Clown Jeff Jenkins

Episode 6 

Clown Jeff Jenkins, when he snuck backstage at the circus as a boy a chance encounter with a clown led him to his own life in the big top, Jeff talks about rescuing and training pitbulls and in many ways their owners, and he shares his incredible focus on making the city of Chicago a better place for everyone by working to improve its schools, and its parks. 

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Born and raised in Chicago. Delivered newspapers for $13 a week and worked at a pizza restaurant.

Snuck backstage at Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey Circus and met clown Sean Emery https://seanemery.com/

18 years old moved to Florida and went to Ringling Bros. Clown College (harder to get into than Harvard) 12 weeks of juggling, acrobatics, clown, stilts, prop building, sewing, performing material. 9 of 60 people who left clown college were hired as clowns for Ringling. Toured for 2 years in the Blue Unit 1986-1988 (After taxes made $163.18 a week) 

21 years old moves back to Chicago, did clowning, comedy, acting, taught and directed for clown college and Ringling. 

Met wife Julie and started the Midnight Circus shows performed in and around Chicago https://www.midnightcircus.net/

30 years later gets an email from Aerial Emery Hula Hoop artist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-djg_TRltA

Matts coach from Cirque du Soleil Nouvelle Experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKvmDxdyga8

Circus in the Parks- Impacting the community and its members https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wDRwuPXktA&feature=youtu.be

Performs a comedy dog act, began with rescues and training dogs focusing on pitbulls. Worked with the Anti-Cruelty Society and spent time in IL youth correctional facilities using dogs and training as an opportunity to educate these young men about empathy and positive reinforcement - impacting the lives of both dogs and dog owners.

In 2018 ran for Alderman of the 47th ward in Chicago.

New program K9 Kindness Academy on the West side of Chicago with Breakthrough Ministries https://www.breakthrough.org/

Worked on local school council for 6 years. Continues to work actively with local politicians, the parks and schools to make Chicago a better place.

Transcript

spk_0:   0:01
today on What can you tell me? I speak with Geoff Jenkins when he snuck backstage of the circus is a boy. A chance encounter with the clown led him to his own life in the big Top. Jeff talks about rescuing and training pit bulls and in many ways, their owners. And he shares his incredible focus on making the city of Chicago a better place for everyone by working to improve its schools and its parks without further ado. Ladies and gentlemen, Jeff Jenkins. Hey. Well,

spk_1:   0:26
I hope I live up to the intra. Oh,

spk_0:   0:28
well, you know, I think you will. How you doing?

spk_1:   0:30
I'm doing, You know, despite the global global pandemic, we're doing okay. We're hanging in there.

spk_0:   0:35
You're You're at home right now.

spk_1:   0:37
I am? Yeah. Me wife, two kids and the dog. We're here

spk_0:   0:41
for those who don't know you're in Chicago with myself as well. So to give you a little background of how I met Mr Jeff Jenkins, I was working in the circus for the many years I was working in the circus. And when I first moved to Chicago in 2003 I saw the Amazing Midnight Circus And I think it was around then that Ah ah, there was a show being performed in a theater called Stiletto Circus and soul, which I went to and promptly decided I had to be working with this company from that point forward. So thankfully, a short time after that, I managed to get that opportunity. But, ah, we'll get into that. But, uh, can you can

spk_1:   1:14
you tell me

spk_0:   1:15
about, Ah, tell me about the young Jeff Jenkins. What life was like when you were Ah, small lad.

spk_1:   1:20
Ah, well, she's where to begin. Let's see. I'm gonna grow up in a family of four. There were three boys and one girl. Um, we grew up in Chicago and then white outside Chicago in Lombard, Illinois. Ah, and in various places around there. So, you know, pretty much Chicago born and bred. Uh, the folks the folks split up when I was in fourth grade, and they actually got along great once they split up. And so

spk_0:   1:48
funny how that works sometimes.

spk_1:   1:50
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, like they were. They were They were friends until the very end. My father passed a short time ago. I'm a mother still here, and she is doing great. And, of course, all both of my brothers and sisters are are alive and kicking. They're doing just great. And while we're all pretty done close, thankfully,

spk_0:   2:09
And are they still in the Midwest?

spk_1:   2:10
They are, Yeah, they're all they're all in the Chicago area. Although my young, the youngest of us, Jonathan has an itch to head west. And he was out in Ah, he was out in, you know, the North, the Northwest region last year. And I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up out there. He loves to hike. He loves the mountains. He loves the outdoors. So I wouldn't be surprised. When, when when the dust clears after this whole extravaganza if he doesn't head that way.

spk_0:   2:38
Yeah. My brother went to school up in Oregon and we would do the drive from where I grew up in the Bay Area, San Jose, California area. And, ah, it would be about a 10 11 hour drive, but the most gorgeous scenery on the planet I could definitely see living out there for sure. Or it's in the Northeast.

spk_1:   2:53
Yeah, we We've talked about this a little bit. You know we spent as a family spent quite a bit of time on the West Coast, whether it be in California with friends and friends and folks there. But then and then my son doing what he does up in Vancouver. So it is. It is quite a view. Breathtaking place.

spk_0:   3:11
Yeah. And for those who don't know Ah, just a real quick met on. On what? What Max is doing right now.

spk_1:   3:17
Oh, yeah. Well, my son Max, who is a who's a normal, everyday Chicago public school kid. Ah, and who also grew up here in Midnight Circus. He's also Will Robinson on Netflix, lost in space. So he has He has a whole other life there.

spk_0:   3:32
Yes, he does. I'm gonna have to get him on it. One of these points. I

spk_1:   3:35
mean, I think I'm gonna

spk_0:   3:35
do a four part on the entire Jenkins family. It'll be a Jeff Jenkins of Julie Jenkins of Maxwell Jenkins and Samantha Jenkins.

spk_1:   3:41
Yeah, that most of you are far more interesting than me. So I I

spk_0:   3:46
think you're extraordinarily interesting family in general. Thank you. Okay. So, uh, okay. So family, they Ah, the whole family. So mostly in the Midwest are all entirely in the Midwest until somebody moves and And you what? You know, you were in Chicago. Until what age? What happened? I mean, kind of

spk_1:   4:04
get that. Well, that was when I was born and raised here. I think I was probably your typical Chicago on been suburban kind of kid running around. Ah, we grew up in my dad with my dad. When my mom and dad split, Hey. Took all four kids, which is probably not the norm. Um, and we way made the best of it at the time. Everything seems, you know, perfectly normal. Looking back maybe wasn't so normal. Ah, but we we were We were pretty close. Ah, the I got my first job. I remember my first job was delivering newspapers. I always say this to my kids. My first gig was delivering. Ah, the Sun Times in the Tribune, seven days a week before school. That was

spk_0:   4:52
nice. And this was at what age

spk_1:   4:54
I I think I started that when I was I did it for a couple of years, and then I got a job washing dishes at the pizza joint, and I so I think I started that I was about 12 or 13 and yeah, because Sundays were the worst day ever, because kids probably don't know this now, but the Sunday Tribune was about £30 of paper. You know what I remember? I had a 25 or 2028 folks on the route. So Sunday was the dreaded day.

spk_0:   5:24
Were you he even papers or sitting on porches?

spk_1:   5:27
Oh, uh, generally, you had to set it on the porch because I remember you would get at the end of the week when you go to get paid. And I remember this clearly, you know, we'd ride our bikes over the it's got a storefront, and you you'd wait in the hallway with all the other delivery kids from around the name newsies. And you'd walk in? Yeah, the newsies. It was kind of like the newsies, except well, you know, I couldn't sing well or dance. Well, um, and you go in the office, and there was this heavyset guy behind the desk in the hour. Jenkins, huh? It was me and my brother Jeff. Okay. And hand you an envelope, and I remember I'd open it up and it was $13 cash sick, which, you know back then at the agency

spk_0:   6:09
for a week's pay, huh?

