Justin Rumford is such a clown.
Proud of it, too. Rumford is the "2014 Rodeo Clown of the Year," an honor he told me he has won three of the five years he's been clowning. "Pretty fortunate," he said.
I interviewed Rumford last week when the "World's Toughest Rodeo" made a stop at St. Paul's X.
It's not all greasepaint and jumping into barrels. In fact, Rumford prefers minimal makeup, and he said he's not in the line of work that involves hopping into barrels to distract angry bulls. He's more a comedian who uses physical and verbal comedy to hold the attention of the arena.
The clown was having a diva's problem the day of this interview. As a rule Rumford doesn't think he does a good job with his clown makeup. So he was bummed that he did what he thought was a good makeup job for my camera, and then had to wash it off before the show. You can't always walk around looking like a clown.
If you're a parent checking your cell or social media, Rumford may make you pay for not being in the moment with your kids.
When Rumford started talking about the triplets who travel with him and his wife, I realized that he was the guy getting razzed last year about his big family when I was at the rodeo to interview cowboy Anthony Lucia. Having three babies is normal for him, said Rumford, who proudly showed a photo of him holding three tiny clowns in matching makeup for my startribune.com/video.
My special thanks to poet and retired clown Tim Torkildson for helping me with the questions I asked Rumford.