CHISHOLM – Standing atop the arena fencing, Jesse Larson had the crowd in stitches Thursday at the St. Louis County Fair in Chisholm.
The veteran rodeo clown’s lighthearted banter and jokes kept the crowd entertained while cowboys settled in for wild 8-second rides on 2,000-pound bulls with names such as Cha-ching and Elmer Fudd.
“They just move so majestically,’’ he joked with the announcer, who didn’t think he was serious. A few seconds later he shared what he really thought.
“Two thousand pounds of hopping hamburger!’’
The jokes come easily for the 35-year-old from Duluth, who has been a rodeo clown entertainer for the last 10 years.
“I’ve always – even when I was a little kid – wanted to be a rodeo clown. It was one of those things.’’
At a young age, “I’d always buy cool stuff that I thought was going to be a great clown thing.’’
After a stint steer wrestling and saddle bronc riding, Larson figured it was time to seriously get into rodeo clowning. It isn’t quite that easy to get started, though.
“It’s not like if you’re a standup comedian and you can go to an open mic night and get discovered. This is pretty much you get one shot and that’s your shot, and then if you do all right you’ll get another shot.’’
Larson’s chance came about 10 years ago at the North Star Stampede in Effie.
“One year in Effie, Minnesota, which is right down the road here, a rodeo clown either broke down or couldn’t make it, I can’t remember why. They called me and said, ‘well, we need somebody.’’’
“So we packed up a trailer full of stuff and drove up there real quick on a Friday and we worked Friday through Sunday and then they hired me back the next year and the year after that.’’
Four years into rodeo clowning, Larson bought an airplane act off of a retired clown from Hiawatha, Iowa, and his career “snowballed’’ from there.
“That summer I started with 10 rodeos and by the end of the summer I had 28 rodeos,’’ said Larson, who is pushing 60 events this summer. The rodeos range from Iron River, Wis., to Milwaukee, the North Yellowstone Roundup and the Rodeo Capital of the World – Cody, Wyo.
“We do about 30,000 miles a summer,’’ Larson said. “We just love it. Me and the family (fiancee Angelica and son Benjamin, 12).
The trio packs up the camper and leaves Duluth in May and returns around Nov. 1 to the port city, where he runs a snow removal firm in the winter.
Asked if being a professional rodeo clown is everything he dreamed of, Larson said it is.
“I think it’s more. I always just wanted to entertain and make people smile. I’ve always kind of been a jokester.’’
That was evident Thursday as his airplane act had him playing a witch doctor, while just a short time earlier he portrayed a hilarious lion tamer.
Even better than being in the arena performing is seeing the Midwest and its people, from Lambeau Field to Yellowstone National Park.
“That’s the part that I didn’t expect. All the people I meet and the things we get to see,’’ he said.
The decision to get out of steer wrestling and saddle bronc riding was clearly a good one for Larson.
“I first started off steer wrestling when I was about 17 or 18 and we did that for about four years and I broke my foot real bad and ended up on crutches for 12 months.’’
Doctors told him I shouldn’t do “that ever again because he might not walk right. From there he switched to saddle bronc riding for 10 years.
“Then all of a sudden I hit the ground real hard and said I’m done with that.’’
Luckily, he had already done a few rodeos as a clown and had found his new calling.
“It’s really snowballed into a really fun adventure.’’
His varied career, from organizing rodeos and being a cowboy to clowning, has helped him in the arena. Depending on what is going on during a specific rodeo, he knows if he should do a five-minute bit or a 30-second joke.
And being on a rodeo committee, helps him know “what they want from their funny man.’’
No matter the situation, it comes naturally and his him feeling at ease in the arena – for the most part.
The hardest part of his job?
“You have to be PG and funny because you have kids and people that have different beliefs and views,’’ he said. “So you have to cater to all of them and still be funny at a PG level.’’
He had the crowd going in Chisholm with different jokes about cattle.
“What do you call a cow after a calf is born?’’ he said. “de-calf-inated!’’
“What do you call a cow with two legs?’’ he joked. “Your momma,’’ he said as the crowd roared its approval.
Just the thought of entertaining has Larson looking forward to the next rodeo and the next one after that. He has his family at his side – fiancee Angelica is aspiring to be a trick rider – and rodeo crowds love coming to the arena for a rodeo.
“Everywhere I go the reception is wonderful. Every venue we’ve been to is a sold out crowd.’’
He said it’s always been that way and more people are attending rodeos these days.
“People love watching it. It’s the most dangerous show on dirt, why wouldn’t you. It’s good, family fun entertainment.’’