Creston’s greatest showman

After nearly 30 years as a unicycling clown with the Elk’s Lodge, Jon Carroll is happy to hand the torch over to the next generation.

Creston graduate, 22-year-old Isaac Ralston has been riding the unicycle since elementary school, and practices a variety of clown talents.

“It’s pretty awesome to be able to pass it on to somebody,” Carroll said. “Seeing Isaac doing the juggling, I thought that’d be a neat addition if he could do the juggling and the unicycle.”

Ralston said his mom has always encouraged him to learn new skills.

Now he’s able to juggle, balance objects, unicycle, make balloon animals, act and more.

“It’s my life,” Ralston said. “I would love to join the Cirque Du Solei. I also want to join Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, they’re coming back this year.”

Both men started unicycling at a young age, Carroll’s dad bringing one home and saying the first kid to learn to ride would get $5.

“I was the first,” Carroll said. “I had three or four other siblings that learned how to ride it.”

At 18, Carroll’s now wife bought him his first 6-foot unicycle.

“A lot of money for a 16-year-old to spend on her boyfriend,” he said. “I was riding the 6-footer probably since I was 21.”

Creston residents can remember nearly three decades of Carroll dressed up, riding the tall unicycle through the parade and tossing candy to kids.

“The clowns of course used to go all over, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Clarinda, Chariton,” he said. “We used to go to the state fair parade a lot. As time went on, it lost more and more interest. We had fewer clowns going to parades. It officially disbanded about four years ago.”

Ralston and his dad started joining the parade clowns about six years ago.

“I’ve been kind of thinking about reaching out to find someone to ride that 6-footer, it’s just hanging in my garage,” It just worked out to get Isaac interested. He seems to be liking it. A little more confidence, and he’ll be juggling up there.”

Entertaining

Entertainment is more than just an activity for Ralston, it’s a way of life. He doesn’t just know how to juggle, he studies the origins of the skills he develops.

“Juggling started back in ancient Egypt,” Ralston explained. They had this game, challenge.”

The oldest known juggling depictions were from 2,000 B.C. in tombs from the middle-kingdom of ancient Egyptian civilizaiton.

Ralston explained the circus started in ancient Greece.

“One was called Circus Maximus,” he said. “Chariot racers go around the ring and they have different performers in different rings. That’s how they made it into a circus.”

Performing as a part of the circus is a dream for Ralston.

When his parents took him to see the movie “The Greatest Showman,” he said it was a spiritual experience.

“It just brings me the whole life,” Ralston said. “It’s like I’m right there – I’m home. It’s me with the ringmaster and all different kinds of people.”

Ralston has done a variety of local entertainment including acting in the Crest Area Theatre, performing at the street market in Corning and riding his unicycle in the parades.

He’s back this year at Adventureland’s Phantom Fall Fest where he dresses as a scary clown to scare the children. The festival takes place on the weekends until Oct. 29.

“I scared one kid and he fell right on his butt,” Ralston recounted. “I got him good. People ask me, how tall are you? I said I’m like 6′5 or 6′6. I don’t really know how tall I am, but I scare people real good.”

Ralston said it may be awhile before he can ride the 6-foot unicycle in the parades with the uneven streets, but he’ll continue to find ways to entertain the community in the meantime.

“It’s like my dream life,” he said. “It’s been my whole life to do all this stuff. My mom said you should do it, it’s your thing. I like meeting new people, making new friends and making people happy.”