Pro Rodeo Sports News.... Kristen M White

Keith Isley, the 2006 PRCA Clown of the Year and Coors Man in the Can winner has his wife of 19 years, Melanie, to thank for starting him on the road to success. She was a trick rider when they married, and he became a trick rider, too. Even though she quit riding in 1991, Isley carried on with it, and "that trick riding act got me where I am today."

How did you become a rodeo clown?
     First of all, I competed in bareback riding and bull riding in junior rodeo back in North Carolina. Then, after a year or two of that, I wanted to be a bullfighter. A guy gave me some makeup and put me out there, and I was more in the way than anything. But after a while of being in the way, I kind of got the hang of it. At that time, you had to do the comedy and the bullfighting parts. I was the class clown in school, but I knew all of those people. It was really hard for me to get in front of a crowd of people and do anything (funny). But as time went on, it got to be where I knew the makeup I had on was a shield more than anything, and people expect you to be funny. I figured by the time I was 32, I'd have it all out of my system and have myself a civilian job, but the phone continues to ring, so evidently I'm doing something right. It's working well for me right now.

What is the toughest thing about being a clown?
     There are a couple of different things. Being gone from home, of course.  I left in March, and I'll get home in October. But from my point of view, one of the worst things of all is losing an animal because I use a lot of them in my acts. It'd be nice if they (lived) forever, but they don't. I have lost some, and it's a pretty tough part of the job. They're really like family.

What misconceptions do you think the general public has about rodeo clowns?
     It's getting a whole lot better than it used to be. One thing, they think that when you're a clown and wear make up, you're automatically out there with the bulls, that you're the ones to protect the bull riders.  I used to do it (bullfighting) and still crave it once and awhile, but I had a bull let me know a couple of years ago that I was too old for that. A lot of people used to think that if a guy had tried everything else, then the only thing left was being a clown. That's the way it used to be at one time, but now there are so many guys starting out in this who have never competed.

If you weren't a rodeo clown, what would you do?
     I'd be working for the ProRodeo Sports News (laughs). I don't really know, maybe raising some hay at home, working around the house, some construction... I have some rental property, so I'd probably spend more time with stuff like that.

What's your favorite part about the rodeo world?
     Of course, at the end of the rodeo when they hand yu the check and say you've done a good job, that helps a bit. It's seeing the people react -- it doesn't matter if it's a big rodeo or small rodeo, I get nervous either way. I've been in this business 30-some years, and I still get nervous, especially the first performance. And when you see the people respond to the things you do, it's very rewarding.  I have a couple of pantomime acts where there's nothing said, just me and the music and the little dogs and to go out and get the response and the applause from the people without saying anything, that's pretty rewarding.

How hard is it to be funny all the time, and was it learned or natural?
     I'm not funny all the time, I'm not. People come to my house, like occasionally some PRCA contestant gets lost and comes by my house in North Carolina, but I'm a completely different person at home. Even at some of the rodeos, the committee wants you to go to a luncheon - they want me to get up and speak. They might be expecting something really funny, but I'm not funny at that point in time. Some guys are just on all the time, just hysterical all the time.  I think I must have gotten a hold of some bad Frosted Flakes as a kid and had a reaction (laughs). When I was a kid, I was the family clown and class clown, and now professional clown.

What's your favorite way to spend a vacation?
     My favorite way of spending a vacation is probably just staying at home. I travel, and I see so many things and meet so many people and am gone all the time. And my wife gets on me for never taking her on a vacation. So, maybe I'd just go to a lake and go fishing for half a day and then go back to the house and sleep in my own bed. That sounds pretty relaxing.

What do you do in your spare time?
    Fish, team rope. In fact, I did win a little money in the team roping (May 6 in Stonyford, Calif.), so I was pretty excited about that.  That's about it. In the wintertime, after the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, I'll get home and I have a big shop, so I'll fill the wood stove with some wood and then maybe get in there and make some things out of wood, do some woodworking stuff.

-- Kristen M White (5/23/07)

Thursday, November 30, 2006 ESPN.com

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