Not just clowning around
Rodeo clown uses years of experience
to entertain crowds

ABOVE: Keith Isley jokes with Priscilla Francisco in the crowd at the PRCA Rodeo on Saturday. BELOW: Keith Isley performs with his dog Cooter at the PRCA Rodeo in Window Rock. Isley usually has two performances a night along with the usual antics of a rodeo clown. [photos by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — How do you become an award-winning rodeo clown performing in front of thousands of fans? If you take Keith Isley’s route, you start in junior rodeo with bareback riding and bull riding, and get more than 33 years of experience entertaining at rodeos throughout the world.

Isley, from North Carolina, has won clown of the year twice — most recently in 2007 and in 2006 — and act of the year seven times from the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association. He was in Window Rock for the PRCA rodeo during the Navajo Nation’s 4th of July celebration.

Isley performed his trick riding and comedy acts for the rodeo to sold-out audiences of 10,000 at the Dean C. Jackson Arena at the Navajo Nation Fairgrounds.
Isley’s main job is to entertain the audience while preparations are being made for the next contestant to compete.

Though aware of the danger in his field of work, Isley said that anything is dangerous.

“People like dangerous stuff,” he said.

At one time in his career, Isley was in the barrel that the clowns and cowboys run to when in danger.

“This bull came up and picked the barrel up with me inside,” he said.

He wasn’t seriously hurt but it was enough to rattle him. “It tore my shirt and it scared me enough,” he said.

Despite being in danger, “you don’t think about the danger aspect of it,” Isley said.

His favorite part of the job? “Seeing the responses on people’s faces,” he said. “Sometimes you go up to kids and they are in awe.”

Isley said he enjoys traveling to the Window Rock area because of the people.

“The announcer they have here, he should be the announcer of the year,” he said. “The people are easily entertained and they come here to have a good time.”

“This is such a good crowd of people to work with,” he added.

Being a rodeo entertainer has taken him to each of the states in the contiguous United States and to countries such as Puerto Rico and Canada .

“I like to switch things around a little bit,” he said about his act.

The biggest challenges of his job are coming up with new material and, of course, being gone from home so long. Last year, the rodeo season took him away from home from March to the first part of October. This year he left in May and is expecting to be back home in September. While at home, he still performs at nearby rodeos and sometimes flies out to others further away.

But the absolute worst thing in his line of work, Isley said, is losing an animal.

“You work and you train them, you develop a relationship with your animals,” he said.

Several animals are used in his act, including a tiny horse, Palomino horses, and a small dog.

Isley’s day as a rodeo clown begins early when he wakes up and has his horses saddled by 6 a.m. to exercise them.

Later in the morning, he may have some time to travel the area he is working, such as visiting Gallup last week for the junior rodeo finals.

Later in the day he prepares himself and his animals for the show at night. In the afternoon he usually washes the horses to get them ready. For himself, it takes him about one hour to get into costume and makeup for the rodeo, and he likes to be ready early. On Saturday, the rodeo began at 7:30 p.m. with Isley’s first performance at around 8:15 p.m.

As soon as the rodeo is over, such as on Saturday night, he packs up and gets ready to head out for his next show. Sunday morning, Isley was scheduled to leave early for another rodeo in Utah.

Though he was the class clown in school, Isley said he considers himself to be shy, which many people are surprised to find out. But he has a different attitude in the arena, he said.

For those that want to become a rodeo clown, he recommends starting in smaller rodeos. He said there are even bull fighting schools to attend, which he never attended as a student but has instructed.

“Everything has changed so much since I first started,” he said.

Information:
www.keithisley.com