Clowns are magical people.
They entertain, they make us laugh,
they're always goofing off, and there
are a lot of people who would like to
live the life of a clown.
Today, three aspiring clowns came to
perform for the Ringling Brothers master
clown. And I want you to stand up and
don't be embarrassed when I ask you to do
OK. They made faces.
They learn to give and take a slap.
They in general showed off.
All right, go climb the ladder.
Here we go. 33 year old Joe Thompson
sells insurance for a living, but he
figures if he ever wants to see his
boyhood dream come true, he better
take a shot at it now.
It's something I've always wanted to do,
and I finally decided to give it a shot.
I think I did pretty well, but time will
tell.
Every year, 5000 people,
just like Joe, auditioned for the
Ringling Brothers Clown College last
year, 16 were accepted for the 10 week
course in Venice, Florida.
The circus hired 11.
They say it's easier to become a
congressman in the United States
government than become a clown on the
Ringling Brothers circus.
This is Linda Frederick reporting on.