Barry Lubin, Grandma, Star Icon Clown of Big Apple Circus

BARRY LUBIN
a.k.a Grandma, Star Icon Clown of the Big Apple Circus

When I was a freshman in high school, Bob Davies, the teacher in charge of the audio-visual aids committee took a particular interest in helping to create student television productions with our newly acquired studio and equipment. I joined the committee and was encouraged by Mr. Davies to experiment with and experience all aspects of television production, including acting, producing, directing, lighting, building props, editing music, and much more. He trusted my classmates and I enough to allow us to make mistakes and find our way, and that proved invaluable. He allowed us to carry the equipment outdoors at times, or to use the new television studio to create a variety of programs. Eventually the quality was high enough to show these programs at lunch to the entire student body.


I went to Emerson College as a television production major, and I continued to perform as much as possible. Then I went on to a career in acting, physical comedy, and professional clowning. I am now in my 33rd year of professional clowning and I owe much of my success to Mr. Davies’ encouragement and trust back in high school. I also write and direct whenever possible. I am best known as Grandma the Clown with New York’s Big Apple Circus and am a creative consultant for the company as well.


To create art is a difficult challenge for anyone, I believe, but any artist has to face challenges during their career. Though I make my living in the performing arts, I am not always perfect in the creation of new comedy material, or in my theater, circus, and television performances. The process is never easy for me, but when things work well, the joys are incredible. I learned from Mr. Davies back in high school that taking artistic risks and living through occasional failures can lead to some priceless discoveries. You can take those failures, though they can be quite uncomfortable at times, and turn them into positive learning experiences. 33 years into my career, I know that I still have much to learn, and no matter what happens, good or bad, and regardless of the inevitable mistakes, the sun always rises the next day.

Born in Atlantic City, Barry attended Emerson College in Boston with aspirations of becoming a TV director. During a sabbatical from his studies, he auditioned for and was accepted into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College where he fell in love with the art of clowning. Subsequently he joined the Greatest Show on Earth for five US tours, and it was there that he created Grandma, the beloved clown who has graced the Big Apple Circus ring with her antics since 1982, most recently starring in Step Right Up! Barry has appeared in several Off-Broadway productions, in the films My Life, Big Top Pee Wee, and Alice, and has worked with Snappy Dance Theater in Boston, CBS’s “Circus of the Stars,” and MTV directing comedy segments. Recent television work includes a featured role in “Evening at Pops” on PBS, in-flight entertainment for JetBlue, and starring roles in two pilots for Nickelodeon Networks, for which he also served as Executive Producer, Creator and Writer with Yvette Kaplan. He has been featured many times on NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and on NBC’s Today Show; in a recent Emmy Award–winning special for WABC-TV; and on “The Late Show with David Letterman” four times. Barry is a 2002 inductee of the International Clown Hall of Fame. He performed at the 2006 International Circus Festival in Budapest where he received the coveted Moscow State Circus Prize. Recently, he starred in Circo Massimo for Italian television and Stars in der Manege in Germany, and also was featured in Circus Krone’s Winter Program, only the second American clown invited to perform in their 88–year history. He also recently performed his new solo show in Taiwan. Barry performed at the prestigious International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo in 1977 and returns there in 2008. Presently, Barry is writing a circus musical. He is the proud father of daughters Danielle and Emily.

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