The clown who’s learning on the job
Edward Clendon joined the circus because he wanted to provide stability for his young family.
‘‘It suits me because I’ve got a little baby and a partner, so it sounds crazy but this is a stable job,’’ he said ahead of a Christchurch performance.
‘‘I’ve been freelancing [in the past], so you might get two months of work here or do a few gigs, like one-offs, and that’s really hard when you’ve got a little baby ... This is actually a way of having a bit more stability.’’
The former Aucklander had just graduated from teachers’ college when he was drawn to circus performing after realising he ‘‘really, really didn’t want to be a primary school teacher’’.
He is now a man on the road as he clowns around, performs an aerial silk act and emcees Cirque Grande – a ‘‘brand new circus on its very first tour in New Zealand’’.
‘‘I’m debuting ... my clown act, so we’ll see how that goes,’’ Clendon said before performing to more than 300 people at Wednesday’s show.
‘‘A clown act is something you work on over time and ... you use the audience to teach you.
‘‘This is my first time and I’m going to learn a lot from it – whether it goes good or bad.’’
Clendon is joined by performers from China, Kenya and Ireland during the show’s run in the city until January 14.
From there the company would spend the next 18 months or so ‘‘just going all over, everywhere, up and down, around and around’’