FORMER FIREMAN THRIVES ON LIFTING SPIRITS AS A CLOWN

John "Longjeans" Kelly had to reverse the skills he learned from a previous job when he decided to become the warm-up act for the Great American Circus.

"I was a fireman before I decided 15 years ago to be a clown on a regular basis," said Kelly, 45, who juggled and clowned his way into the hearts of a few kids in the St. Francis Medical Center's Pediatric Ward Monday.

The Great American Circus will appear Friday at the Cape Girardeau Airport. There will be shows at 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

Kelly started the day entertaining approximately 150 grade school children at Trinity Lutheran. "I love to get them involved," said Kelly. "There's always something that every kid can do, whether it be spinning plates, trying to figure out my card tricks or helping me juggle. I never want them sitting back passively watching. They can do that with TV."

He was scheduled to strap a pair of 8-foot stilts to his legs to live up to his reputation as Longjeans the larger-than-life clown. But inclement weather forced him to keep the stilts in his van.

By the time he reached St. Francis Medical Center at 2 p.m., however, Kelly had even the lowest chin looking up to his brand of humor. "Well, I'm here as your blind date," said Kelly as he passed a nurse's station. "You might want to think about computer dating from now on," he quipped. "I use that one a lot," he confided as he was escorted to the pediatric ward.

"Oh great, a fluorescent Band-Aid," said Kelly as he entered the room of Jacob, 8, a patient at St. Francis who seemed fascinated by Kelly's rapid-fire comic relief and the fact that he paid attention to an orange Band-Aid on his arm. "I bet you could find that wound in the dark," quipped Kelly.

His most effective form of entertainment is juggling. "That's how I got started in this business," said Kelly. "A bunch of us firemen learned to juggle to pass the time when we were waiting for our next call. My wife was a clown at that time. She was always trying to talk me into joining her in the circus, but I thought I had the perfect balance. Her business started the fires and mine put them out," he joked.

His wife finally persuaded him to join her profession. "I haven't regretted that decision for a minute," he said. "It's made me feel sort of special. Like when I go to buy some new pants, I know I'm going to have to get them tailor-made because there aren't too many stores carrying pants 32 by 104 on the rack."

Kelly, who lives in Petaluma, Calif., is considered a good enough clown to teach a class in juggling. "I kid you not, I actually taught Juggling 1A at a junior college in California," said Kelly, trying his best to affect a straight face through layers of greasepaint.

He attended a clown convention in Las Vegas. "Imagine 300 clowns trying their best to make each other laugh," he said. "Talk about a tough crowd."

He has even started up his own circus. "It's small, very small, compared to the Allan C. Hill Great American Circus," said Kelly. "It's just a bunch of clowns who perform. My wife is called "Lollipop" and I'm Longjeans. We call it the Little Big Top Circus. I work for The Great American Circus during the fall and spring and then go back to California to work my own circus in the summer," he said.

On Tuesday, however, he was scheduled to arrive in Carbondale,Ill., to do some more advance work, clowning and cavorting with the best antics and comic relief he has learned over the years.

"These people don't even realize what a kick I get out of this," he whispered as he made his way out of St. Francis.