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Rodeo clown relishes in Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel events
Would you believe a man with a master's degree in finance would be a well-renowned rodeo clown?
It's a surprise to everyone including the funny man himself, Justin Rumford, who has been a rodeo clown for 13 years.
Rumford is in his fifth year performing at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, which began on Wednesday, Aug. 7, and continues through Saturday, Aug. 10 in Sikeston, Missouri. This year for the first time, the Southeast Missouri Football team will get in on the act on Friday and Saturday. On top of signing autographs at the rodeo on Saturday, players from the team will be involved in Rumford's act.
"We're going to have a team of rodeo guys run a play against the football team," Rumford said. "It's gonna be wild. The coach wasn't really about it at first, but we talked him into it."
He originally used his master's degree as a loan officer at the bank. However, the rodeo is where he truly wanted to be.
Rumford went into stock contracting after leaving the financial work life behind, and the rodeo event in Pretty Prairie, Kansas, just happened to be missing a clown. The rodeo clown who was originally scheduled to perform left to take care of his ill father.
That's where opportunity struck for Rumford.
"They said, 'man, you're always cracking jokes, give it a shot.' So I did and it was awesome," Rumford said. "It paid amazing and I'm like, I cannot believe this is a thing. Like, you can make a really good living. You can make more money being a rodeo clown than being a banker."
For Rumford, rodeo has been the family business for almost 80 years. His grandfather started raising bucking horses and bulls and the family has been in the stock contracting business through 2008.
"I have been involved in rodeo forever," Rumford said.
Rumford originally saw his place in the rodeo as a cowboy, not a clown. He competed in college rodeo at Northwest Oklahoma State and had aspirations for a professional career as a steer wrestler. A broken leg put an end to that journey but set him on the path to eventually becoming the clown he is today, with a master's degree being a detour.
In a rodeo show that includes various events, the clown and announcer play off each other to provide levity in between the action. Rumford finds both roles as the "two best jobs in rodeo."
"It's not really that different than anything entertainment-wise," Rumford said. "We're not so much as rodeo clowns as entertainers in professional sporting events when you think about it."
As a rodeo clown, Rumford is completely independent. He has booked his schedule three years in advance, giving him both financial structure and freedom.
Rumford has worked in rodeos across rural America but says that Sikeston has one of the best facilities.
"This is definitely a cathedral to pro rodeo," Rumford said. "It's cool to walk into that arena and look around because there's really nothing like it, the shape of it, where it used to be a baseball field here. It's nuts, man.
"You're right there," he added. "People are on the front row. They're there, and it makes it easier for me to connect with our people because we're just two feet apart."