VOA标准英语2010年-These Clowns are Funny – Some of the

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Part of a rodeo clown's job is deadly serious

Ted¹ Landphair | Washington, DC 25 January 2010 
In small towns across the American West, a favorite form of entertainment is the rodeo.  It's a show and competition in which modern-day cowboys ride bucking² horses and ornery bulls.  Cowgirls in colorful outfits³ race on horseback around barrels placed throughout the arena⁴.  Calves⁵ are roped and tied in a matter of seconds. 

And there's a special brand of rodeo performers right in the middle of the action.  They're bullfighters, lifesavers and comedians⁶, all in one.

Clowning around distracts bulls after riders fall

zoonabar, Flickr Creative Commons
Rodeo clowns get plenty of laughs – and some shrieks⁷ and gasps⁸, too, when an angry bull chases them

When a rider charges out of the chute atop a mean and agitated⁹ bucking bull, he can easily get into deadly trouble.  That's where two cowboys in clown outfits, standing¹⁰ in the ring beside the chute, fit into the rodeo scene.  Like the competitors, they usually have on broad-brimmed hats, boots and blue jeans. 

But they also wear gaudy¹¹ shirts, oversized bright-red neckerchiefs tied to their waists, and sometimes funny face paint.  Between events, just as in a circus, rodeo clowns act silly to entertain children in the audience.

But their most important job is to whistle, shout, flap their arms and run about crazily to turn the attention of an unhappy, 500 kilogram animal with sharp horns away from a fallen rider.  It's better to have the bull chasing nimble clowns than goring¹² an injured bull rider.

Rodeo clowns earn respect and a good income

 
peasap, Flickr Creative Commons
One rodeo clown takes a position inside a barrel in the ring, creating a safe distraction¹³ for a bull eyeing a helpless cowboy that he's thrown

There was a time when many clowns were washed-up rodeo competitors, slowed by age, injury or overuse of alcohol.  But rodeo clowning has become such a valued specialty¹⁴ that most clowns are as young and vigorous as the competitors.  Many are almost tiny, like the jockeys who ride thoroughbred horses.

The clowns can make a handsome living without ever getting on a horse or bull.  Rodeos even developed an event just for them.  It's called bullfighting, in which clowns earn points, prize money and lots of laughs by artfully evading¹⁵ grouchy¹⁶ bulls. 

When rodeo clowns are too crippled, or too old, to work the ring any longer, most of these men – and almost all of them are male – find work anywhere they can to stay around a rodeo.

Read more of Ted's personal reflections and stories from the road on his blog, Ted Landphair's America.