THE BALLOON MAN

Love of the circus wins Rome teen a spot on traveling youth circus

By WKTV News Apr 13, 2011 ROME, N.Y. - Fourteen-year-old Sam Ferlo of Rome is running off to join the circus this summer – with his family’s blessing. Sam’s skills as a clown and juggler have won him a spot on tour with Circus Smirkus, the award-winning, international, traveling youth circus based in Vermont. From early July through mid-August, the troupe will travel with its European-made Big Top tent to 15 venues throughout the Northeast, and will perform nearly 70 individual shows. In New York, Smirkus will play in Plattsburgh July 10 and 11 and in Saratoga Springs July 13 and 14. Sam began studying clowning when he was about three years old, says his mother, Mary Beth Ferlo a customer service representative at MetLife. “He wanted to watch videos of Laurel and Hardy, and The Three Stooges rather than cartoons,” she recalls. “You could actually see him studying the art of clowning. By the time he was seven, he was juggling with help from his late father Ted Ferlo, a clown who worked with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey for five years. Ted taught Sam juggling and balance. His mother, Mary Beth, formerly worked as a showgirl with Ringling. “Sam never wanted to learn to dance,” she quipped. Sam first learned about the Vermont-based Circus Smirkus when good friends of his parents recognized what they deemed was natural talent. Last fall, he submitted an audition tape to Smirkus headquarters in Greensboro, VT, and was called for a live audition in January. He and 29 other performers ages 10 to 18 were selected for the 2011 Big Top Tour. “I was very excited,” says Sam. “But mostly, I was very grateful.” Life on the road promises to be both fun and exhausting, says Sam. As a “Smirko,” he will join his fellow troupers in doing such tasks as taking care of props, selling tickets and popcorn, and working cooperatively with the tent crew, light and sound technicians, equipment riggers, costumer, musicians and others who travel with the one-ring show. The payoff, he says, is being surrounded by other teens from all parts of the country and the world who bring their love of circus to each performance. This year’s troupers hail from 13 other states – California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and Washington – as well as New Zealand. Troupers’ skills include juggling, wire-walking, clowning, acrobatics, aerials and unicycling, and acts involving the diabolo, trapeze, cradle, Spanish web and lyra. Over the years, Circus Smirkus has become known for its theme-based and “story” shows. Themes have included Pirates, the Wild West, and Superheroes, while stories have included original circus versions of “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Pinocchio.” This year’s tour continues the tradition of theme-based shows with “Front Page Follies: Big Top Big News!” a circus-style look at old-time journalism. It will feature juggling paperboys, paparazzi clowns, a wacky weatherman, and all the news that fits….in center ring. When not clowning and juggling, Sam is a student at Strough Middle School,* where he will graduate this spring before moving on to Rome Free Academy in September. “I don‘t mind school so much,” says Sam. “But I‘d rather be traveling on the road and performing!.” For information and tickets, log on to www.smirkus.org , or call 1-877-SMIRKUS (1-877-764-7587