When Rob Lok puts on his clown makeup and costume and steps into his size 18 shoes, he becomes Rob Ringling, goodwill ambassador for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He's an advance man.

A little boy sees Dave DeDera and dives behind his mother's legs. "I'm afraid," he says. Standing 6 feet 5 inches tall, DeDera cuts an imposing figure. But the red, bulbous nose and giant clown shoes ...

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — The saying is "the show must go on," but in the case of 146-year-old Ringling Brothers Circus, it's time to call it quits. The traveling circus' last performance will be ...

GREENSBORO, NC — There are no tigers and elephants; in fact, the only “animal” is an electric dog named Bailey. The clowns are still there, but hardly wear any makeup. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & ...

The circus has always been a place where camp and corn co-mingle with art and wizardry; where death-defying feats of derring-do alternate with clownish pranks; where lions and tigers and bears are ...

The odds of landing a coveted spot on the Ringling Bros. Circus’ elite traveling clown corps might be slightly higher than winning the lottery. But not by a whole lot. More than 4,000 clown candidates ...

A wooden cut-out clown holds a sign to wait to be seated in the foyer at Pancake Circus, which has an extensive collection of clown artworks donated by customers. Lezlie Sterling [email protected] ...

As advance clowns for the circus, which hails from Hugo, Okla., they will double the 10,000 miles the circus travels each year to visit 200 cities, she said. They arrive two weeks in advance, driving ...

WHO are the people behind the faces of the clowns? We visit Stardust Circus, an Australian institution that traces its history back to the 1890s, to find out. At first light they are driving trucks, ...