Clowning Around As A Career?

He may look like any Dad, showing off for his kids, but David Larible has a lot more up his sleeve, as the star of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

At first glance, the Laribles seem like your average family: doing a bit of sightseeing in Washington, or gathering to watch Dad cook lunch, where he performs a few tricks for his son and daughter.

But for this father, clowning around is more than a casual pastime. It is a very successful career.

In 1991, David Larible became the top-ranked star of one of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's two circus troupes. Today, his face is plastered on every poster, and his signature hat worn by fans of all ages.

Larible is the first clown who has ever really been a headliner in the circus for as long as the circus has been around.

Circus owner Kenneth Feld decided to give Larible top billing over more daring acts like lion tamers, acrobats and tightrope walkers who have traditionally been the circus star.

"It just came that he had real heart," explains Feld, "and I always thought of David, when I saw him, as the clown that you wanted to run up and hug. He is the most lovable clown, and I said, 'This might work.' "

It has, for almost 15 years, and when you watch Larible in the center ring singing and dancing, playing some of the six musical instruments he's proficient at or doing his sendup of a magic act, you can tell that the crowd loves him. But what a lot of these folks don't know is that they are seeing a seventh-generation circus performer.

He was born in Italy, in a city named Novarra, but only because that is where the circus was. His father was a trapeze artist, and his mother, a dancer on horseback, but David Larible had other talents.

Larible says, "I was in a lot of trouble. The word I heard most in my school years was: 'Larible, please get out of the class!' And sometimes they throw me out with tears in their faces from laughing, of course, and say, 'You know, Larible ,that was really funny, but, you know, you got to get out now!' "By the time he was 8, he was determined to be a clown. To his chagrin, his father insisted that he study classical music and ballet.

"I don't want to be a dancer. I want to be a clown, and he would tell me, 'Dance is going to teach you how to move, and it's also going to give you harmony in your movements that a clown needs,' " says Larible.

And if you have any questions about the precision of his movement, well, you try doing a David Larible Clown Walk.

"This is my favorite place in the whole world. When I am here in the middle of this magic circle," explains Larible.

Larible performs some 50 weeks a year. Though he has houses in Florida and Verona, Italy, he spends most of his time on a train.

"This is my home, and it is a wonderful home that you get to take with you wherever you go. You go to sleep in Los Angeles and wake up in San Francisco."

Larible is one of the only performers to have a whole train car for his family.

There's a room for his daughter, Shirley; a master bedroom, two baths and even a laundry room. Larible's family travels everywhere he goes. In fact, they are all in (or aspiring to join) the family business.

Shirley, 15, is a budding aerialist.

David, 7, is already training to become a clown, eagerly juggling with Dad and Mom, America Larible, a former trapeze artist born in Mexico who met her future husband in Germany.

America Larible still does some aerial work, along with Shirley, who also helps out in part of her Dad's act.

It's not the first time Larible has worked with a family member. In her later years, his mother, now deceased, became part of his act.

It wasn't just his Mom. Larible is known for routines where he takes random folks from the audience to join in the fun.

Feld says, "This interaction is where Larible really distinguishes himself. David has to control maybe a half dozen audience members, some of them possibly don't really want to be there. He has to make them look good, and he has to be funny. It probably takes the most energy in the show."

Despite his unflagging energy, David Larible says he will leave the circus in November to concentrate on a one-man show he has staged previously. But he will never stop clowning, never stop trying to perfect his technique by not perfecting it.