Rodeo Clown Extraordinaire
Laughter, Lifesaving, and A Lot Of
Bull
A typical business day for Donnie
Landis includes getting Marion his
trained flea, to jump from a high stand
into a bucket of water, cantering his
rare Cantabeatalope across a rodeo arena
while the steed’s giraffe-like neck
swivels around to give him a 360 degree
vision, and set his over-sized
“mousetrap” in hopes of catching a bull
during the rodeo bull riding event.
Landis, a second generation rodeo
clown and a fourth generation cowboy,
takes his business responsibilities as
serious as a bank president or a grade
school teacher. His work preparation
begins long before he enters the rodeo
arena. His execution of business is
pure seriousness, although he is dressed
in a funny hat, clown make-up, a big red
nose and baggy britches.
During the bull riding, his serious
attitude only intensifies. He is there
to assist in keeping the bucking bulls
from injuring the cowboys. No doubt his
ability and attitude are the reasons he
was picked by the top 20 PRCA bull
riders to be the barrelman at the
National Finals Rodeo in 1993 and in
1995, as well as the alternate in 1997.
At 47 year of age, Landis has been in
the rodeo world fro 29 years. His
father, Bill Landis, was a bullfighter
and rodeo clown, and also produced
rodeos for a time and his mother was a
rodeo secretary.
When asked what the secret is to his
present day success, Landis doesn’t
hesitate, “I was lucky. Because of my
dad, I learned from the ‘old school’
where a rodeo clown had to do everything
– fight bulls, have comedy acts,
entertain and save lives.
Adrenaline surges through Landis as
he helps save a cowboy from a snuffy
bucking bull and he accomplishes feats
he doesn’t realize he is capable of
performing. When an audience laughs and
cheers when he goes through the antics
of his well-synchronized comedy routines
and he knows it is only his efforts that
bring about the delight of the crowd, he
knows he doesn’t want to do anything
else. And that’s no bull!