spk_1:   6:10
Yeah, that was a good chunk of change. But then you'd also get in there. You'd get a white slip with the person. It was handwritten, of course. The person's name, address and whatever they wouldn't want message they wanted to give to. Hey, thanks. Jeff did a good job on that rainy Sunday. But if you got a pink slip, then you knew you You missed the porch, chucked it through the window. Something like that.

spk_0:   6:34
Like the video game paperboy.

spk_1:   6:36
Yeah. And you didn't want, you know, if those I think if you got three pink slips you got Dr Buck, which a buck? You know, back when you were buying two cent candy or nickel candy? Well, chunk of change. And that's

spk_0:   6:47
like half your day's pay. If you're doing seven days a week, where the work So

spk_1:   6:50
right, that's

spk_0:   6:51
no fun. My first random job like that was actually working as a ah, I swept up hair in a barber shop.

spk_1:   6:58
Okay. Similar civil, right?

spk_0:   7:00
Yeah, And that was ah, did a lot of window cleaning and Also, my favorite part of it was he had a stack of playboys for his gentleman customers. So I, of course, managed to, you know, organize that rack. Quite

spk_1:   7:11
regular. That's a whole different. Yes. Wow. Yeah. So that was my gig. And and then I did that. Then I got a job washing dishes at a pizza joint, did that for ah year so that I got a big promotion to pizza maker made pizzas, which was quite I loved it. That was really a lot of fun back there. Hand making pizzas with a bunch of burnouts and rocking. Well, guys. And if you biker types And that was a that was a family joint. So it was a lot of fun. And I did that up until, uh, I ran away and joined the circus.

spk_0:   7:45
Yeah, tell me about that. When When did you When did you get that itch? What happened?

spk_1:   7:51
I was always fascinated by Ringling brothers when I was a kid. And, um, we used to go to the show every year in the old ah, the old Chicago Stadium, which is no longer there. It's a parking lot for that than the state of the United Center, and, uh, we used to go to the show, and I remember in fourth grade we went to the circus, me and my family, and then I see, kind of snuck in the backstage area, snuck back there. And as you can imagine, you know, this is back in the early a late seventies, early eighties. You know, the Ringling Brothers was massive hundreds and hundreds of poor words and elephants and all kinds of wild. You know, eccentric people like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory with with a hint of of gorgeous showgirls and a bit of that bit of the exotic thrown in. Ah, and a clown caught me backstage. And instead of throwing me out, he said, they come with a kid and he brought me back into Clone Alley. And for those of you who don't know, Clown Alley was a curtain off area, the old stadium. And it's where all the clowns changed and put on their makeup and hung out between shows and between acts. And so there was. At that time, I think there was 30 clowns on the show, and they each had their old big old steamer trunk and it was open. There was all kinds of wild props and costumes, and they were in various states of old grease paint and and various states of undress with polka dot boxers. And there were a few dogs and, you know, there was a dwarf and a midget, young clowns and old. It was the wildest looking scene, especially for, ah, fourth grade kid from Chicago, really magical and mysterious and a little bit scary. And then and then what? This particular Condit his name was Sean Emery. Let me hang out there for a little bit. And then he brought me right up next to the ring when he went out before the show to do like the pre show warmups, which was amazing to be down there on the arena floor, which smells like elephants and cats and sweat and just smell that may have sought us. And then I went back to my seat and that all throughout the show, anytime he would ride by an elephant or walk by instill, she'd give me a wave. Hey, Jeff, I've I felt like I was the star of the show. Fourth grade kid, I imagine on that really lit it for me. You know that. What? You know, my desire to want to be in the in the circus really took off on that day. That moment I remembered distinctly. And so I I wrote Ringling Brothers a letter and said, I'm fascinated. I want to be a clown and I can already jungle it right, a motorcycle. And they I actually got a letter back and they said, Well, you have to go to Clown College. Ah, to be in Ringling Brothers Circus to be part of the greatest show on Earth and you train for, you know, at the time it was 12 weeks and then you you're re addition at the end, And then if you're lucky, we only take a select few. Ah, but at the time, it was harder to get into Ringling Brothers, Barnum Bailey Clown College that it was to get into Harvard. That's a fact. So I was I was tell it to my Harvard friends, but you're fast forward. 2030 years. We're doing the midnight circus, and we get an email from this young lady and she says, Hi, my name. Ah, my dad always says that you're the re. He's the reason there's a midnight circus and I just graduated from circus school in Quebec and I'm Ah ah, Hula hoop artist. And here's my act by the in. My name is Ariel Emery, and my dad's name is Sean Emery. And, of course, my jaw hit the floor when I read that email. Sure,

spk_0:   11:51
amazing. And she is absolutely incredible to We'll have to include a little a little video snippet of what that young lady does.

spk_1:   11:58
Eso it. It came full circle, which I think is very poignant. And aerialist is still a near and dear friend of ours and shot Emery just e mailed me yesterday. Ah, beautiful mandolin song he was working on for me to forward to my son Max, who plays mandolin on Shawn's Quite an artist is Well, he's been doing a lot of painting since he's been, you know, sheltering in place. So he sent us a few photos of what he's working on this gorgeous and almost kind of like self portrait of him as a clown, but in the middle of nature, because he's a big hiker and nature go, er er

spk_0:   12:36
s so great. No, I had one of my I'll say not in the same sense, but a similar type experience. When I went to see Cirque du Soleil for the first time, it was, I want to say, 1989 and a friend's mom knew I was in the circus at that point and really I was juggling unicycling. Same sort of a start, about 12 years old, and his sister got sick and they had four tickets. And she said, Hey, do you want to go see this French circus? Circe Ole? And I was like Sure, yeah, uh, I had no idea. I don't know what it was. I mean, this was their very first kind of big touring show that they and so I went and saw this this show. And in it was this clown who did this trampoline act and was a musician as well. Absolutely, just incredible in incredible clown. Ah, his musical skill has his comical skill, his trampoline skill. Everything was just so peak. It was unbelievable and always, always, always remembered this guy's face. And years later, when I went to circus school up in Montreal, I'm doing my classes and we have you know, 40 hours a week juggling acrobatics, tight wire, trapeze handstands, trampoline dance, you name it. We're doing it every day. And one of my coaches one day walks in my trampoline coach and he has this T shirt on from that show. And it's got the picture of that clown with his ah, big kind of top, not red wig hair on it and his red nose. And I said, Oh, dude, that's the reason I'm in the circus And he said What I said that clown, that guy literally made me realize this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. And he's like, shot up And I'm like, No, dude, seriously like that was the most incredible performer I've ever seen, just somebody who completely captured my attention. And he's like, Look at the shirt and I look at the shirt. He's like, Look at my face and I do one of those double takes, shirt, face, shirt, face, shirt, face. And this is that clown. And he's my trampoline coach, and I've been training with them for 56 months at this point and had no idea that it was the same guy. And so, just in absolute honor to get to train under this guy. That was my my inspiration for the circus. So,

spk_1:   14:34
uh, that is you know, that's amazing.

spk_0:   14:37
Tell me about clown College. When did you go to clown college? Because we could definitely get into that.

