Clowning around: Nock balances life as a family man, entertainer with famed circus

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | 8:18 a.m.

Parents will often go to great lengths to impress their children.

But not as far as Bello Nock.

Two months ago the daredevil clown/father of three dangled upside down from a helicopter 300 feet above the Statue of Liberty, clinging to a trapeze with only his toes.

He was also in full clown regalia.

Still, one of his daughters, who was watching the death-defying stunt with a pensive crowd, was less than impressed by his performance.

"My daughter told an interviewer, 'Yeah, he does this kind of stuff all the time,'" Nock said with a laugh in a recent phone interview from Topeka, Kan.

Even later into the act, Nock was told she remarked, "I know he's going to do that five minutes from now (in the circus), so can I go get some ice cream?"

"It's almost like if Michael Jordan's son goes and sees him shoot baskets," said the 34-year-old Nock. "He sees him play basketball all the time, so it's no big deal."

Such is the life of the star attraction at the 133rd Edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which is coming to town Thursday through Sunday for multiple performances at The Orleans Arena.

Nock is merely an Average Joe whose job performance happens to include high-wire balancing, bungee-jumping, somersaulting over elephants and clowning around with audience participants.

While his daughter may no longer be impressed with his antics, others are. Time magazine thought so highly of Nock, it crowned him "America's Best Clown."

Which is fine by Nock although he's not sure the title fits.

"It was a wonderful honor, but I don't know if I consider myself a clown," he said. "Did you know there are more adjectives in the dictionary explaining 'clown' than any other word? Actor, dancer, musician anything that pertains to entertainment, a clown should be able to do."

And Nock should know. He's a seventh-generation circus performer who also grew up in the circus. In fact, both his parents met while performing at Ringling Bros. "My father never said I had to follow in his footsteps," Nock said.

"He only said I had to try it for 30 years."

But really, Nock said, there was never any doubt about his choosing the circus life. The performer was the class clown for years and has performed all manner of stunts -- both dangerous and humorous -- since he was 14 when, in front of a local news show, he dangled from a helicopter that his brother was piloting.

Even his trademark hair, a nearly foot-high red pompadour, has been a part of his life since he was 12.

"I keep my hair like that all the time," he said. "My wedding. My dad's funeral. I just got back from Kinko's and everyone was staring at me."

Although, he adds, "before I made my living as a clown, it may've been round at times and different sizes."

Despite the novelty 'do, Nock insists his life is actually quite normal.

He married his high school sweetheart, and they have three children -- a 14-year-old son and two daughters, 10 and 7 -- although Nock jokes he is the fourth child of the family.

Nock only joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey three years ago, after performing in circuses all over the globe. And now the Nocks travel across the country in a 70-foot, custom-made RV, going to 90 cities in a two-year period.

While he receives the lion's share of the billing in every city in which the circus performs, Nock insists he's just part of the act.

"I set up the rigging with everyone else. And if an elephant dumps on the floor, I'm picking up a shovel and cleaning it up," he said. "There's nothing too small or too big."

Being part of that team, Nock finds himself rooting for Jon and Al, Ringling Bros. circus clowns who partnered up to compete on "The Amazing Race."

"Jon is a very good friend of mine. It think it's great" that Jon is on the show. "It sort of made me mad that he got there before I did because me and my wife wanted to do it. 'The Amazing Race' is what a circus performer's life is like. You've got to go catch a plane, from town to town, and there's no one to help you get there.

"There are easier ways to make a living, but there are not more fun ways to make a living."com