Man Makes Living as a Rodeo Clown
Brian White is a Clown. A Rodeo Clown that is. He’s not the one riding the bulls or horses. Racing around barrels or roping calves. But his job is equally as important to the Rodeo. He is an Entertainer. “It evolved out of filling dead sports during the Rodeo,” White said. “Making it more entertaining for people when you have a laps in action. I just try to keep the show going.” White grew up on a farm in Oklahoma where his parents hosted a Rodeo every year. After playing football in college he returned to the Rodeo where he found himself face to face with a bull. During one event the a broken leg forced the rodeo’s bull fighter to leave. White stepped in and a career began. He won a World Championship as a Bull Fighter but it was his comedy that set him a part. “I’m known by my friends as the one who makes jokes all the time. So its kind of my thing,” White said. Once he got started all he needed was a name. “I was one of the few African American clowns going,” White said. ” So I thought you know. Hey the Brown Clown it works.” But hes no ordinary Rodeo Clown. Instead of a script, he calls it as he see’s it. “I’m an off the cuff guy,” White said. “If I see something then I talk about it.” But just because he’s not riding the Bulls of Horses, there’s still a lot of danger involved. “I’ve been stepped on and kicked. Had a bull horn in my mouth and knocked out my teeth and my head stepped on,” White said. “It’s just a part of the deal.” That deal has become a part of his life. It’s tough but he’s not leaving anytime soon. “I wouldn’t do anything else. It’s great.”