spk_1:   14:40
Yeah, why? I'm right out after I after my illustrious career at high school. Um, the day after I graduated high school, I hopped on a plane toe Venice, florida, where Clown college was looking. It was in the old, big old Ringling Brothers arena. And up until that point, I had I had never been on an airplane, and I don't believe I ever left the state of Illinois. Uh, and so that was a wild adventure toe to graduate high school. And then the next morning happened an airplane get off in Venice, Florida, and then go to a big old giant circus arena. It was, and it was exciting and thrilling and terrifying, huh? You know, all in one. It was an amazing, amazing journey for me.

spk_0:   15:31
Okay? This is what year

spk_1:   15:34
that was 1986. Okay, Yeah. I graduate high school that I i that I began my You know, I clown college at the time. It was 12 weeks, and your school is is the big old Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus Arena that was there at the time. And your classrooms. I bring one ring to a ring three and you're working with incredible clowns. Obviously, for Ringling Brothers and beyond, I was fortunate enough to have Bill Irwin come down and teach my year. Lou Jacobs. Frosty little, uh, you know, Steve Smith was the dean at the time. Remarkable, magical, talented man. One of my someone I really look up to this day. Ah, incredible acrobats from the circus, some still performing, some retired and now, you know, passing down their knowledge. You had great great customers, seamstresses teaching you how tohave you know so and create your own costume prop makers. Builders it was it was really a incredibly creative place. And you would just go to school from about eight in the morning till about nine o'clock at night, every day, five or five days a week on. And then the 60 60 students. I think my year 60. You go home at the end of the day, and you crash out in the old Venice villas, which was kind of Ah, is that beachfronts? I don't want to say motel, because that would make it sound too nice. Picture

spk_0:   17:08
it already.

spk_1:   17:09
Yeah. You had a roommate in your room, and you had a little kitchenette and a little tiny fridge.

spk_0:   17:16
Although compared to the train car, I'm sure that was the lap of luxury.

spk_1:   17:20
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Sure.

spk_0:   17:22
Okay, so 12 weeks and classes where weapon. You mentioned acrobatics, things like that. But what was it you know? What would a typical day be like if there even was one?

spk_1:   17:29
Yeah, well, you got every awarded you would get there bright and early. 88 30. And you start out with a big warm up. We all warmed up together real thorough, warm up because it was intense. You were doing a lot of physical activity on, and then you would, You know, every day you would do acrobatics training, and you would do juggling training. Uh, you two cycle still walking, and then you would do, ah, lot of kind of gag writing about a clown history, uh, that he would do prop building s owing, you have to learn how to sew at least the basics. Ah, it was, um, a lot of pantomime and then, you know, kind of as you as as as it progressed throughout the 12 weeks you would then start to work on creating your own material that you would then present on graduation Night fork Kenneth Feld, who owned the circus. Um, and you know the other folks who decided your fate whether you'd be asked to join Ringling Brothers, invited Bailey circus or not. And we would do these weekly we gag presentations. We call them that they would open to the public, which was always interesting, because Venice is gonna Sarasota areas, primarily a retirement community. So we could get a nice mix of folks and young folks about folks who come in and they'd see your your weekly routines that you would perform to get feedback to seeing of. Does this work? Is this appropriate?

spk_0:   18:50
Like a circus? Open mikes are a clown Open mic.

spk_1:   18:53
Yes, it was. It was a great way to learn and to grow. And then, of course, you know, we would always you do those I believe in, like Friday night, then first thing Monday morning, we would go in and we'd watch the video as as a class. And then we kind of dissect it. Talk about what worked. What didn't Why didn't that moment work? You know, it was really funny on paper. Why wasn't it funny to the, you know, 50 or so people in the audience, You know, you didn't You didn't hold long enough. We didn't take a real clean beat, right there were. Ah, the other guy you were working with was too busy, you know, pulling the focus. So no one saw you do the little pants drop over there. If it was, you'd learn a lot. We were very serious about being silly.

spk_0:   19:31
I think one of the most impressive things I learned in a clown workshop was from Avenue Eisenberg. Sure, something that many, many people have done in the world of Crown. But it's teaching the beat in the introduction to walking onto a scene and and the panel that you would be standing behind and he would have you everyone walk out and do an introduction. And it was just like, five or 10 seconds. That was it. And you would be behind this thing. If they go, you'd come out. You would just kind of look at the audience and you'd walk off And then once everyone had gone, he would say, Okay, now I want everyone to do this again, and I want you when you first take a look out, take a deep breath in and then exhale while you're looking at the crowd. And just that little piece of direction gave you in connection to the crowd That was so incredible. You you locked them into your soul at that moment and those types of things. When you know people want to know what do you How do you learn to be a clown? It's it's You learn things like that, and that is one of the things that forever I will remember. And I try and use even in everyday life. If you're in a situation where things seem tense, literally take a deep breath in and exhale right in front of that person and it just it does magic.

spk_1:   20:44
Yeah, yeah, I I agree. It's amazing how some of those clowns skills those circus skills, physical comedy skills translate to everyday life. Remarkably Well, you know, for me, it was a lot of alert that the need toe hold still, I remember kind of discovering that and having folks like Lou Jacobs or Steve Smith there, Bill Irwin, you know, explain that to me. And why the stillness is justice important as the movement and sometimes more important, Yeah, that's certainly helped in some of the other stuff that I do. Whether it's, you know, stuff. Maybe we'll talk about were the work with the rescue pit bulls or whether it's public advocacy or ah, you know, that sort of stuff that that need to hold still toe, get your idea across.

spk_0:   21:37
Yeah, and it's It's the same concept in music, you know, if you just had every single note back to back to back to back to back with no breaths in between, you don't have music, you have a bunch of noise and it's giving the time to breathe or allowing that moment in between, which really gets the focus if you Yeah, yeah, OK, so So 12 weeks. And then what happened after that? 12 weeks. You get higher, you get booted. What? What goes on?

spk_1:   22:05
I believe it or not I You know, I got the gig right on

spk_0:   22:08
out of your 60. How many people actually got the gig?

spk_1:   22:11
I believe there will be. There were four. Think There was eight of us, my little nine of us. It was very few. I remember the show. I went onto the blue unit and how it worked. At the time, there were two greatest shows on Earth. The Red Unit in the blue unit. They would essentially create a new show. It it would take you two years to tour it across the country. So while one show, you know, when she heads out and is doing it, show your kind of tag team me. And so I was going on a show that had been out for a year. So they were replacing. They were only replacing. I think it was three of us. Three new clowns went there, and the other show had, you know, six or seven go. So it was It was certainly quite an honor. And I will say for some kid who can kind of grew up there, middle class would be pushing it. Ah ah, you know, in Chicago and hadn't been around the world or even around the country. Toe toe accomplish That was It was pretty remarkable. I was pretty proud of that at the time. You know, it was certainly the I was one of the youngest kids at Clown College, maybe even the youngest, and, ah, then I was definitely the youngest to be invited to join the blue unit of Ah, the greatest show on Earth.

spk_0:   23:25
And so how many years did you get to do that? The work with Ringling, Or how do you know how many

spk_1:   23:29
I toured? I toured for two years. Non stop. I did the blue that hold that first year the second year, the Blue show. And then we went into winter quarters, which is great because then I did a year of a brand new show that we created. So I went back to the building that was con college. But this time I went back and it was winter quarters where we're creating an all new production which was wild and fantastic and exciting and and hard. Um, and then I did special projects for Ringling for another, on and off for probably about another eight years or so I would go back and teach a clown college. I went back and did some directing of ah, of the clowns in the circus. And it's, um, comedy directing of some of the stuff for the ice shows or the hi Some of the other productions that Feld Entertainment did. So I had a relationship with Ringling Brothers for a long

spk_0:   24:23
What can you tell me about life on on tour when you were? Because some people may know this, some people may not something we may have heard of it, but, you know, explain touring.

