Williams & Cole Circus

One of the jobs I did with Harvey Copeland involved a drive to Groveland, FL, where Bill Ballantine and Roberta lived in a little house by a lake.  Bill's daughter, Bridget, had contracted to do her single trapeze act on Circus Vargas and Bill asked Harvey to build a rigging box that would contain her chandelier (under which the trapeze was suspended) and double as a bed for her daughter Zita when the box was loaded into her van.  So off we went to Groveland. 

Seems like it took two trips, a bunch of plywood, and some blue paint.  On that trip was the first time I heard of the Williams & Cole Circus.  Something new, started by Oklahoma City attorney Jerry D. Sokolosky and former Ringling comptroller, Billy Williams.  It was supposed to start onApril 30, 1977, and tour the mid-west for 17 weeks.  Bridget had been contacted by them, but couldn't go, since she was going to Vargas.  But I could!  And I did. 

I was thrilled!  I was going places!  I was gonna be in the circus again!  At the end of March, I got this letter . . .

In the time I had left before I left for Oklahoma, I painted everything I owned, including my truck (see the newspaper article below).  I made new wardrobe, I spiffed up everything I owned.  I even bought a rabbit to produce out of the square/circle illusion Harvey built for me as a going away present.  (I named the rabbit "Oliver," after Bill Ballantine .  It was his middle name.  Bill's middle name, not the rabbit's.  The rabbit didn't have a middle name.)  I bought magnetic signs to put on my van, and Harvey painted the Williams & Cole logo on them.

And he knew that I had walked stilts at Clown College, but I didn't have any.  So he made me a pair of five foot stilts.  But not just regular stilts-- no, not Harvey.  He told me about old time clowns that walked stilts dressed in kilts, with the stilts carved into knobby knees and bony ankles.  And he made me a pair like that-- he carved them out of 4x4 cyprus fence posts, with a chain saw!  Then he built me a tripod stilt-ladder that would work anywhere, even in the middle of a field, which is where I spent a lot of my career . . .

The drag came from my clown college classmate and friend, Richard Fick-- don't know why he didnt need it anymore, but I was grateful for the gift.  To the right is Bruce the Clown on stilts.>

<To the left is Bruce the Clown Magician.  I had magic, I had stilts, I had Hugo, the Performing Rock.  I could juggle, and ride a unicycle (sort of, unless I had to turn a corner), and I had a seventeen week agreement for the princely sum of $150.00 per week.  I was ready!  So, off I went to Oklahoma City.  When I got there, I found chaos, but I've always liked chaos, so I felt right at home.  In the next two and a half weeks, I built and painted two sets of 36 foot diameter ring-curb and two knock down concession stands.  Also did any number of pre-opening publicity gigs, including one at the Rattlesnake Festival in Enid.  (I think it was Enid- it may have been somewhere else.  I remember the rattlesnakes more than the location . . .) Ever since, I've felt that chicken tastes like rattlesnake . . .

Here's two newspaper photos from the time . . .

P.S.  Just discovered that if you click on any of the photos, you get enlarged versions, and you can read the fine print . . .