Pat Cashin

Patrick "Pat" Cashin (born 1967 in Saddle Brook, New Jersey) has been described as "an inspired architect of slapstick circus silliness" whose performances are "a cartoon cavalcade of idiosyncratic oddities and imaginative absurdities" and that he is a "passionate practitioner of his ageless, eccentric art", which is really just a longwinded way of saying that he's a circus clown who really likes his job.

Background

Not raised in a circus family, his desire to join the profession came from watching Bozo the Clown on television as well as seeing longtime circus veterans such as Otto Griebling, Mark Anthony, Prince Paul Albert, Bobby Kaye, Duane "Uncle Soapy" Thorpe, Frankie Saluto, Michael "Coco" Polikov, Doug Ashton, Pio Nock and especially the uniquely inspired work of "Master Clown" Lou Jacobs at the circus at Madison Square Garden as a young child. Scores of other, younger clowns (mostly Clown College alumni performing with Ringling, Beatty-Cole and smaller shows) also made a huge impression on him but it was seeing Barry "Grandma" Lubin and Greg DeSanto with the Big Apple Circus and meeting Clown College alum Robin Eurich, Jim La and Cynthia Tegemeyer at a taping of WGN-TV's "Bozo Super Sunday Show" that finally inspired him to leave stand-up comedy for the world of the circus.

Training and experience

A 1997 graduate of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, he began his career (and continues to work extensively) with Hansen's Spectacular Circus Thrill Show and has since performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus and spent a season with Caesar's Royal Roman Circus at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ.

He furthered his performance studies at the Motionfest variety arts conferences (studying with some of the world's leading instructors in clowning, circus, theater and the variety arts) and has performed in such diverse environments from acting as chief "Producing Clown" with the Dingbats, a team of travelling baseball stadium clowns to holding the distinguished title of 'Stupidvisor of Pedia-tricks and Clownocology' with the Jersey Shore Clown Doctor program at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey.

Most recent work

Touring throughout the United States performing at circuses, theaters, sports arenas, theme parks, fairs, festivals, shopping malls and virtually anywhere else family audiences can be found, he can currently be seen clowning or acting as "Comedy Ringmaster" with the Shrine Circus in arenas all across America.

In the summer of 2006 Cashin began a blog devoted solely to honoring the great circus clowns of the past, http://www.clownalley.net (sometimes referred to simply as "The Alley"), which has quickly become a favorite resource of international clown and circus historians.

In the spring of 2008 Cashin began working with the Kelly-Miller Circus (owned by John Ringling North II), making him the first American circus clown to work for the Ringling family since 1968 when the Ringlings sold the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to Irvin and Israel Feld and Judge Roy Hofheinz.

Appearances outside the circus

In addition to many regional newspapers, he has been profiled in "The New York Times", "Life", "Glamour" and "Boys' Life" magazines and appeared in several television commercials, most notably an award-winning Visa Check Card commercial with multiplying rabbits which premiered during the Super Bowl. He has been in several films, though most appearances have been brief.

Mr. Cashin, his wife, young son and dog all reside together on the Jersey Shore.