spk_1:   24:33
Yeah, it was Get out. It was like going back in time When you when you run Ah, tour with Ringling Brothers. In many ways. Are you performing these giant arenas? Um, but then when you're not in the arena, you're living on a train. A big, long old silver circus train that says Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus the greatest show on earth on the side and all the clowns. We all lived in the clown car. There was a 20 of us or so 18 of us in there, and you had you each have your own room and it was a whopping six feet long and three feet wide hill sliding door. And we shared a kitchen kitchen. Would be we would be too too, too, too complimentary. It was. It had a hot wait. Did we had a hot plate with a microwave? I think it's too hot. Plates on biker wave and then each to those two clowns per while. You were the one of those small refrigerators?

spk_0:   25:40
Oh, sure, yeah.

spk_1:   25:41
Yeah, And that was it. And seeing that hung out in the kitchen and get it Oh, yeah, You crammed everything you own into that little little room which, surprisingly, holds a lot. But it really was. It was like it was a great adventure. I will say I loved living on the train because you had the clown car. And then I remember toe one side, we have the showgirl car, And then some

spk_0:   26:03
time over there, I would imagine

spk_1:   26:04
I got kicked out of there quite a bit. I remember. And then and then we had I think the King Charles troupe was on the other side. And that was an African American units cycle troop. That was fantastic from New York. Ah, and Then you had various college of the Chinese acrobats on one of the Russians and so on and so forth. You know, it was about 1/2 my along the whole train. It was that it was any place to live for years for a couple of years.

spk_0:   26:32
And then how long would you spend in each city? You know, for

spk_1:   26:35
various? Ah, you know, we would. When we played at the time, we played the garden in New York City, which was fantastic on I think we were there for eight weeks, which was the longest run we had, which was great because they put the training queens and then you would you head into Manhattan for your shows and then what would happen quite a bit As we go out and, you know, being, you know, 18 19 years old, cut loose in New York City, we would we would go out and we take in the city and then we wouldn't we wouldn't be any in any condition. They go all the way back to Queens to ah, sleep. So we just go back to the garden and it's the garden is so big. The circus performed on the third floor of the garden. That's how big it is. But we'd knock on the security door on the corner and the guard would look out out a cloud. I take the elevator up and we take the elevator up to Clown Alley and we just crash out there until the lights went on. It was show time. You wake up and slap your makeup on real quick, but then other towns in the second year of the tour. Uh, that was when I did the new show. Yeah, sometimes you do split weeks where you would do two days and three days in a town which that's a lot of work, setting that giant three ring show up for two days and then turn it down and then jumping and then setting it up and tearing it down and then jumping. That was, that's where you really learn kind of the definition of with it and for it where everybody really has to be with it and for it in order to pull that schedule off and keep everybody safe and deliver a a really high quality, magical experience to the people who came to the circus

spk_0:   28:18
That's so great. Oh,

spk_1:   28:21
yeah, And I remember my job. You get you could you could get out. You could do an extra job on top of being a clown because I don't know, people know this. But being a clown at Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus back in the eighties did not pay a lot of money. I remember I lived on the train car and irresponsible for your own personal costume and your own personal makeup and your own personal clown shoes, which are custom made a couple 100 bucks a pop, and I would do 13 shows a week and after taxes. And you gotta buy your own food. By the way, after taxes, I would take home a whopping $163 in 18 cents a week. Unreal. Yeah, so I do an extra job. He called cherry pie. And when I worked on the rubber crew, the entire arena floor was covered in quarter inch thick sheets of really hard rubber. They were about six feet wide and 15 20 feet long, and you just lay those out end over end to cover the entire concrete arena floor. And so it was me and a group of Moroccan acrobats would lay all of the hundreds of pieces of rubber out before the circus got set up. You were the first thing, because then they would build the circus of top of that. And then I'll tear it out night. They would take everything away, and then you would drag that rubber back with one of these handheld little metal pliers and stack it in these wagons. Unbelievably difficult job. But I made a whopping $15 each time I did it. Oh, yeah, Yeah. Every time my kids complain, Yeah, let me tell you what to do. That was incredible work with great Moroccan acrobats. They were kind, and they were strong because I was not. And, uh, it was a lot of fun. It

spk_0:   30:14
makes you stronger. Bet.

spk_1:   30:15
Yeah, Yeah, I got in pretty good shape for sure, for sure.

spk_0:   30:19
Okay, So touring finishes your now what age or where we at in life?

spk_1:   30:24
I'm a 20 a m. In my early twice. Yeah, early twenties, 2122. Right. In that area. Yeah. I come back to Chicago guy Paul, and I'm gonna, you know, plant my flag here. I decide for a little while and then do my thing here in Chicago, which was probably, you know, I had planned on doing some clowning, some physical comedy and acting type stuff. You know, it's interesting when you're when you're swallowed up into that that world of touring circus, which I wasa and I loved. It was a childhood dream that I fortunately got to live out. Ah, and then it spits you out. Uh, you're you're a little shell shocked because, yeah, seven days a week, 50 basically 50 weeks a year. You know, you're you're on the road and all. There were times many times where I would say you weren't quite sure what day it was in what town you were in, But you just knew what time the next show Waas. Because that's

spk_0:   31:22
that's all that's important.

spk_1:   31:23
That's all that's important. You know it since it's, you know, performing yourself or, you know, that's the only thing that's important. So then they get spit back out in the real world and go Okay. Whoa. It was a wake up call. I think it did a number of different things. He got a living. Um But I think that you know that I think them probably the most important thing I did was, you know, I met my now wife Julie, and we decided to start our own circus. Um, you know, I think that's probably what we're most known for at this point in one of our one of our greatest contributions to ah, certainly are are sitting in, you know, and the circus community and an even bigger because, as you know, when we could probably talk about Midnight Circus is a lot more than simply on entertainment entity. There's it's it's very much a ah company that strives to do social good on give back in very concrete ways,

spk_0:   32:22
which I absolutely love. I think one of the things that was when I first saw the show it was just seeing a theater show and not just a theater show. It was such a unique, interesting concept for circus. You could see the elements of old circus and you know, I say old. But you know what people consider traditional circus, as opposed to the kind of the newer the for all intents and purpose Montreal style circus. And then, um from there. All the shows that were happening in Daley Plaza and Daley Plaza was, ah, an annual thing for Halloween for about 30 days at a time, doing ah, I mean, you could tell the story, and I don't wantto take it from you, but you know, the connection with the crowd and how important that became two people every year to come back and see the show and see the same performers and the experiences that was such an incredible, unique thing to be a part of,

spk_1:   33:14
uh, thank you and thank you for being a part of it, for sure. Uh, that's always been important to us. And we say it, you know, to this day, we say, Good night, circus, bringing circus to the people because we do. We we strive to make sure that our circus is not only world class in terms of the work that we do in the story that we tell and the acrobatics that we execute and the beautiful, intimate 10th. But we make sure that ah, it's accessible in that people can afford to be there.

