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Marina Brown<\/span> Many of us think there is something about ourselves that must be tied to our ancestral history.<\/p>\n At least that is how Mimi Shaw, a business woman, a mother, an impossibly young-looking 73, had felt for years. Why, she wondered, had there always been the unsilenceable urge to perform. And why as a clown?<\/p>\n Recently it all came into focus for Shaw when she learned that her great-uncle was the owner of a circus \u2014 Sol’s Liberty Shows \u2014 that toured the country circa 1920.<\/p>\n Entertainment <\/strong>Looking for fun events? Top 5 things to do around Tallahassee<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Shaw, who graduated from FSU with a BFA in Theater Arts, was given a gift of a clown costume, mailed in a small box by her father, which began a creative journey that she later learned was \u201cin my blood.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaw had gotten a job as a teacher. Kids delighted her and she wanted to delight them too. She would later expand to teaching theater in local high schools and forming the idea of a professional \u201cengagement\u201d business where local performers could meet, learn from, and rehearse together \u2014 especially to present for children.<\/p>\n That first professional entertainment business in Tallahassee was called Klown Kapers Inc.<\/p>\n And over time, Shaw had a little audience of her own \u2014 children Ben and Julie were born and always thrilled when Mommy dressed up in her own clown costume to perform as \u201cBJ the Clown.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the next 44 years, Shaw and now a mobile cast of 53 performers would become known as BJ\u2019s Party House<\/a>.<\/p>\n Today, the list of professional entertainers suitable for delighting gatherings from corporate conventions to kiddie\u2019s birthday parties, to major festivals and parades is staggering: jugglers, magicians, balloon animal makers, fire shows, stilt walkers, tarot teachers, air brush tattoos, singers, musicians, and more.<\/p>\n Over the last four decades, \u201clittle Julie\u201d(now Godwin), Shaw\u2019s daughter, all grown up and a mother herself, had shown the same fascination with the world of entertainment, of dressing up, of putting on a red nose and following in her mother\u2019s footsteps to run B.J.\u2019s Party House.<\/p>\n And both of them had often wondered at the odd fascination that draws them to \u201cpagliacci\u201d as the venerable art of clowning was known in Italy\u2019s Commedia dell\u2019 Arte. Why did it seem to be in their blood?<\/p>\n Recently, Shaw joined a national group known as the Showman\u2019s League of America. It is the oldest organization for \u201coutdoor amusement professionals,\u201d founded in 1913 by Buffalo Bill Cody. Its mission is to \u201coffer service and protect the heritage of the outdoor amusement industry,\u201d like circuses and carnivals.<\/p>\n While examining information about the League, Shaw discovered that her great-uncle Sam Solomon was the organization\u2019s 1945 past president and famed owner of Sol\u2019s Liberty Shows.<\/p>\n Sol\u2019s Liberty Shows had been the largest traveling carnival in the U.S. On the road for six months a year and wintering in Caruthersville, Missouri, the Liberty Shows operated from 1919 to 1945. Solomon merged his show with that of another carnival giant, Carl Sedlmyar and it continued to tour until 1979.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done at least two years of research on my Uncle Sol,\u201d says Shaw. \u201cAnd then I met up with another researcher, Kathy Winton, who had a wealth of photos and history from when her own father had been a circus sketch artist and clown with Uncle Sol\u2019s Liberty Shows!\u201d<\/p>\n Shaw smiles proudly at a table spread with framed photos of clowns and jugglers, of Sol\u2019s enormous Ferris Wheel, and of the trucks and later railroad cars that carried the lions, tigers, elephants, 250 performers, and the pet baby gorilla that the midway entrepreneur moved across the country.<\/p>\n Ask Shaw and her daughter Julie Godwin, both with big personalities, and the non-stop smiles of people who like to please others, if knowing about Sam Solomon has somehow brought a comforting closure to the \u201cwhy\u201d of their love of \u201ccarnival\u201d theater \u2014 that siren call of performing with a painted face and big shoes, of making children and their parents lose themselves in goofiness and awe.<\/p>\n Their answer is a resounding, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n And the clown \u201cdynasty\u201d likely won\u2019t stop anytime soon. \u201cFrom the recent World Cross Country event to Springtime Tallahassee, we\u2019re going strong,\u201d says Julie, winking that she\u2019s also got a niece who \u201creally loves the business too.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Marina Brown at mcdb100@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 Tallahassee Democrat correspondent<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nFrom teaching to clowning<\/h2>\n
Clowning in the blood<\/h2>\n
Lions, tigers, elephants and 250 performers<\/h2>\n
Learn more<\/h2>\n