From cop to clown, local performer arrests his audience

He’s gone from slapping handcuffs on perpetrators to dishing out slapstick.

After a 15-year career in law enforcement, Joey Thurmond of Dallas, ran off and joined the circus.

Thurmond and wife Jamie run NoJoe’s Clown Circus. The traveling troupe, now performing at the Gwinnett County Fair, will visit 12 states this year and perform approximately 700 shows.

The show comes to life as their semi trailer converts into a stage with three rings out front. Crowds watch Thurmond’s alter ego NoJoe clown around with fellow funny man Lee Andrews. A whirlwind of comedy gags abound. Trapeze acts elicit gasps and applause. So does that giant pendulum known as the Wheel of Adventure, in which fifth-generation circus performer Hernan Colonia cheats death nightly.

This type of circus pageantry was the bug that bit Thurmond as a child, inspiring him to learn to juggle and balance household objects.

As he got older that passion faded. Thurmond eventually became a police officer and was immersed in real word grit.

But speckles of sawdust began running through his veins again in 2003. While he and Jamie were honeymooning in Sarasota, Fla., they visited the Ringling Circus Museum, and those childhood memories came flooding back.

In an effort to break up the monotony of police work, Thurmond brushed up on his juggling and balancing, got some clown makeup and put together a costume. Soon NoJoe was born. He spent weekends volunteering at children’s hospitals and nursing homes. Thurmond’s own smile was materializing under the greasepaint, and his wife could see the transformation.

“As a police officer, he had to see some difficult and depressing things all day,” Jamie said. “And this was something he could do to lift his spirits.”

During his last year as a full-time police officer Thurmond realized he was turning down more money in clowning gigs than he was making as a policeman.

So in 2008 he handed over his badge and became a full-time clown. What started out as a small show morphed into a three-ring circus with towering aerial rigs.

Despite the troubled economy, NoJoe’s Clown Circus continues to thrive. It has inspired a pair of children’s books and is the subject of the soon-to-be-released documentary “Greasepaint: The Film.” Thurmond credits the success to family support. His dad, Mike, builds props and set pieces. Mom Shirley oversees the company’s charity work.

Jamie has gone from running music and lights to performing. Although initially timid of the spotlight, she taught herself Polynesian poi dancing. When the circus needed an aerial performer, Jamie began studying the lost art of the swinging ladder. Today, she flies through the air with the greatest of ease.

“It has definitely brought us closer together,” Jamie said, “not only as husband and wife, but as business partners. There have been times we have had quarrels, but we never let if affect our professionalism. I think our marriage is stronger now than it ever has been.”

Even Thurmond’s son, Tyler, got into the act. He became a bonafide circus kid, learning acts such as stilt and wire walking while being home schooled on the road. He started working as a duo with his father, and they have won individual and dual awards.

The most rewarding thing for Joey Thurmond, however, is the show’s impact on the public. He often receives a story or compliment that adds fuel to his fire. For instance, a father of a low-functioning autistic boy told Thurmond his show was the catalyst that broke down the wall of communication between father and son.

“To watch a family sit down and feel the same emotion at the same time,” Thurmond said, “that’s the ultimate.”

Don Johstono, manager of the Georgia State Fair in Macon, has seen these reactions. He thinks Thurmond’s former life as a police officer may have prepared him to deliver this brand of joy. “He gives people an option of something other than the bad side of life,” Johstono said. “He gives them something that’s fun, light and entertaining, and makes life a little bit better.”