It's an hour before showtime and Rob Gann is running late. He has to get his makeup on, climb into his costume, and build a flash-bang firework that will provide the big noisy finish for his act.

DENVER — From the time he was in fifth grade, Richie Harris aspired to be a rodeo clown. For Harris, who was raised in Westminster, Colorado, going to the National Western Stock Show in Denver with ...

The rodeo clown applied streaks of white makeup to his weathered cheeks and gazed into the mirror one last time. After all these years, JJ Harrison still hated painting his face. He pulled a black ...

DENVER — From the time he was in fifth grade, Richie Harris aspired to be a rodeo clown. “Ever since that day, I said, ‘This is what I want to be,’” he said. Coloradoan Richie Harris (pink shirt) has ...