spk_0:   33:51
And then it's presented everywhere, too. It's not just Hey here. Come, come to downtown and go see this show on the north side or on the West. It's It's the far south side. It's the Far West side. It's the far northwest side. It's It's really everywhere in the city of Chicago

spk_1:   34:07
way. We really like the way we do our best. We work very closely with the city in the park district, and we will literally look at a map and we we say, Okay, what come what? Communities need the circus? Because what comes with midnight circuses? There's a partnership between us and the community and very much so. Anti violence groups in the community, religious leaders in the community, alderman community activists, volunteers, families, moms, dads and uncles, grandparents. They all play a key part of the volunteer crew that spreads the word about the circus, that is, that the ushers the day of the circus. They sell all the concessions and they keep all the money, every penny of it. They take out ads in our ad book, our program at book, and they keep that money. So a huge chunk of the mid the money the midnight circus brings in, then goes right back to the neighborhoods and the communities we play to rebuild playgrounds. Thio offer after school tutoring toe to fund other pirate programs that a lot of parks and communities don't have. So, on top of having this incredibly inspiring show that everybody can afford, they also it's also a huge fundraiser and community builder for these communities. And I I don't need to tell you that. You know now more than ever, when we get through this and we will, we're gonna need organizations like Midnight Circus and others to once again bring people together.

spk_0:   35:53
Yeah, and I think the thing that is so incredible to be a part of what that is, as I mentioned with Daley Plaza even more so because Daley Plaza was on a stage. Ringling Brothers had the traditional three ring circus in those rings they call a Rinker, and we have the ring curb within the tent at Midnight Circus, and it is a clearly smaller tent than anything Ringling would have performed in many, many, many, many years ago. It's been decades since they've used tense, but to be able to perform first of all, in a tent is an absolutely magical time transporting experience and then to be in one where the ring curb is 20 feet in diameter and you have kids sitting ah, foot behind it and literally leaning onto it and at times just climbing into the into the ring. Ah is so incredible to have that connection and to see a child's eyes light up from, ah, foot away from your face and to know that you're not just performing ah, to a camera, you're not just performing to a dark theater. You're performing to a kid who's two feet away from you and who you can reach out and touch and knowing that you are truly changing their their perception of what they see in the world. It's is a magical thing to be a part of.

spk_1:   37:12
Agreed, agreed. And I always you know, I always believe there's a gentleman I worked with years ago, and I do a lot of anti violence work through my my animal rescue work there really dovetail together, and he was talking about the importance of young people in the communities that we were working in being able to see positive role models like himself, like me, like some of the other folks we had work in force on As he said it, he said that these young people, they can't be what they can't see. So many of them don't have the opportunity to to interact on a regular basis with very positive role models. So when they get the opportunity to do it, it has a huge impact on them. And then all of a sudden, their perception of what they can do changes, Yeah, and things that maybe they thought we're out of bounds for them were impossible. Them then all of sudden, become a real possibility. And I you know, I know that we do that in the circus as well. Um, where these young people coming to see the circus for the first time? Most many of them have never seen a circus, Huh? As particularly in their park. Uh, and all of a sudden they realized, Well, wait a minute. I could I could do that and we tell them they could do that. We talk to about it, and sure enough, a lot of that we go back year after year after year. And as you know, they loved a lot of them come backstage and I'd like to show us what they've been working on, Um, where we give them an opportunity before the show to participate, whether it's to tell us, tell a story or sing a song that or do an acrobatic routine. It's a very shared experience on I'm grateful that we're able to do it.

spk_0:   39:01
Yeah, Charlie was, Yeah, it really was one of the things I look forward to every single year. Those 2 to 3 months. We worked on the show, part of it being the creation of the show, the other part obviously performing it. But for me, what you've touched upon with when you work for Ringling was the setup in the tear down, that is something that I love as much as I do performing. I've been getting to pack a truck, and I was the, ah, the truck boss. I was very proud of my Tetris like packing skills in a truck, and it was making sure the thing was able to fit an entire circus tent, all the equipment and every piece of ah performing apparatus into a 24 foot box truck. When it started out, it was walked from your your garage to the park nearby. Yeah, from their

spk_1:   39:45
first show ever did we just walk? We carried it over there, literally carry the stuff on her shoulders. It was so close. And it was one show. We did that much stuff, but it's crowded. But we still get it all in that one truck, and we do that. And you know this. We do that because for us, it's about it is about celebrating our parks and making sure that we leave the park in better shape than when we found it. Uh, so we make sure that we designed and built a tent that can be put up my hand. All of the acrobats participate in putting it up in taking it down, and we we do it all with one box truck s so that we don't damage the grass. And we don't damage the park because the day after we leave that very field is gonna host a soccer game or a football game or a park district camp were there toe to make the park better and make the park goers lives better. And so that's why we do what we do the way that we do it and you know how important it is to be able to get everything in that little tiny truck?

spk_0:   40:43
Yep. And you know, just the first time you set it up, it takes 6 to 8 hours, and then the second time you set it up, it takes 6 to 7, and then the third time, it's five to stand. By the time we're done. End of the season. 8 to 12 weeks later. It's ah. You know, if you're doing it right, you get a four hour set up, and I think our best days hour and 45 minute tear down, and that is literally taking an entire circus tent and everything inside of it and putting it away folded up neatly rolled. However it needs to be done. Put into boxes, cables coiled, lights put away and everything gets into a truck and we're driving away. And that was such a hard and satisfying work to do. And

spk_1:   41:20
it is

spk_0:   41:20
will love every second of it.

spk_1:   41:23
Well, yeah, I remember. Yeah, I remember this past tour. We were in Foster back for the first time. We played Foster, parked down in the Auburn Gresham community, south side of Chicago. a beautiful park, commit beautiful communities. Wonderful, wonderfully supportive people who there are some challenges, obviously, in the community in terms of violence and shootings. But just it was we kicked off. The tour was always our second week, I think there, but first time playing and all of the volunteers after the last show, they clear out there the little, um, concession tent that we put up and we take the tent down during that 10th out, gets taken down during intermission and right after show. We have taken everything else down, and they were all they all hung out, and these were primarily they were seniors. They were older folks and they just kept hanging out and hanging out. And I said, You don't have, You know, you guys were done and your stuff's put away and we're all squared up with just take us about our so to get this down And they said, No, we want we want to stay and watch. This is this is really beautiful and magical that you're able to create a circus and then, you know, on our behalf after the show, all of the acrobats that we just saw flip it and fly in and doing these amazing things are working together to take it down. And sure enough, they hung out the whole time. It was really a beautiful moment between, you know, a bunch of a bunch of Chicago circus performers. Add performers from France and Africa and Mexico and Canada. And then these beautiful, for the most part, seniors from the south side of Chicago all having this shared experience, um, and bringing, bringing what each person had to the table and creating something that was just really beautiful. That was a really lovely moment.

spk_0:   43:15
I I love it. I Whenever I get the chance, I I want to be there and spend time with you guys. Nothing makes me happier. Then you, Ah, you do a dog act in the show. Explain that a little and talk about your work because you've touched on it a few times. But you really haven't gotten into that. What? What got you started? You know, explain from the beginning where you,

