It all started with a letter to Nick Weber of the Royal Lichtenstein Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus in 1980. After graduating from college, I put aside plans for graduate school and joined up in July of '81. That experience was so overwhelming, it inspired me to spend the next 18 years as a freelance variety artist. In addition to these three acts, I also had opportunities to try everything from bareback riding, to ensemble juggling, to teterboard, to tap-dancing in a gorilla costume, to a comedy act with Flora the elephant! Alas, back, knee and hip problems took away much of the fun and I found a new career as a teacher in 2000.