Behind the makeup and the big shoes, being a rodeo clown is a deadly serious business.
Canadian Dennis Halstead is heading home after performing alongside the rodeo riders at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
He said the job can be a lot of fun.
“I like to get the crowd to do singalongs to “Sweet Caroline or “Take Me Home, Country Road” and maybe a Mexican wave and I even tell a few jokes.”
But when the rodeo events are on, things get serious, fast.
Dennis is in the ring to distract the bulls if the riders come off and he has a barrel in the ring that he and the other cowboys can retreat to if things get hairy.
“The barrel is an island of safety if the riders need one … and if the bull comes after them then I am the one that has to take the hit,” he said.
It is a risky business.
“I have broken every bone in my body … if the bull comes after me in the barrel then it is like being in a tumble dryer that has been pushed down the stairs,” he said.
“I have even been knocked out in the barrel a few times.”
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Committed to the craft
Dennis said he has to be 100 per cent focused on the job.
“These riders are my friends … I am on the circuit with them all the time … they are like family so we look after each other.”
Dennis is clowning around at rodeos all over the world for 10 months of the year.
“I love it … and when you love what you do then you never work a day in your life!”
“There is so much negativity in the world I just like to make people laugh and put a smile on their faces.”
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