spk_1:   43:35
uh you know, I think I cut us. I think I stumbled in tow to kind of dog training and then working with animals and being now having animal welfare be a huge part of my life. I'm gonna stumbled into it backwards, but I dunks growing up. Ah, but we weren't. You know, we would rescue dogs. This a family. But we were, you know, dog breeders of dog owners of dog trainers by any means. We, I don't know, get a leash growing up. You know, uh, but And when I met my wife, Julie, my now wife, dry matter years ago, she had, Ah, a couple dogs, both rescues. And, um, just one of the dogs. Um, Sam was there, but I think Sam was seven or eight years old who was whip smart. Julie never formally trained, but she was whip smart. We actually put her in our first theatrical circus show. We did, just because she was so dang smart. I taught her a couple tricks without really knowing how to figure, use a couple treats and a lot of encouragement. And she was naturally great. And then But I really learned how to train because Julie then rescued this other dog, this Rhodesian Ridgeback, who was a really challenging dog for a lot of reasons. He had some health concerns. And when the sharpest knife in the drawer. But I ended up kind of organically doing some work with him. And then she had had been bringing him to a dog trainer before that that didn't work out. But then she doubled back with him. I think the board the dog. And he said, Whoa, what happened to this dog is totally different. And she so my boyfriend and he offered me a job at his his dog training facility. And so I kind of backed into that way. Um, you know, long story short, I really took a liking to, um the bully breeds pit bulls the pit bull fixes on. And I knew from that of my work in the you know that, um, you would often find those dogs in shelters throughout the city, particularly municipal shelters. Ah, lot of those dogs were abused. A lot of those doctor fought and a lot of them ended up, um, in the municipal shelters being euthanized or worse. So I I just I really felt for those dogs, and the first dog that I rescued was a ah was a pitbull pitbull mix Lola and ended up trading her to be a remarkable performer. She could do you name it. She could do it in terms of tricks, circus tricks, you know, High five, but sitting pretty backflips jumping, rope, opening, closing doors, dancing on a high lemon, You name it, she could do it. And she could do it with huge personality and a zest for life. And she loved people. Wasn't crazy about other dogs because of her early experience she got along with with with someone, and we had other dogs around her. But her love was was performing and interacting with people. And after a few years of performing with her in the midnight circus and different venues, I then reached out. I went by the Anti Cruelty Society and I gave them a DVD. My kids don't know what DVDs are, but I gave them a DVD of me doing my dog tricks and my dog act. And I just said, Hey, this is my dog. This is what she does. If you could use this in any, use us in any way to volunteer toe help, kind of get out the word about pit bulls and pit bull mixes and and and how you know why we should treat our dogs right? And each other for that matter, right? I'm happy to help. And they took me up on the offer. They said, You know what we're launching this program that we've never done before. This was 20 some years ago. We're going into We finally got permission to go into the Illinois Youth Corrections facility in ST Charles, Illinois, and they're allowing us to bring a dog toe work with the young men there. And the whole program is really about compassion and empathy towards each other and our animals. And so they invited me to be a part of it. And that was really the kickoff jump off point for for my career in, ah, animal welfare. Because it was so obvious to me the impact that Lola had on those young men that I could I could tell you a brief leaves were in a gymnasium and all the doors are locked. Of course, because this is a you know, this is ah, youth correction facility, maximum security. And it wasn't easy to get, and, you know, I had to pull up that I go into the big giant chain link barbed wire airlock, and then I get out of the truck and they search me. And they searched the truck and they searched the dog and the dog crate and all my dog props. And then we go in and these young men are seated in the gymnasium. And they were did about a 45 minute program with the young men talking about empathy and positive reinforcement. The guys, we're really engaged. But I did notice they sat. It was one long row, and they sat according to their race. All the African Americans could set together. Hispanic is set together, and then population of white kids set on together. And then they said, we got a special surprise for you and then they kind of pull back the big curtain that divided the gymnasium. And there's me on my big old three wheel bike that I used the circus with the doghouse on the back, but the dogs in there so they don't know there's a doc and these kids, some of them been been in that place for years. And then I give the cue and Lola jumps out of the doghouse through the door and started chasing me around the gym. That was the bit half the kids start cheering because they think she's gonna bite me. I kid, I kid you, not the other half. Get up And they run for the door. Terrified because they have never met a pit bull that didn't bite people. That was that was their reality. If there is a pit bull and if it is off leash is chasing someone, you better run because it is going to bite you. The door was locked, There were guards they couldn't get away. But in their mind, they instinctively got up in just ran. And it was a really eye opening experience for me because I've been I have been used to doing that very act in front of kids in front of families in front of thousands out, and no one jumped up and ran in terror. Obviously, they didn't get far and they came back. And then and then I we talked. You know, I did some tricks and that I talked about the tricks and then I really figured out how to present toe in situations like that where I would if I could introduce Lola in a comedic way to get their attention because it was important tomato to make sure that they were entertaining, captivated because once I had their attention, heads of legitimacy, and then my message would would resonate with them. And

spk_0:   50:29
you're not asking them to listen. They're they're doing it on their own

spk_1:   50:32
accord. Yes, I wasn't lecturing them. And who was I, Some tall, skinny white dude from the north side of Chicago telling these kids this is what you're supposed to do? And wide. Then they wanted they would ask you, How did you get her to do that bit? Or like when you pointed, she barked at you, but she wasn't really bad. Then she came upon a victor in the face, and then you got her toe, you know, jump through the hoop and jumped the rope. And we talked about how I did it and how the first time I tried to get her to jump rope, she you know, she got scared and she ran away and urinated. She was so terrified of a rope. You know what? Why would she be afraid of a jumper? A young man knowingly raised his head and said, Well, I've got someone used to whip up with it. And then we had that conversation about why would you eat your dog and why you shouldn't hit your dough? What's probably gonna happen if you hit your dog? And then obviously it would be would organically bleed into why we shouldn't do that to each other. Uh, it was It was a really It was a really important program. And I did it for years and years, and I still do offshoots of that program to this day on those conversations I have with those young people after I'm ableto entertain them and and open their mind a little bit about the relationship between me and my pit bulls on. Then inevitably, they share about their dogs that they had or that they have at home, and I can't wait to get back to or that they just didn't know. I I could say no, I had no idea. I didn't know. Pimples don't have to bite on. Then. You know you're planting some seeds, probably theirs,

spk_0:   52:14
and I love that. It's the influence you can have on somebody without even initially realizing the impact you're gonna have and how far that can go is just so unreal. And to be able to do it with an animal that, as you mentioned, is something they consider to be a legitimate threat to their safety and have them fall in love with it. And then what you do now, even with them, which is, I know, taking the owner of some of these dogs now in teaching them how to be a responsible owner and making sure they understand what it is. And, you know, I think that's just such incredibly important work. And I think it's always it's one of those I don't have to tell you. It's one of those breeds that everybody loves to point and say, Look at what they do that you know, They're just these and it's like, No, it's it's just like a kid. There's no bad kids, there's There's parents who don't know how to properly discipline their their child, and I think the same thing goes with animals you have to show and in particular dogs you have to show them how to interact and what's appropriate and what's not. And I think you're so incredible about that and the way you work with the animals, and they just completely it. It's like you are speaking to them in a language that they understand and nobody else years.

spk_1:   53:23
Thank you, Ana. You know, for me, it's always been and I was I come back to It's just about opportunities. And you see it in your line of work. Now show more than ever, right? Yep. A there are. There are individuals, their communities, their huge parts of our city where some communities have great opportunities and some communities are void of these opportunities. Um, and I'm that's ah. And so I see it. I see it a lot. Ah, the the the young man I work with or the dogs I work with. Um they haven't been given the opportunity. They haven't been given the tools. These dogs, a lot of these young kids, they don't know what they don't know. Um, yeah, I remember the first We'll talk about the Class II Said started a class many years ago in different generations. Why would work with young men who had hit multiple mixes somewhere were involved in dogfighting at one point or another from some had the potential to be involved in it. And I remember I was teaching my first class, and I had. It was made her 10 guys in the room and they each had a pit bull on. The rules of the world were pretty simple. You know, you've got a pocketful, the treats Let's use those traits And in most of these guys didn't have any formal dog training experience, but they were dogs savvy. Let's just put it that way. A lot of more, really. Dogs have incredibly dark side. But one of the guys who was really you could tell he had a lot of experience around people's. You're this big old people next to him, who is, for the most part, pretty well behaved. But he got stimulated for some reason, started barking and snarling a lot, and I looked over at the young medicine. So let's see if we can get her. You know you're going to calm down a little bit. And so he looks at the dog and he says, Shut that f up and he kicks it full on in the head and the doc shut up after it. You know how old Ah, and none of the other young men in the room battered and I and my jaw hit the practically hit the floor. And then it dawned on me that this is exactly how this young man was was taught he was shot. This is how you train a dog. This is what you do

spk_0:   55:36
Well, and worse yet probably potentially the way he was raised as a child. This'd how I get you to listen to me.

