circus and life inside it, and then they graciously let me roam the grounds as the setup happened around me.
I stopped and talked to a bunch of different people there.
I got to meet Thomas and Gisella Zambowski. They told me they had started off together in the Ringling Brothers circus when they were six and five respectively, and now, at nineteen and eighteen, are married and the featured high wire and trapeze act! They told me that they got married at a courthouse in Toledo.
I also spent a lot of time with the clowns. No, not the “It” kind of clowns, and honestly, these wonderful people changed my opinion about clowning.
I sat next to the fire drinking coffee and eating donuts with professional clowns, Morton, Alton, and Samuel and got to hear real stories from a lifetime on the road.
“It’s not like it used to be,” Morton said, staring down into his coffee for a moment. “Back in the seventies, kids used to come running up with huge smiles on their faces. They couldn’t wait to meet the clowns.”
He was born on Route 66 back in its heyday.
All three described a profession that has quietly faded over the last few decades. Traveling circuses are smaller, there are fewer full-time performers, and many of the classic clown acts have disappeared altogether. Samuel told me there were years when nearly every circus had an entire alley of clowns. Today, he said, you can count many of the remaining professionals on your fingers.
Despite that, none of them sounded bitter. Alton joked that setting up the circus is harder on his knees now than performing ever was. Before we finished our coffee, I asked if we could take a selfie together. They may be among the last generation that made clowning a full-time career, but after spending time with them, it’s easy to see why they’ve stayed with it.
They still genuinely love making people smile.
In that chat, I learned to not look at a clown as something that’s scary or frightening, or even weird, but people that truly love their profession.
Much love to John, Lawrence, Thomas, Gisella, and the Clowns:
Morton, Alton, Samuel, Frank, Homer, Wendy, Sherry, and Nancy.
14 Comments — Comments open to East Bay residents only via HarborWire App.