Let These Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey
Clown College Graduates Help...

Kevin Bickford and Robin Shaw are both graduates of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, under the direction and tutelege of Bill Ballantine (Dean, and author of the book Clown Alley). They attended the full nine week course in Venice, Florida, taking courses in mime, elephant riding, dance, makeup, costume design, juggling, balance, acrobatic tableaux (pyramid building), unicycling, prop construction, prosthetics, film study, crowd psychology, vaudeville, gags, gag writing, comedy, circus history, yoga, gymnastics, stiltwalking, skill balance, clown character study, and more. Kevin attended the class in 1971, Robin in 1972.

They then traveled with Ringling on tour throughout the United States and Canada for 5 years. Deciding after 5 years to try other opportunities, Kevin moved to Hollywood to work in the entertainment industry, and Robin moved to Chicago to work for a PR firm which handled the Ringling account. She then moved to the Ice Capades for two years where she was Publicist for the Eastern Tour with Dorothy Hamill. After that she moved to California, where she met up with Kevin. They subsequently landed jobs as lead characters on a show produced for Disney Cable. That show, Contraption, ran for a total of 5 years. Since then, they have appeared in over 30 sitcoms, including Seinfeld and The Drew Carey Show, as well as various commercials and radio shows. They have also appeared in movies such as Slapstick, The Grinch, Life as a House, My Sister's Keeper and Tomcats.