spk_1:   55:44
Yeah. And I thought, Well, this is a great This is a great learning opportunity for May and and it says also a great opportunity for me to try toe teach wth this young man a different way to communicate with his dog in a more positive way that didn't involve kicking the dog. And I will, I will say fast for unity fest forward that two years. That young man ended up accompanying me into the Illinois Youth Corrections in Saint Charles with that dog and doing the very things I had done years ago. Doing tricks and obedience and agility work with his dog and entertaining these young men and then talking to these young men about how he was able to get his dogs to do those things and enjoy doing those things in tow and tow. Enjoy meeting strangers and other dogs. But he was an even more credible messenger because these young men saw themselves in in this guy's name is Sean. They saw themselves in Sean Morsi on me. He was

spk_0:   56:51
He was one of them.

spk_1:   56:52
Yeah. Ah, yeah. And so for me, it's always in that. And you know this about me that I'm I am a storage community activist. Ah, it's it's about people. Young people is about public school education. It is about access toe toe. Well, safe and well, program parks is about giving people opportunities in the city that otherwise don't have them and that I do it in two ways. I do it through the circus and I do it through my work and welfare. Both of those worlds are conduits to try to improve the lives of people who who deserve it and who were often overlooked in this city. The city that I love. But the city that also infuriates me with its its lack of compassion. And it's corruption.

spk_0:   57:40
Yeah. And you You ran for Alderman this last year, and you're the only person I've ever spent any of my time actually doing any campaigning for as a political whatever you wanna call it Somebody running for office. And it was because I so firmly believe in who you are, What you do, what your messages. And because you have been doing in preaching the same thing from the very first moment I met, you have never seen you act any differently. And to me, that was something that I could completely get behind. And you're actually you would have been the alderman for the area I live in. So it wasn't just simply Hey, I want to help my friend. This is I want the person who I actually know who is going. You be responsible for making sure the area and for those who aren't in Chicago and Alderman is essentially a neighborhood like mayor. So we obviously have the mayor of Chicago. But then there are, what, 51 alderman?

spk_1:   58:33
There's 50 50 wards and yeah, 50 aldermen like that and they make up the City Council.

spk_0:   58:40
Yeah, And so you know when you are when your neighborhood Ah, in that area you live in Ah, needs something done. You're very much talking to your alderman and that person for better for worse can make your life. Ah, what? Whatever they want to Honestly, it's Ah, as you said with corruption in Chicago, there's a lot of less than up front and less than stellar people who've been doing it for years. And there are some who are genuinely there to make a difference.

spk_1:   59:05
Yeah, and I will let me be the first to say that we have a good alderman in the 47th Ward. Matt Martin, who defeated me when a stellar campaign. And he is a genuinely good human being, and I think he's in it for all the right reasons. And I I really supportive and I we worked closely together. Uh, and I'll perhaps run again for a position. But I'm incredibly active to this day and have you know, obviously we're looking to do in the circus once we can get through. You know, this mess we're in right now, we'll do that. But then I also have ah, a couple other animal welfare say human welfare programs that I started and that will be running again. And I'm also doing funny because we were about to start a another dog training class. It's canine Kindness Academy, where we work with young people. It's on the west side of Chicago. We're working with our community partner in this breakthrough Ministries, which is an extraordinary community organization in the West Side, and we're about to start our classes when you know the sky fell. But in lieu of the class is running. Right now, I am working with Breakthrough Ministries and the folks who we're gonna be involved in the class and then my community partners in the West Side and we are getting free dog food, and we are its donated through anti cruelty society and some other sources that I have, and we, in turn, bring that out to their their weekly food pantries. They're called the Fresh Market and along with the food and toiletries and cleaning supplies that those folks are given, were also giving them free dog food to make sure they don't have to make the choice between feeding themselves or their Children. Other pet. Yeah, so we found a wayto thio still do something good through that program, even though when the classes are actively running. But that's the type of thing that really it didn't really upsets me.

spk_0:   1:1:07
Yeah, it is. It's is an interesting time We're in right now. And even before this whole Corona Virus Cove in Thing was going on there. There's so much unfairness and inequality and it's tough to see and you don't know how to do anything other than get frustrated with what you read on on social media and what I love about what you've done is you've actually gotten involved and you've tried to make a difference. And whenever people ask me why I wanted to become a cop, I told them because I wanted to actually make a difference, because you can sit there playing all you want about how unfair it is or you can go out there and do something about it, and I decided I wanted to go out and do something about it. I wanted to help my community. I wanted to be a part of my community, and I'm fortunate enough to be working in the area in which I live, and I get to ride around on my bike and see the businesses and the neighbors and interact with them and have that positive impact on people and try and help somebody. And if somebody has a problem, no, that they feel comfortable coming directly to me to be a help for that. And it's It's such a satisfying thing to be able to do, and it's It's not even something I'm doing to get something for. It's because I really just love being able to help people and as much as I can help them and I will. And that was something I felt like I could do was a performer. And it's something that I feel like I can do now is a police officer, and it's something where I never imagined myself ever considering anything in the world of politics. But seeing how you were trying to make a difference and continue to and you're Are you still on the school board?

spk_1:   1:2:44
Yeah, well, I reside left. The, uh, We don't have an elected school board in Chicago, which is the whole nother travesty. It's appointed by the mayor, largest city in the country without an elected school. But what we have a look on local school councils. Were each school Alexe? Ah, it's it's leaders who could makes who have so who have some influence and can do some decision making. But I did it that for six years, and then I packed, which is a long time, by the way. Yeah, local school concert. I just passed the torture that. But I'm still very active, as you know, in all kinds of public school advocacy. Because I believe that, you know, there are there some, some key ways that we could make a real difference for families and young people and communities. And that is, you know, our public parks and our public schools are two of the most prominent way. No, we're sure if if every school is well funded and well resourced, it really gives young people an opportunity and the same thing with our parks. I mean, those two could be the great equalizer. So those are two of my passions on. And I think I'm like you, White hunter. How you kind of you. You, I always say, fell into what you do now because you stepped into it. You made the active Trish, And I remember when you made the phone call to me before you jumped into the academy. Um, you were very emotional that day because it meant a lot to you, but it was a dramatic life change. But as much as it changed, maybe it certainly changed the costume you wore that had changed some of your props, but ultimately, I don't know that it changed your mission, which was about reaching people on making in improving their lives, particularly those I was fortunate than you. And that's the same thing with May, whether I'm the ringmaster or when I'm in my clothes, to go into to teach the people class or to deliver dog food with with a 95 mask, rubber gloves and goggles on to, ah, toe a family who doesn't have enough money to feed their kids or their dog. Um, it's it's it's the same mission.

spk_0:   1:4:56
Yep, Yeah, I think No, go ahead.

spk_1:   1:5:00
Yeah, I think that's where we probably have a lot in common, and I know we do. We have We have a lot of varied interests and, you know, like that rope. In that way. The musician, the goat herder and the cop and the circus performer. That's a weird mix.

spk_0:   1:5:16
Yeah, my first commander would call me the Clown and people would get offended. And I was like, No, no, I'm I'm actually a clan. That's what I do like that could've been doing for my entire life. It's not a It's not an insult as much as you might think it is.

