THE BALLOON MAN

Family clowns around
Circus act brings laughs to Fredericksburg Fair

NoJoe the Clown
Joey Thurmond as Nojoe the clown balances a 12-foot ladder during a show at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair yesterday. Thurmond, of Atlanta, performs his Nojoe's Clown Circus act with his wife, Jamie, and son Tyler, 17. Photos by MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR
8/2/2010
BY SARA MITCHELL
No one really has a fear of clowns, asserts Joey Thurmond."They just haven't met the right one yet," the creator of Nojoe's Clown Circus, a national traveling clown act, said.
More than 100 people had no qualms yesterday afternoon about watching Thurmond and his wife, Jamie, and son, Tyler, perform in their one-ring circus at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair. In an interactive half-hour show, the family joked around with one another and the audience.
At one point Tyler, 17, told a woman she needed to make her own balloon animal, much to Thurmond's disapproval."We've got a good crowd," Thurmond said, "and we want them to like us.
"Indeed they did.
The crowd nearly doubled as Tyler juggled fire and Thurmond balanced a shopping cart above his head. After the duo performed its slapstick, "Miss Jamie" performed her twirling act with Hula Hoops and steel squares and cubes.The act is award-winning as well as unique. Thurmond and Tyler are the first father-son duo to receive the Clown of the Year award from Family Entertainers of Atlanta, where the act is based. Thurmond won it in 2008 and Tyler, the youngest-ever recipient, won it a year later. "It's very honorable to have your peers think that much of you," Thurmond said before the 4:30 p.m. show. But clowns are not universally loved.One woman came up to Thurmond asking to take his picture so she could send it to her mother, who hates clowns. "I'm glad you used my face to creep out your mom," Thurmond said after smiling for the camera. After the show, another teenage girl refused to come near the trio because she's scared of clowns."Thank you, because I'm kinda scared of teenage girls," Thurmond joked. In reality, he hopes he can reverse the negativity that popular culture has given clowns. "Clowns in general are such a giving, accepting and loving personality," Thurmond said.
The fear of clowns is generally seen only in North America, and he thinks people actually fear the attention brought upon them by the clowns and the surrounding audience. The trio will finish up in Fredericksburg tomorrow.
For the fearless, the group signs autographs and poses for photos after the shows. And that's why Thurmond travels 11 months out of the year with his wife and son. "I get to go to a magical place," he said. "I get to walk into that circus ring every day."