Why I love clowning around

Roll up! Roll up!...It's National Circus Day which means there are big top celebrations taking place all over the country.

Presspacker Gareth aka Bippo the clown has been a member of the circus since he convinced his Mum and Dad to let him join as a little boy.

Here he tells us all about his life as a funny performer.

"My name is Gareth and for nine months of the year I tour the country with Zippo's Circus. I am fifteen years old and my real home is in Manchester.

I travel in my caravan with my mum, who is the Circus Director's Personal Assistant and my dad who is Foyer Operations Manager.

I am not from a circus family but my parents took me to the circus when I was just three years old and I decided that I wanted to be a circus clown.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the circus. My mum and dad thought I would change my mind but I just kept asking for costumes and props for birthdays and Christmas.

Holiday job

They eventually believed me and we wrote to Zippo when I was seven and asked if we could come and stay in our caravan for holidays at the circus.

He said come and try the lifestyle. So we would trundle off down the motorway and stay for school holidays.

Bippo plays to the crowd

We loved it but just as we made friends we had to go home and to school. Over the next few years I did small things like carnivals and birthday parties for my friends.

My dad was made redundant and we made a decision to run away to the circus!

Best in the business

I started to learn a lot about circus clowns and the fact they don't all wear big wigs and have massive shoes.

They are also very clever in that they have to know what the audience is thinking and know how to make them laugh.

The best bit about being a clown is the feedback you get from the audience and the never-ending possibilities of what you can do.

At our circus I work every day with some of the best artists from all over the world including two circus legends, Norman Barrett, the world's greatest ringmaster and Charlie Cairoli, a legendary clown.

Norman and Charlie are a great inspiration to me as they have years of experience and offer me tips and advice.

Great career

I only go to school for two months in the winter, the rest of the time I do distance learning which is where my school sends the work and a different teacher each week comes to teach me in my caravan. I will take my GCSE exams in four different schools!

Circus skills are a great way to learn and they teach you concentration, perseverance and how to interact with people.

It's a great career and I'm hoping to be successful in my chosen career."

Gareth, 15, Zippo's Circus and Manchester

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