Have no fear, the clowns are here

May 3, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

Clowning around is something that didn’t come naturally to Sandor Eke, who grew up in a Hungarian circus family.

For years, the young man was a member of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s featured teeterboard act.

Basically an acrobat, Eke had no aspirations to don face paint, oversized shoes and funny-colored hair, yet that’s exactly where he ended up just over a decade ago.

“I got married, and my wife was a dance captain,” said Eke, calling from Denver, Colo. “I wanted to stay with her, and I asked management if they had a job for me. They were like, ‘Yes, you’re a funny guy. You’re going to be a clown.’ I was like, um, ‘No way.’”

Well, to quote “Wayne’s World” — way.

Eke has been clowning around for the past 13 years. Now he’s the boss clown in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s new “Legends” show, which appears May 7-10 at the Covelli Centre.

However, the athletic performer pointed out the transformation required a change in posture. As an acrobat, he said your body is your calling card. As a clown, your personality takes over.

Another aspect of being a clown that was important involved being on the same level as children.

“My character is more like a hip-hoppish, jump-around acrobatic clown who has to jump and ride every bike,” Eke said. “My character is very free. As an acrobat, I can do a bunch of different falls that not everybody can do. I can fall on my head without hurting myself. Being an acrobat really paid off for me being a clown.”

Being a different type of clown fits right into the “Legends” show, which celebrates mythological creatures (Pegasus and unicorn), as well as features circus legends such as big-cat presenter Alexander Lacey, the Riders of the Wind Cossack horsemen, motorcycle daredevils, a 20-acrobat troupe and a never-before-seen double-wide, high-flying trapeze act.

Naturally, the circus means exotic animals, ranging from Asian elephants and kangaroos to donkeys, pigs and llamas, as well as plenty of clowns.

The other thing about clowns is, well, some folks have Coulrophobia. Yep, that’s a fear of clowns, which Eke has witnessed firsthand. One time he was appearing at a baseball stadium when some of the players wanted him to freak out a pitcher who was deathly afraid of clowns. He said he politely declined their request.

Eke said it’s in his best interest career-wise to help folks get over any clown phobias, not scare them.

“Once, we had a guy who had a fear of clowns come to a show,” Eke said. “He asked to meet the clowns, so we met him in street clothes. He then came to Clown Holly-wood, which is our dressing room. He watched us putting on our makeup and costumes. He was like, ‘Thank you so much. It doesn’t mean I won’t be scared of clowns in a street, but now I have something else in my mind, not the creepy clown.’”

It appears as though Penny-wise from Stephen King’s “It” is the root of Coulrophobia for many people. So just to confirm, Eke isn’t a scary monster who eats children?

“No sir, we don’t do that,” Eke said, laughing.