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Aided by a ‘Clown Boss,’ Circus Flora’s 40th season goes back to high school 18%
By Danny Wicentowski0%
6/5/2026, 1:13:27 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Status Quo Bias, and Halo Effect, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 22% saturation with 93 hits. Analysis detected 698 faulty-reasoning hits from 422 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 33.3% and a BS Rank of 18% (17,441 of 21,198 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 82.30% of the article peer group.
Now in its 40th season, Circus Flora is taking its audiences on a journey back to high school with its “Flying High” show.
The show, which opened Thursday, features a variety of acts across “classrooms” of acrobats, aerialists, clowns and more — including many of the acts that have made the circus a mainstay in St.
Louis for generations.
Jack Marsh, executive director of the circus, called the anniversary an incredible milestone.
“There's been so many wonderful performers, artists, musicians, designers, audiences, all of whom have been touched by Circus Flora in all these ways over the decades,” he said.
“To be able to look back and see the impact that it's made is really special.”
Yet, even for a company as old as Circus Flora, there is innovation to be found.
This year, Marsh was inspired by the growing clown scene in Los Angeles with Chad Damiani.
“I think when clown gets a bad rap, it's because people consider it anachronistic, right?”
Damiani said.
“It's a style that has existed from the 1950s, and there's a certain look.
Sometimes, holding on to tradition means that we feel like we're displaced from time, so what we ask ourselves is, ‘Can we follow these same principles — principles all the clowns have been using in Circus Flora for 40 years — but think of the audience in this moment?’”
For the modern clowns learning from Damiani, the challenge, he said, is: “How do we communicate with [audiences] in the world we're living in right now?
I'd say that's the big difference is we're not held to any tradition — other than that we're there to bring joy to the audience.”
Related event:
What: Circus Flora’s “Flying High”
Where: The Big Top in Grand Center, 3401 Washington Ave., St.
Louis, MO 63103
When: June 4-21
To hear the full conversation with Circus Flora executive director Jack Marsh and clown Chad Damiani, including a dive into the circus’ history — and, at its upcoming show, its first-ever human cannonball performance — listen to “St.
Louis on the Air” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St.
Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St.
Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region.
The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer.
Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant.
The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
Speakers
2speakers48%attributed speech218writer words
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98%flagged-word coverageChad Damiani
131 attributed words64% of attributed speech75% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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