THE AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF A CLOWN
“IT TAKES A WISE MAN TO BE A FOOL.”
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF A CLOWN
AS TOLD TO
ISAAC F. MARCOSSON
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
1910
Copyright, 1909, by
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Copyright, 1910, by
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
New York
Published March, 1910
TO
THE CHILDREN WHO LOVE
THE CLOWNS
A WORD ABOUT JULES
This story of Jules Turnour interests me morethan I can say. I have known him for more thantwenty years; have seen him at very close range inall the shifting movement of a great circusorganization, and I have yet to find a man with acleaner, higher aim. Mr. Marcosson, I think, hasadmirably brought out the contrast between hiswhitened and motley face and his patient, seriouspurpose to make his life helpful. The world hasbeen made better by the presence and work ofJules, and I am glad that at last the real storyof his somewhat unusual career is now told.
Alfred T. Ringling.
PREFACE
When the article on which this little bookis based appeared in the Saturday EveningPost we were amazed at the response itevoked. It simply proved that all theworld loves a clown. In most of the commentand communication, however, therewas a question as to the authenticity of thesubject. I beg to say that Jules is a realpersonage and still the nimble producer ofmany laughs.
It was while writing a series of articleson an entirely different phase of the circusthat I first met Jules. I heard of him themoment I stepped into the circus world.So thoroughly had he impressed his personality;so deeply had he become at[Pg x]tachedto its life, and so profoundly had hegained the respect of its people, that notto have heard of him argued that I wasdeaf and blind to everything about me. Ifound him the friend, philosopher, andguide of the nomadic city of tents thatrose with the dawn and slipped away intothe night. Despite its transiency, there wasmuch permanency of character in its variedinhabitants. No one contributed more toits moral structure than Jules, the clown.
We who live in this breathless era arewont to look upon the circus as a temporaryamusement makeshift. It is here to-dayand gone to-morrow. Yet behind itsspangled, tinseled array and restless movementare real traditions. Why has the circusendured in an age that craves newdiversion? Simply because it is basic; becauseit fills a fundamental need; becauseit is a staple like wheat. Laughter is one[Pg xi]of the few eternal things; therefore thecircus which produces it takes on somethingof the same quality. More than this, thecircus is as much an expression of art asthe drama. Like art, it is universal. Theclown being a world citizen interprets aworld humor in which there is neitherborder line, race, nor creed. Most of thegreat hu