What a circus!

Kelli Argott is on her fourth tour as a clown with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but she says she's particularly excited by her current show, Built to Amaze!, which moves into North Little Rock's Verizon Arena from Thursday through Sunday.

It's because the performers actually build this version of "The Greatest Show on Earth" while the audience looks on.

"It's kind of taking people behind the scenes a little bit, and we're building a show right before your eyes," Argott explains."It's a lot more industrial than our other shows; we have a lot more of our thrill and 'steel' acts.

"We have two motorcycle acts this year. The fan favorite, the 'Globe of Steel,' we have an awesome troop doing that this year, with a lovely lady standing just inches away from all those motorcycles. And then we have another that is on a high wire, 20 or 30 feet above the audience's heads, two lovely ladies hanging beneath that on a trapeze, doing all sorts of cool aerial tricks.

"Another thrill/'steel' act, this nitty-gritty 'Wheel of Steel,' is sort of like a teeter-totter that can go all the way around, and we have two guys on either end, so when it reaches the top, they leap off and land back down while the other person makes it go around and around."

Among the other high-intensity acts: traditional and modern showmanship on horseback, high-flying trapeze artists, a "nail-biting" crossbow act, a husband and wife hand-balancing duo and a basketball game -- on unicycles.

It's the fifth year on Ringling Bros.' Clown Alley for Argott, a native of Baldwinsville, N.Y. Inspired by Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Lucille Ball, she moved to San Francisco and got into an all-female sketch comedy group whose members wrote, performed, directed and produced their material. From there, she signed up for the Clown Conservatory at Ringling Bros.' Circus Center.

"I just love doing character work, and that's why I ended up in clown school, learning to do the physical portion of that," she explains, agreeing that there's probably no form of characterization broader than clowning. "Larger than life," she says, projecting character to "a whole arena full of people."

"The thing that people may not realize about clowning is that it actually is just yourself," she says. "All the pieces that make you you, and how you would normally react in front of all those people, and then just showing it to the world.

"And that's why we wear the makeup, it makes our expressions bigger. And why we wear the big shoes, so each little flick of your toes and every little movement of your ankles can be seen way, way up in the 200 section. We're talking about really subtle emotions that you're trying to project way up there. Every little bit helps."

Of course, even a clown starts practicing on a smaller scale.

"The first step is just to get on the stage with all the amazing other performers right next to you there, and to really pay attention to your natural instincts," Argott says. "Whenever you're in awe or your jaw drops, you remember that point in the show, so the next time when it comes around, you can really express that fully.

"And that's why clowns are a really great link and touchstone with the audience, because you're really an extension of them. I'm just a piece of the audience that happens to be on stage, so I can say, 'Hey guys, that was so cool, look at that,' just the way some kid is nudging his mom in the seat next to him."

This show features two elephants -- "little" 5-year-old April and "big" 47-year-old Asia -- but Ringling Bros. has announced it'll be phasing out elephants from its circuses by 2018 and sending them into retirement at the Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida.

Argott says she's confident that the absence of elephants won't leave a big gaping hole in the show.

"Ringling Bros. is over 145 years old and we're still keeping up with all of the insane entertainment we have now," she says. "We went from three rings under tents to arenas, and this is just another jump. We have the most high-tech lighting grids, video screens that move up and down; it's a pretty serious affair.

"And we still have tons of other animals as well. We have a dog act, which is totally a crowd-pleaser, and some horses, with acrobatics on top of them."

That move to arenas has also meant that the former three-ring circus model now operates out of a single ring.

"I absolutely love this show because it's the first time I've performed in the one ring, and it's so much more intimate," Argott explains. "We have people sitting a few feet away from the stage, and you can see why, for a clown, that would be so enticing. And it means that when I need some help, I can just reach over into that front row there and grab somebody up to help us out. It's very interactive."

And in her heart of hearts, if she had to choose another circus aspect than clowning?

"Oh my gosh, there's so much, and I think that's why I'm a clown, it's how I can I get close to it," she says. "I absolutely love contortion and hand-balance, that slow graceful strength is so awesome."

But she admits those skills are a little out of her own personal reach.

"In clown school I took a lot of Chinese acrobatic classes, [learning] to do handstands and stuff like that, but some of these skills -- to learn them you have to start as a wee lass, and unfortunately I was a bit too old when I found my passion."

Her profession, however, means Argott nevertheless has to keep in shape.

"I love biking, that's how I see all the cities we go to," she says. "That's how I keep in shape; it's not the same old boring hotel gyms. Not to mention the show itself; doing a few of these, running around the floor, it keeps me going." Her average week involves doing seven shows over five days.

And her job involves close contact with children inside and outside the ring.

Ringling Bros. holds an all-access pre-show "party" an hour before each performance, so patrons can come down onto the arena floor and meet the cast, pick up some hip dance moves, try on costumes and maybe even learn to juggle.

"That part is so awesome because the people get to come on the floor and get a little taste of what it's like," Argott says. "We set up a low wire; the kids can go across that. We have a little aerial apparatus that we let them sit on. So they really get a feel for the show they're about to see. And it's great for me as a clown to meet them one on one, because that's a totally different kind of performance."

Away from the arenas, "We do a lot of awesome outreach with kids in every city we go to," she says, just before heading to a Baton Rouge library to read Dr. Seuss' If I Ran the Circus to youngsters.

"We have another program called 'Circus Fit,' at YMCAs and after-school programs, that talks about the acrobatics in the show, and how the show keeps us moving -- that maybe pro sports is not the only physical career out there."

And does Argott ever worry that she's encouraging kids to run away and join the circus -- well, maybe when they're a little older?

"Worry about it? I get excited about it," she says. "Every time a kid says to me, 'I want to be a clown,' I say, 'Great! Don't tell your mom my name!'"

Style on 08/18/2015