…he liked it there
The Doclopedia #3,086
Who Is Red?: A Clown
A big thank you to Lee Goldberg for the idea.
Listen up, kid, cos I’m gonna tell ya ’bout Red Kanosky, Little Red, the greatest damned clown ever. Started clowning with the old Sparks Shows back in ’06, when he was 11 years old. Short, wiry Irish/Polish kid. Fearless. Would do anything for a laugh, and by God, he got ’em. Crowds loved him.
Moved up through the smaller shows, then hit it big with Duncan & Reed’s Circus in 1915. They made him the star of the show and he brought in the crowds. ’18 rolls around and he want to go off to war and gets told he’s too short and has bad close up vision. So he stays stateside and keeps touring.
Then, in 1920, he meets a girl while the show is in Philly. Goes to tell the bosses he wants to quit and get married, but they tell him his contract has another 5 years on it and he ain’t going anywhere. So he leaves and goes to do that night’s show.
But three nights later, right in the middle of an act where he’s wearing a mask, 60 kids run into the tent, surround him, and then they all start running all over hell. The three or four off duty cops can’t catch ’em all and all the other performers are laughing their asses off along with the audience. After about 10 minutes, a whistle blows and all the kids run out the door and get away.
And that was the last time anybody saw Red or his girl, until 1955, when they reveal they’ve been living in secret out in New Mexico. By then The D&R Circus has folded and most everyone from back in the day is either old, dead, or glad to see him again.
Yeah, greatest clown ever.
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