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The King Charles Troupe (also known as KCT or the KCs; founded as Charles Unicycle Riders) is an American group of unicycling and basketball playing circus performers. In 1969, they became the first known major African-American circus act in modern American circus. [1] [2]
The King Charles Troupe was created by Jerry King in the Bronx, New York in 1958, "as a community unicycle club that instilled the ideas of Christian principals, character building and discipline to give neighborhood youth an opportunity to become productive citizens." [3] [4] King was inspired by a performance he saw in 1918 of Ringling Brothers Circus, where he witnessed a man ride a unicycle on a highwire. [5] He taught his 6-year-old son, Charles, how to ride a unicycle in the hallway of their apartment building. [6] King started a club, and his students would refer to him as "the Old Man" or "Mr. Jerry." [7] One of King's students, Albert Owens, was on a unicycle when a basketball rolled near him. While still on the unicycle, Owens shot the basketball into a hoop. From there, the first iteration of the King Charles Troupe was formed. [8] Originally called the "Charles Unicycle Riders" after King's son, de facto business manager Bill Minson, a reverend, rebranded the group as the "King Charles Troupe...because it had a showbiz flair to it." They would train by riding on cobblestones.
A talent scout for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Trolle Rhodin , attempted in vain to convince the circus to hire them. Irvin Feld, at the time the producer for the circus, saw the Troupe perform on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He was impressed, and had them audition for him on the sidewalk of Madison Square Garden, [9] subsequently hiring them for the 1969 show as the circus' first all-Black circus act, the same year the circus had hired its first Black clown, Reggie Montgomery. [7] Feld fired several managers who were intolerant of the Troupe on account of the Troupe's race.
In 1981, the Troupe performed with the magicians Siegfried and Roy in their show "Beyond Belief" at The Frontier hotel in Las Vegas. [10] [11] Siegfried and Roy included the Troupe in a number where they escorted a white showgirl down a large staircase, an act that faced "extreme disapproval" from hotel bosses. It was unheard of to mix black and white people that way. [11] Siegfried and Roy said [11]
For us the King Charles Troupe was more than just a transitional act; we felt they gave our show more body and created an interesting contrast with what we were doing. We had music written especially for the troupe and gave them special lightning. The audience was crazy for the King Charles Troupe and would rock out of their chairs to the rhythm of the music. [11]
In 1996, they performed with the UniverSoul Circus. [12] [13]
In 2006, they performed in the first season of America's Got Talent. They were eliminated in the semi-finals.
In 2015, they joined the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade in Savannah, GA. [14]
In 2020, the King Charles Troupe was inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame, an award that recognizes people who have made a significant contribution to the art and culture of circus. [15]
In 2021, the Bronx honored The King Charles Troupe with a co-name street ceremony. The street name sign is called "King Charles Unicycle Troupe Way" and sits on the corner of E. 170th St. and Clinton Ave in the Bronx, NY. [16] 1400 Clinton Ave is where Jerry King, wife Alma King, and son, Charles King all lived.[ citation needed ]
As of 2023, the group is based in Las Vegas, NV. [17]
A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a frame with a saddle, and has a pedal-driven direct-drive. A two speed hub is commercially available for faster unicycling. Unicycling is practiced professionally in circuses, by street performers, in festivals, and as a hobby. Unicycles have also been used to create new sports such as unicycle hockey. In recent years, unicycles have also been used in mountain unicycling, an activity similar to mountain biking or trials.
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.
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The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessor have run shows from 1871, with a hiatus from 2017 to 2023. They operate as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers had purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.
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Irvin Feld was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and founder of Feld Entertainment. He was a music promoter who is credited with discovering Paul Anka.
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Johann Ludwig Jacob, professionally known as Lou Jacobs, was a German-born American auguste clown who performed for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for more than 60 years. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989. He is credited with popularizing the clown car, which has been a staple of circus clown acts ever since. He is also often cited as the originator of the red rubber ball nose, which is used by many clowns today. He was the first living person to have his portrait appear on an American postage stamp.
The Ringling brothers were five American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alfred T., Charles, John and Henry William, and the family lived in McGregor for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The Ringling family then moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and finally settled in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875. They were of German and French descent, the children of harness maker Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling (1826–1898) of Hanover, and Marie Salome Juliar (1833–1907) of Ostheim, in Alsace. While there were seven Ringling brothers, Alfred, Charles, John, Al and Otto Ringling were the main brothers in charge of the circus shows. All of the brothers were Freemasons. In 1919, they merged their Ringling Brothers Circus with America's other leading circus troupe, Barnum and Bailey, ultimately creating the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which operated for 98 years, until 2017.
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