spk_1:   1:5:29
You'll be a perfect politician. You're used to being in the circus

spk_0:   1:5:34
any time they use that as an analogy. They talk about the political circus or, you know, this three rents are going like, How dare you? You have no idea what it is like to be in a circus

spk_1:   1:5:44
in the kind of the activist work I d'oh or the or the political I do. You know, having that body of work in the circus has been. It's been very handy because there isn't an alderman in the city or political official in the city elected or appointed, who probably doesn't know the Midnight Circus doesn't know Mia's for better, for worse, the face of the midnight circus in one of the founders leaders of it. So it does open some doors. I could have conversations with folks who I might not be able to reach.

spk_0:   1:6:17
Yeah, and you're working with people all over the city and you've been working with them for What is it? 12 13 years now for circuit in the parks

spk_1:   1:6:23
Service in the parks has been going since what we started in 97. So it's we've been at it a long time, and we started the citywide tour. 2003 is where we started the first city wide tour. So

spk_0:   1:6:35
there really is a 17 years. Yeah,

spk_1:   1:6:37
there isn't There isn't a neighborhood in Chicago generally that idol? I don't know. Probably the park supervisor. The older men. Ah, this community group That community I've partnered with Ceasefire and Resin Association of Greater Englewood moms demand action mothers against senseless killing mean there's so many groups that we've worked with Ah, both through the circus and my animal welfare work. Uh, and it really is a There is so much crossover. It really is. It's all about the same mission. It's just a conduit is a little bit different.

spk_0:   1:7:09
Yeah, well, and it's been such an honor to be a part of that as a performer and to continue, you know, we keep trying to figure out ways to make it work with me as a police officer getting involved with a circus. And I know at some point we're gonna make something fun and magical happen and it's

spk_1:   1:7:25
Oh, yeah, it's gonna happen. I mean, now that you've you know, now that you're officially yeah, I'm not gonna deny that you've done your time and you probably have a little breathing room in terms of what you're legally allowed to do. Ah, and as we have continued to develop this relationship, you know, with with the police officers kind of citywide what we told, we've always had someone of a relationship through the circus and animal offer work because, you know, naturally, if the circus is setting up and there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people, the police are gonna be involved in some way, shape or form where knock on wood. Super fortunate. We've never had an incident with the midnight circus in 17 years, that one incident in any community we've played because we give the community ownership of the circus, it is their circus. And they take that to heart and they always take care of the circus in the circus. In turn, takes care of themselves. Same thing with my animal welfare work. Every time I give these people, I work with an opportunity. They always they always seize the day. They always d'oh! Um, so that's what kind of gives me hope and keeps me going doing it on. I'm looking forward to getting back at it the moment where we were. We're allowed to safely because we'll need it now more than ever. I mean, things are getting, really. I mean, every city is undergoing a lot right now, but Chicago, we've got a dual pandemic happening as you know, Well with

spk_0:   1:8:56
Yeah, it's It certainly hasn't stopped since. Even with the social isolation, you still see the shootings and you still I don't want to say you wonder cause, you know, you just you see it happen and you just wish it would stop and that everyone would realise there's more important things than killing each other for the corner that you're going to sell your drugs on.

spk_1:   1:9:16
Yeah, yeah, it was heartbreaking, but I I mean, I don't say I don't say understand that, understand what I get the the desperation in the frustration is it's funny because, as I said that, so I was just having this conversation with a politician I was talking to, um and they were they were lecturing a little bit about you know, the knee. Uh, this this pandemic is having an undue impact on the minority communities. And this is a a Caucasian lawmaker from the north side of Chicago who probably never been toe the communities that referring to in the article, they just read on how it's terrible. And I said, Yeah, it is terrible. I mean, we would probably have a lot more money, too, to send to resource these communities if we weren't so damn corrupt. You know, literally hundreds of millions of dollars wasn't siphoned off. Yeah, in Springfield in Chicago and going into the pockets of

spk_0:   1:10:18
the friends and family, discount

spk_1:   1:10:20
and families. And we know and it's happening in the FBI is all over us. And and and huge names in Illinois politics are admitting guilt and cooperating. And every dollar they take is a dollar that could go toe to help these communities. Yeah, and and now, more than ever, when we need it. You know, as I said to this politician, I said you are you posting this article? in your full outrage doesn't address the problem. You could You could come with me next Saturday and deliver some food down there where you could make information to the food bank down there. Or you could come with me when the circus goes down there to raise funds for that park. Or you could come with me when I do my my pit bull classes to try to teach the showing people how to communicate with their dogs in a positive way and ideally, each other in a positive way. Or you could just sit up here on the north side and and retweets, um, comments and and turn a blind eye while your colleagues air stealing from these people.

spk_0:   1:11:18
Yeah, I'm calling him out.

spk_1:   1:11:20
Yeah, and and I'm not saying that every politician is corrupt, not by a long shot. I'm saying it's probably a select few, but there are. We have we have some whore corrupt. We have, um, some for not. And then we have a huge group who are willing to just turn and look away because that's the business as usual. And then we have a select few who will call it out and that they're really unpopular. Those ones who will call it out. Yeah, uh, and I'm I'm focused on the ones who who are not corrupt but who are willing to just turn the other way because it's that's how things have always been done. And it's more politically convenient for them just to turn away. Yep, those are the ones I'm talking to and talking at and targeting. And they're on my list because they have got to become braver and more out spoken. If we are gonna address the issues that are so incredibly important now more than ever. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here, man, because you know, in some ways you feel the same way. But it's those folks have got to speak up.

spk_0:   1:12:41
I think it's happening in its ah, slow and steady, slow being the key, but it's it's happening. And I mean, I see it not that I have, ah, depth of experience in years as a police officer, but just the people I work with, I no, there's not a single one of them. I look at and worry about their commitment to what they do in their genuine desire to help people, and I think that's what people need to see more of. And that's what people are seeing more of. And I hope that, ah, that that change starts to be recognized and appreciated. And we have a brand new police superintendent coming in who's just been announced. And it will be. I watched a video introduction of him, and I'm really excited about his energy and his just genuine just looks like a genuine, wonderful, normal human being who is here to help. And I I hope nothing but the best for him and for our city because of it. And I want to see the numbers drop in our murders in our shootings, and I want to see us be successful. And it doesn't matter who gets it done as long as it gets done. And I know that's something you're hugely behind, too. And I hope you get hope. You run again for Alderman because I will be happy to campaign for you and do whatever I can to see that happen.

spk_1:   1:13:54
Well, we're gonna jump back in the ring, and in the meantime, I'm still as active as ever, just doing, uh, doing the work air just in other ways. How did we make that leap from the From the circus to dogs to political corruption?

spk_0:   1:14:10
Because that's life. Circuses, all of them will. Listen, Jeff, you have been a absolute delight to talk. Thio. I could continue this conversation for hours, and I think people could happily keep listening to it for hours. I I want to thank you for your time. It's been truly an honored to know you for the last almost 20 years now. And to get to work with you for almost Justus many. And I look forward to 20 more with you. So thank you,

spk_1:   1:14:39
but goes both ways. Thank you for everything you do for our city and for my family on be safe out there. We need you. And I look forward to, uh, seeing you live and in person again soon.

spk_0:   1:14:52
Yes. Thank you, my friend. I love you. There are billions of people doing millions of things on this planet. I want to learn about all of it for more in focus. Www dot What can you tell me dot com and follow me on social media. You can find all the links in the show description below. What can you tell me? The podcast. Hey, if you're enjoying the podcast, please do me a huge favor. That'll only take a moment of your time and won't cost you anything. Share with your friends. A quick message on social media or just mentioning in a conversation would be great. Also, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks.