June 5, 2025 • 31 mins
Ever wondered what it’s like to grow up in a circus? Well, Jack Marsh, who literally rode a Clydesdale as a toddler and has a resume that includes Harvard and corporate law, shares his journey from the courtroom to the center ring. We kick things off with amusing stories of his childhood in Circus Flora, sprinkled with witty banter that keeps the vibe light and engaging. Jack reflects on what it means to find your true calling, especially when it means stepping away from a well-trodden path to embrace a world of wonder and whimsy.
We also delve into Circus Flora's latest production, Urban Legend, which artfully combines spectacular performances with a narrative that brings the local folklore to life. From daring aerialists to lovable performing dogs, this show has it all! Plus, we discuss the impact of their community outreach, like Clowns on Call, which brightens the days of kids in hospitals. If you’re looking for a dose of inspiration wrapped in laughter, this episode is the perfect pick-me-up!
[00:00] Introduction to Our Guest: Jack Marsh
[00:33] Welcome to St. Louis in Tune
[01:06] Sponsor Acknowledgment and Listener Engagement
[01:21] Return to Civility: Dining with Children
[02:06] Meet Jack Marsh: From Law to Circus
[03:12] Jack's Journey: From Harvard to Circus Flora
[04:46] The Founding of Circus Flora
[07:56] Celebrating Circus Flora's 39th Season
[08:12] Urban Legend: The Storyline and Acts
[10:20] Highlighting the Performers and Acts
[13:27] Special Performances and Community Engagement
[15:06] Introduction to Circus Flora
[15:28] Clowns on Call: Bringing Joy to Hospitals
[17:26] Share the Circus: Free Tickets for All
[18:32] Location and Seasonal Performances
[23:46] Circus Flora's Rich History
[24:46] Fun Facts and Trivia
[29:49] Closing Remarks and Announcements
Takeaways:
- Jack Marsh, the artistic director of Circus Flora, grew up surrounded by circus life, which shaped his career path remarkably.
- After graduating from Harvard and becoming a corporate lawyer, Jack realized his heart belonged to the circus, showcasing the importance of following your passion.
- Circus Flora combines thrilling circus acts with storytelling, creating a unique experience that appeals to both kids and adults alike.
- The show Urban Legend features a fluffy, friendly monster that adds a whimsical touch, proving that not all monsters are scary!
- Circus Flora's Clowns on Call program sends performers to hospitals, helping to brighten the days of children facing tough times, showcasing the healing power of laughter.
- Their community outreach, Share the Circus, provides thousands of free tickets to ensure everyone can enjoy the circus, reinforcing the importance of accessibility in the arts.
This is Season 8! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com
#circusflora #harvarduniversity #thecircus #thebigtop #clowns
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
After riding to Clydesdalewhen he was two years old, he grew
up and got his bachelor'sdegree in economics from Harvard
and a juris doctorate from theUniversity of Wisconsin. He became
a corporate attorney in NewYork, but eventually ran away to
rejoin the circus. We're goingto talk to him and more on St. Louis
in Tune. Welcome to St. Louisin Tune and thank you for joining
(00:35):
us for fresh perspectives onissues and events with experts, community
leaders, and everyday peoplewho make a difference in shaping
our society and world. I'mArnold Stricker along with co host
Slap happy Mark Langston Today.
Yeah, that's it. How are you, Arnold?
Hey.
Whoa, whoa.
It's just been a wild morning, Mark.
(00:56):
It has. The rain has stopped.The monsoons in St. Louis have given
up for a little bit.
So I stopped building my ark.
Yeah, there you go.
We're happy that you've joinedus today. Folks want to thank our
sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,for their support of the show. You
can listen to previousshows@stlintune.com please help us
continue to grow by leaving areview on our website, Apple Podcast
(01:19):
or your preferred podcastplatform. Our return to civility
today is if you bring a childwith you to a restaurant, bring toys
to keep them entertained. Now,notice it wasn't electronics. And
by all means, pay attention tothem. Remember that the other customers
are there for a good diningexperience, not to interact with
(01:39):
your children.
Oh, I know. Should we even gothere with all this? I was always
good with our boys. I wouldtake them out and we'd walk outside
and. Yeah, some people,though, go, okay, he'll get over
it. He'll stop crying in about10 minutes. But, yeah, that's good
advice.
And I see people hand them theelectronic device and they stop anything.
(02:00):
Yeah, but kids are kids.
But I tell you what, if youbring a child to the circus, you
will keep them entertained.And our guest is Jack Marsh. Jack,
welcome to St. Louis in Tune.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
He's artistic and a directexecutive director of Circus Flora.
Mark, Circus Flora is big herein St. Louis.
That's right. I could tell bythe big floppy shoes that he has
(02:20):
and the red nose. I'm surehe's heard this stuff before.
And the fact that I am a horse.
Yes, you're a horse.
I know we have a horse. I knowhe's looking for it. Yeah, there
we go. So two years old, yourode a Clydesdale?
Yeah, yeah. I grew up in thecircus in Circus Flora, specifically.
(02:43):
My. My mother has always beeninvolved in Circus Flora. Since it
was founded in 1986. And thatwas when I was about 2 years old.
Wow.
I didn't. It didn't go veryfast and I. I didn't do very much
on it. But that was. That wasmy first job in the circus.
And you juggled and you're anacrobat or you do the flying trapeze,
too?
Growing up, I was an acrobatand a juggler. Yeah. I would perform
in Circus Flora and do thosethings. Then I gave up the performing
(03:07):
bit of it, and now I'm aproducer and help organize the show
and conceive it and bring itto life.
So what does a guy who growsup in the circus. He goes to Harvard.
Yeah. And gets his bachelor'sin economics. Why economics and why
Harvard?
Harvard was a school that Iapplied to and got into. And it sounded
(03:27):
like it would be a pretty goodeducation, so I went. It didn't hurt
that I could write myadmissions essay about growing up
in the circus. I think it'sgood to have those standout sorts
of sorts of facts aboutyourself. And then. Yeah, when I
was there, I studiedeconomics. I liked math and thought
it would be an interestingthing to study. Didn't really know
where it would take me. Andhere I am.
(03:48):
And then you wanted to becomean attorney, or was it. What was
economics involved in thatportion? Where it was. You were going
to. Wanted to be a legaladvisor on economic kinds of things
or with corporations orsomething like that?
No, I went to law school. Ithink economics is a fine background
to then go to law school. ButI had friends who were in law school
or were lawyers while I was incollege. And that sounded like a.
(04:11):
I liked them and liked theirbrains and how they thought and thought.
That might be a good path forme. And so I went to law school in
Wisconsin for a few years andthen practiced law for a few years
after that before giving itall up for Circus Flora.
So were you in New York Cityas a corporate attorney?
Yeah. Correct. Yeah, I was.Grew up part of New York and then
part traveling with CircusFlora wherever we were, which was
(04:31):
often St. Louis.
So the courtroom and New Yorkare kind of like mini circuses anyway.
Right.
So you probably felt right at heart.
There's a performance elementto it all, to all of life.
Drawing you back was thisexecutive director.
Role, artistic director role.So the. The gentleman who founded
Circus Flora was thiswonderful man, Ivor David Balding.
He founded Circus Flora andwas its longtime artistic director.
(04:54):
And then as he was gettingolder and looking towards an eventual
retirement. He was wanting toput a succession plan in place with
our board of directors. And sohe and I began to speak about it.
And at the time, I was workingas a corporate lawyer. Overworked,
stressed, not really likingit. Always trying to sneak off from
my law gig to go see whatevershows, plays, circuses. I could.
(05:18):
Had a feeling that I wasn't onthe right path for myself. And. Yeah.
And then speaking with David,it made a whole lot of sense and
it's been wonderful.
Well, kudos to you forrecognizing and understanding that
sometimes a path that we godown is not the one that we should
maintain and keep going down.And congratulations to you for being
(05:38):
fluid. To move and do thattakes courage. Yeah, it does take
courage.
All that schooling and everything.
Yeah.
All the tests that you have togo through to be a lawyer.
For crying. I'll tell you thatstuff. Never.
And it's expensive to be a lawyer.
To go to school, but you work.You work your butt off.
Yeah, yeah, it's expensive.And then I was in debt and then I
got a corporate gig to try topay off that. That debt. And then
(06:00):
I did. And then you got out.That's enough.
Enough of that.
Now, you mentioned thefounding of the. And David.
Yeah, David Boulding.
And. Because he was. Tell us alittle bit about Flora, because didn't
he have a relationship withthe elephant Flora that circus Flora
is named after?
I was wondering about that.
(06:20):
Yeah.
Glad you asked that question.
Yeah. So David. David had beena. He came from a family of horse
trainers. He was always in andaround animals. And he was also a
theater producer. He had goneto Harvard and. As well and not finished.
But he left to go to New Yorkto become a theater producer. So
then he had this sort of twinlove of performance and theater and
(06:44):
also animals and circus. Andso he combined all of that into.
He adopted Flora the elephant.In the early 80s. Flora was a. An
orphaned elephant, a babyelephant at the time from Botswana.
And he, as I guess you did inthe 80s, adopted her and then wanted
to make a circus with her asthe star of it. So he named this
(07:07):
circus Flora. And off we were.
And as time continues andthose larger animals are not accepted
in positions like being circusanimals. Now. She's still in. She's
in Florida right now, correct?
She's in Tennessee right now.Yeah. She. In 99 or 2000. Around.
Around the turn of thecentury. She retired from performing
(07:27):
at. I think she was 19 or 20and. And went to. To this place called
the Elephant Sanctuary inTennessee, where she's. Elephants
live a good long time andshe's, she's there and doing great.
She's got a lot of friendsdown there.
Aw, that's wonderful.
Yeah, love it. And I'm gladshe's doing well because sometimes
a lot of animals don't doafter they've been in captivity and
(07:49):
then they get a little morefreedom and things like that.
Yeah.
This is Arnold Stricker withMark Langston of St. Lucien Tomb.
We're talking to Jack Marsh,he's the artistic and executive director
of Circus Flora and we'retalking to him because they are celebrating
currently right now. Theystarted June 5th and it runs through
the 22nd. Their 30 season withUrban Legend. Now let's talk about
(08:10):
Urban Legend. What are wetalking about there?
Circus Flora. At its core,it's this wonderful world class circus
with these amazing circus actsand high wire and aerialists and
acrobats and we have someperforming dogs in this show. But
the other thing that we areis, is a theater company, we're a
storytelling show. So all ofthose acts that are part of the show,
(08:30):
we write a narrative, astoryline that, that winds you through
those acts. So it's. The ideais that you get to see these amazing
things. You also get a fun,quirky story that gets told through
these performers and you getto know these people as characters
and then you see them do thesesuperhuman things and it to, to me
(08:51):
it's, it really adds to thejoy of being there and seeing them.
You get to know all theseperformers and their humanity and
how fun they are. You see howdifficult it is what they're doing
together that, that reallyadds to the fun of the experience
of going to Circus Flora.
And then I've got here. Thecity's folklore comes to life in
thrilling and unexpected ways.Get ready for a thing here, Mark.
(09:14):
With daring acrobats, cleverclowns, incredible performance dogs
and a monster. What's thismonster business?
Yeah, there's a monster. Thisshow is called Urban Legend. It's
set in, it's set in a smallcity where everything is idyllic
and everything's perfect andgoing smoothly until a monster shows
(09:36):
up and tries to ruineverything. So that's the quick log
line of this show is you seethese inhabitants of the town and
this monster shows up and it'sthis, it's been funny. Obviously
we're a family friendly showand people bring their kids and adults
enjoy it. But so we have thismonster that's not scary. It is large
and fluffy and has sharpteeth, but they're made of felt.
(09:58):
And it's not a scary. We doget a few like four and five year
olds who are worried about it.And then we've taken the time then
to bring them backstage andintroduce them to this monster costume
when it's sleeping and letthem know that it's all a show. It's
a. We make sure not to traumatize.
The circus has traumatized me.Talk about some of these acts that
(10:21):
you have and the performers.You've got a roller skate duo, you've
got like some folks whoperform at NBA halftime. You've got
jugglers, a comedy duo, a handbalancer, some of these.
So we, what we do is we go andfind the best circus acts in the
country and in the world andwe assemble them in St. Louis and
(10:41):
put a. And put them togetherwith our creative team and with our.
We have a live band that playsalongside them. So we take the best
of circus and bring it intothe ring and then make it a full
show, a full experience aroundthem. But there's some incredible
talent in this show. It's amonster of a show.
Oh, you caught him off guard.
Yeah, there we go. There wego. Yeah. It's this amazing monster
(11:02):
of a show with Alexi and Mary,this incredible roller skate duo
where they're spinning aroundat 100 miles an hour and Mary's spinning
by her neck while they'rerotating in a circle. This duo called
Dauntless Duo that does. It'san act called a perch pole, which
is barely anyone in the worlddoes or can do. There's this big
guy named Dutch and he putsthis 30 foot pole that he rests on
(11:26):
his shoulder. And his partnerAngela climbs up that pole and does
acrobatics on it. Dutch thencan he gets a second pole, a different
pole, and rests that one onhis forehead. And then she again
climbs up it and doesacrobats. It's a stunning thing.
Yeah, there's a lot of that.The Flying Wallendas are the most
famous circus family in theworld. You'll see their 6th and 7th
(11:47):
and 8th generation ofperformers all performing together,
from 6 year old Mateo to. Iwon't tell you how old Tino, his
grandfather is, but it's threegenerations of Wallendas doing just
some incredible stuff on thehigh wire. What else? So much else.
There's Mutts Gone Nuts is adog act that is amazing, hilarious,
cute. They do everything.They. They're the most delightful
(12:07):
presents to have. All thesedogs bounding Around. They even do
some magic tricks, these dogs.Kyron Walton is a hand balancer who's
from St. Louis. He grew up inSt. Louis and then went to circus
school in Montreal, which is athing that one can do. And now he's.
Now he's touring the worldwith different circus companies,
but we've brought him back toSt. Louis. He was in circus flora
as a kid, but now he's makinghis adult and professional debut
(12:29):
with us.
So what does a hand balance?Are they balance completely on one
hand or something?
Exactly, yeah. Handstands. Sohe balances on these. On these three,
two and then three canesthey're called, which are these long
sticks that. That he thenbounces on one hand on. He's just
a stunning performer. He makesthese incredible shapes.
It's very beautiful.
I can't stand it. It justdeserves it.
(12:51):
Wow.
Book Kennison, another St.Louis native who now lives in New
York. But he's back for thisseason. He's a juggler and plays
one of the central characters.When you guys come. There's a duo
called Daredevil Chicken andthey are clowns. They're a comedy
duo, a husband and wife. Theydo a whole lot and they're amazing.
But the thing that has ouraudiences really talking is this
(13:13):
banana act that they do, whichI don't want to give away too much
about it, but they jugglebananas with their mouths and then
it gets more insane from there.
Okay, that's gotta be. I'mgonna do this all day. I can't imagine.
I wanna remind folks thatthere is a little top. And that's
a Wednesday special one hourperformance for kids or kids at heart.
(13:36):
That's June 11th and June 18that 10am Thursday, June 12th is 7pm
first responders night.Friday, June 13th, 1pm sensory friendly
performance tailored forindividuals with different sensory
needs. Friday, June 13th at7pm is Pride Night. Sunday, June
19th at 1pm is the Juneteenthmatinee. How was opening a night?
(14:00):
Incredible. Yeah, it's. It wasgreat. We. Such great energy. We.
For our opening the last fewyears, we've done an opening day
parade where the entire circuscast and crew and we also bring in
our friends at the Red andBlack Brass Band. They play us down
from the corner of Washingtonand Grand, which is just a couple
blocks from where we performwhere the big top is. We walk down
(14:22):
Washington and through ourfront gates and into the circus tent.
And that's our kind ofofficial welcoming to our audience
and kickstart to the Season.It's really, it's a, it's an incredible
time. That band is the best. Ilove the Red and black brass band
and they, yeah, they play usinto our seasons. We did that and
then of course had a fun postshow party.
That's great. Metro Ticks iswhere you can get tickets, folks.
Tickets start at $10metrotix.com I want to also remind
(14:46):
you to go to Circus Flora F lo r a.org circus flora.org and Jack,
go into a little bit aboutclowns on Call. This is something
I don't think many people knowabout Circus Flora. I think it's
a really great thing what Iwas reading earlier, but I'd like
for you to explain it and theimpact it has on our community.
Of course. Yeah. So Circusflora, we're a St. Louis nonprofit.
(15:09):
We in some ways resemble atraditional circus that might be
touring through town and stopsfor a little bit and then heads out.
But no, we're a St. Louisinstitution and we're only in St.
Louis. And so we do ourseasonal performance, this big world
class circus show. But thenthroughout the rest of the year we're
still in the community andstill a part of St. Louis. So we
have some great communityoutreach programs, one of which is
(15:31):
this program, Clowns on Call.We have several clown performers,
some clowns that we send intolocal children's hospitals and we
partner with SSM Health,Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
and Rankin, Jordan and sitemanKids at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
And what we do is we havethese performers go and visit kids
who are going through thisreally, what is pretty much always
(15:53):
a really difficult time andone of the harder times in there
in their family's lives andtry to help them get through it in
various different ways. Andwhat's really nice is there, you
might hear that and thinkgiant boisterous clowns, big noses,
honking horns, which likemaybe it's sometimes a version of
that where they're. If that'swhat the situation calls for. But
they're really these sensitiveperformers and so they're, they're
(16:15):
able to go into a room andspeak with the care team and assess
the situation. And maybe theyare being funny and distracting a
kid from an upcomingprocedure. That's certainly part
of what they do. Maybe thesituation calls for the patient and
the parents or have somethingto focus on there. But the sibling
who's also going through thisexperience needs to be entertained
or needs to. Needs a buddy orneeds to laugh a little bit or Whatever
(16:35):
it is. Or maybe, maybe thesituation just calls for going into
a quiet room and strumming alullaby on the ukulele. Like they're
great at feeling their waythrough these things. And it really
is impactful. There's a wholeinternational community of clown
doctors or hospital clowns.And all the research that's been
done suggests this issomething that really is. Improves
(16:56):
patient outcomes. It's areally critical part of the overall
care team. Obviously, it's.It's doesn't work by itself. It's
in partnership with themedical team, the doctors and nurses
and everyone. But it'ssomething that's really wonderful
and I think a really impactfulprogram that we do.
No, kudos to you guys fordoing that program. Wonderful. Yeah,
it really is. Especially, andI had never thought about until you
(17:17):
had said that, like siblingsor parents, one thing if it's the
patient, but another thing,it's. If it's a sibling who's going
through it too, and theparents. And you have another thing
called Share the Circus.What's Share the Circus about?
That's a program in which wepartner with other St. Louis nonprofits
and we give away thousands offree tickets to Circus Flora. So
(17:39):
the idea is we try to havethis universal show that we hope
everyone in the community isgoing to love. That's the idea, is
that Circus Flora is reallyfor everyone. But obviously there's
various barriers to coming toCircus Flora. If you're in the hospital,
we try to bring a little pieceof it to you through Clowns on Call.
If you might not have thefinancial resources or the wherewithal
(17:59):
to the ability to get toCircus Flora, we try to partner with
other St. Louis nonprofits whowe feel who are already working with
different communities who areeither under resourced or might otherwise
have trouble getting to CircusFlora. And we, through them, we distribute
free tickets to our show. Andwe hope that everyone can come and
enjoy this really joyfulexperience of coming to Circus Floor
with everyone in the St. Louis community.
(18:21):
If you've never been to thecircus, you need to go. Circus Floor
is a great institution here inthe St. Louis metropolitan area.
And I want to encourageeverybody to do that.
And it's the circus is, isn'tit right behind the symphony, the
St. Louis Symphony Hall?
Yeah. So we used to performdirectly in the symphony parking
lot. And we've, as of a fewyears ago, we've moved what is a
(18:44):
more permanent home still inGrand Center. It's like Caddy Corner
across the street, but it'sRight on Washington, about two blocks
down from the Fox Theater. Sojust east of Grand.
And you. Yeah, it's easy tosee, easy to get to.
Big tops all set up, right? Yeah.
And it's only once a year forabout a month. Is that.
Yeah. We run seasonally inJune, so we think of ourselves as
a harbinger of summer for St.Louis families. And the thing I'll
(19:06):
add about our performing inJune is that we air condition the
tents. We keep it nice andcool in there, which thankfully it's
not been. It's been more wetthan hot lately. But the AC is come
in handy as June continues. Weknow that heat's coming, but it's
nice and cool in the big time.
I bet it. Yeah. That's great.
So the season is going onright now, folks, as we speak. June
5th through the 22nd, it'sCircus Circus Flora's 39th season.
(19:29):
The 39th season mark. Can youbelieve it?
Wow.
No, that's crazy. You want togo see the axe? Go to circus floor.org
or go to Metro Tix to gettickets. That's metrotix.com Jack
Marsh, thanks for coming inSt. Louis in tune and talking to
us about the show. Weappreciate it.
Thank you guys. It's beengreat to talk to you.
We're going to take a break.We'll be right back. You're listening
(19:49):
to St. Lucin tune with ArnoldStricker and Mark Langston. Don't
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or call 314.773-9090. This isArnold Stricker of St. Louis in Tune
on behalf of the Dred ScottHeritage Foundation. In 1857, the
Dred Scott decision was amajor legal event and catalyst that
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(21:43):
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(22:25):
has been Arnold Stricker ofSt. Louis in Tunes. Welcome back
to St. Louis in Tune. This isArnold Stricker with Mark Langston
and Mark Circus Flora.Dazzling audiences of all ages with
(22:48):
its unique combination ofworld class circus performers, exceptional
storytelling and live originalmusic. June 5th through the 22nd
folks.
I think it's great.
That was fun. Jack did a great job.
What a guy. Yeah, I've neverbeen. Have you ever been to circus
floor?
I've not been. My wife's beenand I was busy one night and she
(23:12):
and our daughter in law whencould have gone but it's just too
much going on.
Didn't think it was going tobe fun.
No, I did. I was just like Iwas tired.
Yeah, okay. I've seen that.I've gone to the symphony and I've
seen the tent there.
That's.
I was asking. I thought theyhad moved but it's right there by
the symphony. If you knowwhere that Is down grand by the Fox
(23:34):
theater. It's in that area.And it's great that it's permanent.
It's here. It's a St. Louis staple.
Yes. And wasn't always itmoved here. They started in South
Carolina, I believe it was.And it was started by a Italian composer,
Giancarlo Manotti for theSpoleto festival.
(23:54):
Ay ay Yai.
In 1986. And it was to bringthe best elements of traditional
European circus with moderntheater and circus. Flora's big top
tent was the first evererected at the Kennedy Center. And
then it was also raised at theLincoln Center.
Oh my.
(24:14):
In New York City. Just awonderful thing.
Oh yeah.
Has a national andinternational reputation.
So I guess they just takeperformers that tour around the country,
bring them all together acouple a few weeks.
And very similar to what a lotof the theaters do. The muni or what
goes on at a variety of. Likewe did the Missouri chamber Music
(24:37):
festival. Gather internationaland national artists together.
Yeah.
To have all these wonderfulfolks here in St. Louis to be able
to see what's going on.
I'll be tired. Yeah.
Here's a little trivia forcircus lovers out there. And band
music lovers.
Oh really?
Okay. That's. There was alwayscircus bands and they played these
gallops and things calledgallops and circus things. But they
(24:58):
never played Stars and stripesforever Unless there was a fire in
the circus tent. When theyplayed Stars and stripes forever,
the circus performers knewthere's a fire somewhere.
Get out.
Yes.
I don't know why I did that.
Ladies and gentlemen.
(25:22):
Wow.
You've got your finger on that button.
We're reaching right now.Right. Wow. That's real.
Do you have any days of theday, Mark?
There's a couple ofinteresting ones. Where is that first
one here? A national call yourdoctor day. Oh. National Bedbug prevention
day.
Oh, gosh.
How do you prevent bedbugs?I'm not sure. National Black cow
(25:43):
day. It's a black. It's adrink. Black cow drink.
Oh, I always thought thosewere. Oh, those are brown cows. Were
those ice cream bars?
Right now there's national lawballpoint pen day. The ballpoint
pen holds a special place intheir pen holder for those that it
does. Uh huh. National Eggroll day. Oh, I feel like I should
(26:06):
have an accent when I saythat. Egg roll. The egg roll. I'm
just kidding. Oh, here's one.This is what we've all been waiting
for. National forklift safetyday. What O Herbs and spices day.
Did you ever grow herbs orspices at your house?
I grew herbs. Yes. I lovebasil. A lot of basil. Rosemary,
(26:29):
basil, thyme.
Yeah, I'll be darn. Really?
Yeah.
Basil.
It's a lot cheaper than buyingit at the store.
Uh huh. The Belmont Steaks iscoming. Oh, yeah. It is cheaper than
buying it at the store.
Belmont Steaks just happened.
I know.
So it's the former Belmont Steaks.
It is.
The horse that won theKentucky Derby. Won the Belmont.
Yeah. National GermanChocolate Cake Day. Do you like German
(26:52):
Chocolate Cake?
I do.
All right. What is this?National Making Life Beautiful Day.
Remove those Snapchats andInstagram filters and.
See what people really look like.
And they're real beauty. Howabout national say hi Day? Hi.
That's every Day.
How you doing?
Every day.
Howdy. Yeah, I like that too.Yeah, there's not much. There's just
(27:16):
not. We're getting into thepart of summertime when they. We
just don't celebrate manydays. I don't think.
I don't think Congress doesn'thave anything to do.
Democracy Day is coming up.That's the one.
Every day.
That's one of my favorites.Yep. Yep.
Okay.
Okay. That's Jerky day.
Beef jerky day.
Do you like. I like beef jerky.
As long as it's not overlysodiumized. How about that one?
(27:40):
Yeah. Sodiumized.
Sodiumized.
That's a new word.
Yeah. Mark. I dropped my copyof Oliver Twist on my toe. It hurt
like the dickens.
Oh, my. You did not just say that.
Most people write congratsbecause they don't know the spelling
of C O N G R A J U L A S H I,o, n s. Do you know that in 3025
(28:10):
years, life will either bereally good or really bad? Because
it's going to be 50. 50.
Oh, yeah. Sorry.
And I saw an old dude with afishing rod outside my local bar
fishing in a puddle. He lookedso cold. I said to him, come in for
a drink and get warm. As wesipped our double whiskeys, I thought
(28:30):
I would humor him. I askedhim, how many you caught today? He
replied, you're the eight. Anda waitress asked me if I want a box
for my leftovers. We wentthree rounds before she knocked me
out.
Oh, no.
(28:53):
Let's see. What's this? Ididn't believe. Excuse me? I didn't
want to believe my dad wasstealing from his job as a road worker.
But when I got home, all thesigns were there.
Oh, yeah. All right. Yeah.
My therapist told me the wayto achieve true inner peace is to
finish what I start so far. Ifinished two bags of M&Ms. And a
(29:16):
chocolate cake and I feelbetter already. And we'll close with
this one. A truck driver wasdriving along on the freeway. A sign
comes up that reads, lowbridge ahead. Before he knows it,
the bridge is right ahead ofhim and he gets stuck under the bridge.
Cars are backed up for milesand finally a police car comes up.
The policeman gets out of hiscar and walks around to the truck
(29:37):
driver, puts his hands on hiships and says, says, got stuck, huh?
Truck driver says, no, I wasdelivering this bridge and ran out
of gas.
Yes. Love that part.
Oh, that's all for this show,folks. Thanks for listening. If you've
enjoyed this episode, you canlisten to additional shows@stlntune.com
consider leaving a review onour website, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser,
(30:00):
or your preferred podcastplatform. Your feedback helps us
reach more listeners andcontinue to grow. I want to thank
Bob Berthisel for our thememusic, our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,
our guest, Jack Marsh and cohost Mark Langston. And we thank
you for being a part of ourcommunity of curious minds. St. Louis
in tune is a production ofMotif Media Group and the US Radio
Network. Remember to keepseeking, keep learning, walk worthy,
(30:22):
and let your light shine. ForSt. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.
Sam.
After riding to Clydesdalewhen he was two years old, he grew
up and got his bachelor'sdegree in economics from Harvard
and a juris doctorate from theUniversity of Wisconsin. He became
a corporate attorney in NewYork, but eventually ran away to
rejoin the circus. We're goingto talk to him and more on St. Louis
in Tune. Welcome to St. Louisin Tune and thank you for joining
(00:35):
us for fresh perspectives onissues and events with experts, community
leaders, and everyday peoplewho make a difference in shaping
our society and world. I'mArnold Stricker along with co host
Slap happy Mark Langston Today.
Yeah, that's it. How are you, Arnold?
Hey.
Whoa, whoa.
It's just been a wild morning, Mark.
(00:56):
It has. The rain has stopped.The monsoons in St. Louis have given
up for a little bit.
So I stopped building my ark.
Yeah, there you go.
We're happy that you've joinedus today. Folks want to thank our
sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,for their support of the show. You
can listen to previousshows@stlintune.com please help us
continue to grow by leaving areview on our website, Apple Podcast
(01:19):
or your preferred podcastplatform. Our return to civility
today is if you bring a childwith you to a restaurant, bring toys
to keep them entertained. Now,notice it wasn't electronics. And
by all means, pay attention tothem. Remember that the other customers
are there for a good diningexperience, not to interact with
(01:39):
your children.
Oh, I know. Should we even gothere with all this? I was always
good with our boys. I wouldtake them out and we'd walk outside
and. Yeah, some people,though, go, okay, he'll get over
it. He'll stop crying in about10 minutes. But, yeah, that's good
advice.
And I see people hand them theelectronic device and they stop anything.
(02:00):
Yeah, but kids are kids.
But I tell you what, if youbring a child to the circus, you
will keep them entertained.And our guest is Jack Marsh. Jack,
welcome to St. Louis in Tune.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
He's artistic and a directexecutive director of Circus Flora.
Mark, Circus Flora is big herein St. Louis.
That's right. I could tell bythe big floppy shoes that he has
(02:20):
and the red nose. I'm surehe's heard this stuff before.
And the fact that I am a horse.
Yes, you're a horse.
I know we have a horse. I knowhe's looking for it. Yeah, there
we go. So two years old, yourode a Clydesdale?
Yeah, yeah. I grew up in thecircus in Circus Flora, specifically.
(02:43):
My. My mother has always beeninvolved in Circus Flora. Since it
was founded in 1986. And thatwas when I was about 2 years old.
Wow.
I didn't. It didn't go veryfast and I. I didn't do very much
on it. But that was. That wasmy first job in the circus.
And you juggled and you're anacrobat or you do the flying trapeze,
too?
Growing up, I was an acrobatand a juggler. Yeah. I would perform
in Circus Flora and do thosethings. Then I gave up the performing
(03:07):
bit of it, and now I'm aproducer and help organize the show
and conceive it and bring itto life.
So what does a guy who growsup in the circus. He goes to Harvard.
Yeah. And gets his bachelor'sin economics. Why economics and why
Harvard?
Harvard was a school that Iapplied to and got into. And it sounded
(03:27):
like it would be a pretty goodeducation, so I went. It didn't hurt
that I could write myadmissions essay about growing up
in the circus. I think it'sgood to have those standout sorts
of sorts of facts aboutyourself. And then. Yeah, when I
was there, I studiedeconomics. I liked math and thought
it would be an interestingthing to study. Didn't really know
where it would take me. Andhere I am.
(03:48):
And then you wanted to becomean attorney, or was it. What was
economics involved in thatportion? Where it was. You were going
to. Wanted to be a legaladvisor on economic kinds of things
or with corporations orsomething like that?
No, I went to law school. Ithink economics is a fine background
to then go to law school. ButI had friends who were in law school
or were lawyers while I was incollege. And that sounded like a.
(04:11):
I liked them and liked theirbrains and how they thought and thought.
That might be a good path forme. And so I went to law school in
Wisconsin for a few years andthen practiced law for a few years
after that before giving itall up for Circus Flora.
So were you in New York Cityas a corporate attorney?
Yeah. Correct. Yeah, I was.Grew up part of New York and then
part traveling with CircusFlora wherever we were, which was
(04:31):
often St. Louis.
So the courtroom and New Yorkare kind of like mini circuses anyway.
Right.
So you probably felt right at heart.
There's a performance elementto it all, to all of life.
Drawing you back was thisexecutive director.
Role, artistic director role.So the. The gentleman who founded
Circus Flora was thiswonderful man, Ivor David Balding.
He founded Circus Flora andwas its longtime artistic director.
(04:54):
And then as he was gettingolder and looking towards an eventual
retirement. He was wanting toput a succession plan in place with
our board of directors. And sohe and I began to speak about it.
And at the time, I was workingas a corporate lawyer. Overworked,
stressed, not really likingit. Always trying to sneak off from
my law gig to go see whatevershows, plays, circuses. I could.
(05:18):
Had a feeling that I wasn't onthe right path for myself. And. Yeah.
And then speaking with David,it made a whole lot of sense and
it's been wonderful.
Well, kudos to you forrecognizing and understanding that
sometimes a path that we godown is not the one that we should
maintain and keep going down.And congratulations to you for being
(05:38):
fluid. To move and do thattakes courage. Yeah, it does take
courage.
All that schooling and everything.
Yeah.
All the tests that you have togo through to be a lawyer.
For crying. I'll tell you thatstuff. Never.
And it's expensive to be a lawyer.
To go to school, but you work.You work your butt off.
Yeah, yeah, it's expensive.And then I was in debt and then I
got a corporate gig to try topay off that. That debt. And then
(06:00):
I did. And then you got out.That's enough.
Enough of that.
Now, you mentioned thefounding of the. And David.
Yeah, David Boulding.
And. Because he was. Tell us alittle bit about Flora, because didn't
he have a relationship withthe elephant Flora that circus Flora
is named after?
I was wondering about that.
(06:20):
Yeah.
Glad you asked that question.
Yeah. So David. David had beena. He came from a family of horse
trainers. He was always in andaround animals. And he was also a
theater producer. He had goneto Harvard and. As well and not finished.
But he left to go to New Yorkto become a theater producer. So
then he had this sort of twinlove of performance and theater and
(06:44):
also animals and circus. Andso he combined all of that into.
He adopted Flora the elephant.In the early 80s. Flora was a. An
orphaned elephant, a babyelephant at the time from Botswana.
And he, as I guess you did inthe 80s, adopted her and then wanted
to make a circus with her asthe star of it. So he named this
(07:07):
circus Flora. And off we were.
And as time continues andthose larger animals are not accepted
in positions like being circusanimals. Now. She's still in. She's
in Florida right now, correct?
She's in Tennessee right now.Yeah. She. In 99 or 2000. Around.
Around the turn of thecentury. She retired from performing
(07:27):
at. I think she was 19 or 20and. And went to. To this place called
the Elephant Sanctuary inTennessee, where she's. Elephants
live a good long time andshe's, she's there and doing great.
She's got a lot of friendsdown there.
Aw, that's wonderful.
Yeah, love it. And I'm gladshe's doing well because sometimes
a lot of animals don't doafter they've been in captivity and
(07:49):
then they get a little morefreedom and things like that.
Yeah.
This is Arnold Stricker withMark Langston of St. Lucien Tomb.
We're talking to Jack Marsh,he's the artistic and executive director
of Circus Flora and we'retalking to him because they are celebrating
currently right now. Theystarted June 5th and it runs through
the 22nd. Their 30 season withUrban Legend. Now let's talk about
(08:10):
Urban Legend. What are wetalking about there?
Circus Flora. At its core,it's this wonderful world class circus
with these amazing circus actsand high wire and aerialists and
acrobats and we have someperforming dogs in this show. But
the other thing that we areis, is a theater company, we're a
storytelling show. So all ofthose acts that are part of the show,
(08:30):
we write a narrative, astoryline that, that winds you through
those acts. So it's. The ideais that you get to see these amazing
things. You also get a fun,quirky story that gets told through
these performers and you getto know these people as characters
and then you see them do thesesuperhuman things and it to, to me
(08:51):
it's, it really adds to thejoy of being there and seeing them.
You get to know all theseperformers and their humanity and
how fun they are. You see howdifficult it is what they're doing
together that, that reallyadds to the fun of the experience
of going to Circus Flora.
And then I've got here. Thecity's folklore comes to life in
thrilling and unexpected ways.Get ready for a thing here, Mark.
(09:14):
With daring acrobats, cleverclowns, incredible performance dogs
and a monster. What's thismonster business?
Yeah, there's a monster. Thisshow is called Urban Legend. It's
set in, it's set in a smallcity where everything is idyllic
and everything's perfect andgoing smoothly until a monster shows
(09:36):
up and tries to ruineverything. So that's the quick log
line of this show is you seethese inhabitants of the town and
this monster shows up and it'sthis, it's been funny. Obviously
we're a family friendly showand people bring their kids and adults
enjoy it. But so we have thismonster that's not scary. It is large
and fluffy and has sharpteeth, but they're made of felt.
(09:58):
And it's not a scary. We doget a few like four and five year
olds who are worried about it.And then we've taken the time then
to bring them backstage andintroduce them to this monster costume
when it's sleeping and letthem know that it's all a show. It's
a. We make sure not to traumatize.
The circus has traumatized me.Talk about some of these acts that
(10:21):
you have and the performers.You've got a roller skate duo, you've
got like some folks whoperform at NBA halftime. You've got
jugglers, a comedy duo, a handbalancer, some of these.
So we, what we do is we go andfind the best circus acts in the
country and in the world andwe assemble them in St. Louis and
(10:41):
put a. And put them togetherwith our creative team and with our.
We have a live band that playsalongside them. So we take the best
of circus and bring it intothe ring and then make it a full
show, a full experience aroundthem. But there's some incredible
talent in this show. It's amonster of a show.
Oh, you caught him off guard.
Yeah, there we go. There wego. Yeah. It's this amazing monster
(11:02):
of a show with Alexi and Mary,this incredible roller skate duo
where they're spinning aroundat 100 miles an hour and Mary's spinning
by her neck while they'rerotating in a circle. This duo called
Dauntless Duo that does. It'san act called a perch pole, which
is barely anyone in the worlddoes or can do. There's this big
guy named Dutch and he putsthis 30 foot pole that he rests on
(11:26):
his shoulder. And his partnerAngela climbs up that pole and does
acrobatics on it. Dutch thencan he gets a second pole, a different
pole, and rests that one onhis forehead. And then she again
climbs up it and doesacrobats. It's a stunning thing.
Yeah, there's a lot of that.The Flying Wallendas are the most
famous circus family in theworld. You'll see their 6th and 7th
(11:47):
and 8th generation ofperformers all performing together,
from 6 year old Mateo to. Iwon't tell you how old Tino, his
grandfather is, but it's threegenerations of Wallendas doing just
some incredible stuff on thehigh wire. What else? So much else.
There's Mutts Gone Nuts is adog act that is amazing, hilarious,
cute. They do everything.They. They're the most delightful
(12:07):
presents to have. All thesedogs bounding Around. They even do
some magic tricks, these dogs.Kyron Walton is a hand balancer who's
from St. Louis. He grew up inSt. Louis and then went to circus
school in Montreal, which is athing that one can do. And now he's.
Now he's touring the worldwith different circus companies,
but we've brought him back toSt. Louis. He was in circus flora
as a kid, but now he's makinghis adult and professional debut
(12:29):
with us.
So what does a hand balance?Are they balance completely on one
hand or something?
Exactly, yeah. Handstands. Sohe balances on these. On these three,
two and then three canesthey're called, which are these long
sticks that. That he thenbounces on one hand on. He's just
a stunning performer. He makesthese incredible shapes.
It's very beautiful.
I can't stand it. It justdeserves it.
(12:51):
Wow.
Book Kennison, another St.Louis native who now lives in New
York. But he's back for thisseason. He's a juggler and plays
one of the central characters.When you guys come. There's a duo
called Daredevil Chicken andthey are clowns. They're a comedy
duo, a husband and wife. Theydo a whole lot and they're amazing.
But the thing that has ouraudiences really talking is this
(13:13):
banana act that they do, whichI don't want to give away too much
about it, but they jugglebananas with their mouths and then
it gets more insane from there.
Okay, that's gotta be. I'mgonna do this all day. I can't imagine.
I wanna remind folks thatthere is a little top. And that's
a Wednesday special one hourperformance for kids or kids at heart.
(13:36):
That's June 11th and June 18that 10am Thursday, June 12th is 7pm
first responders night.Friday, June 13th, 1pm sensory friendly
performance tailored forindividuals with different sensory
needs. Friday, June 13th at7pm is Pride Night. Sunday, June
19th at 1pm is the Juneteenthmatinee. How was opening a night?
(14:00):
Incredible. Yeah, it's. It wasgreat. We. Such great energy. We.
For our opening the last fewyears, we've done an opening day
parade where the entire circuscast and crew and we also bring in
our friends at the Red andBlack Brass Band. They play us down
from the corner of Washingtonand Grand, which is just a couple
blocks from where we performwhere the big top is. We walk down
(14:22):
Washington and through ourfront gates and into the circus tent.
And that's our kind ofofficial welcoming to our audience
and kickstart to the Season.It's really, it's a, it's an incredible
time. That band is the best. Ilove the Red and black brass band
and they, yeah, they play usinto our seasons. We did that and
then of course had a fun postshow party.
That's great. Metro Ticks iswhere you can get tickets, folks.
Tickets start at $10metrotix.com I want to also remind
(14:46):
you to go to Circus Flora F lo r a.org circus flora.org and Jack,
go into a little bit aboutclowns on Call. This is something
I don't think many people knowabout Circus Flora. I think it's
a really great thing what Iwas reading earlier, but I'd like
for you to explain it and theimpact it has on our community.
Of course. Yeah. So Circusflora, we're a St. Louis nonprofit.
(15:09):
We in some ways resemble atraditional circus that might be
touring through town and stopsfor a little bit and then heads out.
But no, we're a St. Louisinstitution and we're only in St.
Louis. And so we do ourseasonal performance, this big world
class circus show. But thenthroughout the rest of the year we're
still in the community andstill a part of St. Louis. So we
have some great communityoutreach programs, one of which is
(15:31):
this program, Clowns on Call.We have several clown performers,
some clowns that we send intolocal children's hospitals and we
partner with SSM Health,Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
and Rankin, Jordan and sitemanKids at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
And what we do is we havethese performers go and visit kids
who are going through thisreally, what is pretty much always
(15:53):
a really difficult time andone of the harder times in there
in their family's lives andtry to help them get through it in
various different ways. Andwhat's really nice is there, you
might hear that and thinkgiant boisterous clowns, big noses,
honking horns, which likemaybe it's sometimes a version of
that where they're. If that'swhat the situation calls for. But
they're really these sensitiveperformers and so they're, they're
(16:15):
able to go into a room andspeak with the care team and assess
the situation. And maybe theyare being funny and distracting a
kid from an upcomingprocedure. That's certainly part
of what they do. Maybe thesituation calls for the patient and
the parents or have somethingto focus on there. But the sibling
who's also going through thisexperience needs to be entertained
or needs to. Needs a buddy orneeds to laugh a little bit or Whatever
(16:35):
it is. Or maybe, maybe thesituation just calls for going into
a quiet room and strumming alullaby on the ukulele. Like they're
great at feeling their waythrough these things. And it really
is impactful. There's a wholeinternational community of clown
doctors or hospital clowns.And all the research that's been
done suggests this issomething that really is. Improves
(16:56):
patient outcomes. It's areally critical part of the overall
care team. Obviously, it's.It's doesn't work by itself. It's
in partnership with themedical team, the doctors and nurses
and everyone. But it'ssomething that's really wonderful
and I think a really impactfulprogram that we do.
No, kudos to you guys fordoing that program. Wonderful. Yeah,
it really is. Especially, andI had never thought about until you
(17:17):
had said that, like siblingsor parents, one thing if it's the
patient, but another thing,it's. If it's a sibling who's going
through it too, and theparents. And you have another thing
called Share the Circus.What's Share the Circus about?
That's a program in which wepartner with other St. Louis nonprofits
and we give away thousands offree tickets to Circus Flora. So
(17:39):
the idea is we try to havethis universal show that we hope
everyone in the community isgoing to love. That's the idea, is
that Circus Flora is reallyfor everyone. But obviously there's
various barriers to coming toCircus Flora. If you're in the hospital,
we try to bring a little pieceof it to you through Clowns on Call.
If you might not have thefinancial resources or the wherewithal
(17:59):
to the ability to get toCircus Flora, we try to partner with
other St. Louis nonprofits whowe feel who are already working with
different communities who areeither under resourced or might otherwise
have trouble getting to CircusFlora. And we, through them, we distribute
free tickets to our show. Andwe hope that everyone can come and
enjoy this really joyfulexperience of coming to Circus Floor
with everyone in the St. Louis community.
(18:21):
If you've never been to thecircus, you need to go. Circus Floor
is a great institution here inthe St. Louis metropolitan area.
And I want to encourageeverybody to do that.
And it's the circus is, isn'tit right behind the symphony, the
St. Louis Symphony Hall?
Yeah. So we used to performdirectly in the symphony parking
lot. And we've, as of a fewyears ago, we've moved what is a
(18:44):
more permanent home still inGrand Center. It's like Caddy Corner
across the street, but it'sRight on Washington, about two blocks
down from the Fox Theater. Sojust east of Grand.
And you. Yeah, it's easy tosee, easy to get to.
Big tops all set up, right? Yeah.
And it's only once a year forabout a month. Is that.
Yeah. We run seasonally inJune, so we think of ourselves as
a harbinger of summer for St.Louis families. And the thing I'll
(19:06):
add about our performing inJune is that we air condition the
tents. We keep it nice andcool in there, which thankfully it's
not been. It's been more wetthan hot lately. But the AC is come
in handy as June continues. Weknow that heat's coming, but it's
nice and cool in the big time.
I bet it. Yeah. That's great.
So the season is going onright now, folks, as we speak. June
5th through the 22nd, it'sCircus Circus Flora's 39th season.
(19:29):
The 39th season mark. Can youbelieve it?
Wow.
No, that's crazy. You want togo see the axe? Go to circus floor.org
or go to Metro Tix to gettickets. That's metrotix.com Jack
Marsh, thanks for coming inSt. Louis in tune and talking to
us about the show. Weappreciate it.
Thank you guys. It's beengreat to talk to you.
We're going to take a break.We'll be right back. You're listening
(19:49):
to St. Lucin tune with ArnoldStricker and Mark Langston. Don't
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communities. Welcome Corps isa public private partnership that
is inspired by what Americansrepresent to so many around the world.
A beacon of hope and refuge.All it takes is a helping hand. Are
you ready? To learn more,contact the International Institute
of St. Louis@infoistl.org orcall 314-773-9090. That's infoistl.org
(21:21):
or call 314.773-9090. This isArnold Stricker of St. Louis in Tune
on behalf of the Dred ScottHeritage Foundation. In 1857, the
Dred Scott decision was amajor legal event and catalyst that
contributed to the Civil War.The decision declared that Dred Scott
could not be free because hewas not a citizen. The 14th Amendment,
(21:43):
also called the Dred ScottAmendment, granted citizenship to
all born or naturalized herein our country and was intended to
overturn the US Supreme Courtdecision on July 9, 1868. The Dred
Scott Heritage foundation isrequesting a commemorative stamp
to be issued from the USPostal Service to recognize and remember
the heritage of this amendmentby issuing a stamp with the likeness
(22:04):
of the man Dred Scott. But weneed your support and the support
of thousands of people whowould like to see this happen. To
achieve this goal, we ask youto download, sign and share the one
page petition with others. Tofind the petition, please go to dredscottlives.org
and click on the Dred Scottpetition drive on the right side
of the page. On behalf of theDred Scott Heritage foundation, this
(22:25):
has been Arnold Stricker ofSt. Louis in Tunes. Welcome back
to St. Louis in Tune. This isArnold Stricker with Mark Langston
and Mark Circus Flora.Dazzling audiences of all ages with
(22:48):
its unique combination ofworld class circus performers, exceptional
storytelling and live originalmusic. June 5th through the 22nd
folks.
I think it's great.
That was fun. Jack did a great job.
What a guy. Yeah, I've neverbeen. Have you ever been to circus
floor?
I've not been. My wife's beenand I was busy one night and she
(23:12):
and our daughter in law whencould have gone but it's just too
much going on.
Didn't think it was going tobe fun.
No, I did. I was just like Iwas tired.
Yeah, okay. I've seen that.I've gone to the symphony and I've
seen the tent there.
That's.
I was asking. I thought theyhad moved but it's right there by
the symphony. If you knowwhere that Is down grand by the Fox
(23:34):
theater. It's in that area.And it's great that it's permanent.
It's here. It's a St. Louis staple.
Yes. And wasn't always itmoved here. They started in South
Carolina, I believe it was.And it was started by a Italian composer,
Giancarlo Manotti for theSpoleto festival.
(23:54):
Ay ay Yai.
In 1986. And it was to bringthe best elements of traditional
European circus with moderntheater and circus. Flora's big top
tent was the first evererected at the Kennedy Center. And
then it was also raised at theLincoln Center.
Oh my.
(24:14):
In New York City. Just awonderful thing.
Oh yeah.
Has a national andinternational reputation.
So I guess they just takeperformers that tour around the country,
bring them all together acouple a few weeks.
And very similar to what a lotof the theaters do. The muni or what
goes on at a variety of. Likewe did the Missouri chamber Music
(24:37):
festival. Gather internationaland national artists together.
Yeah.
To have all these wonderfulfolks here in St. Louis to be able
to see what's going on.
I'll be tired. Yeah.
Here's a little trivia forcircus lovers out there. And band
music lovers.
Oh really?
Okay. That's. There was alwayscircus bands and they played these
gallops and things calledgallops and circus things. But they
(24:58):
never played Stars and stripesforever Unless there was a fire in
the circus tent. When theyplayed Stars and stripes forever,
the circus performers knewthere's a fire somewhere.
Get out.
Yes.
I don't know why I did that.
Ladies and gentlemen.
(25:22):
Wow.
You've got your finger on that button.
We're reaching right now.Right. Wow. That's real.
Do you have any days of theday, Mark?
There's a couple ofinteresting ones. Where is that first
one here? A national call yourdoctor day. Oh. National Bedbug prevention
day.
Oh, gosh.
How do you prevent bedbugs?I'm not sure. National Black cow
(25:43):
day. It's a black. It's adrink. Black cow drink.
Oh, I always thought thosewere. Oh, those are brown cows. Were
those ice cream bars?
Right now there's national lawballpoint pen day. The ballpoint
pen holds a special place intheir pen holder for those that it
does. Uh huh. National Eggroll day. Oh, I feel like I should
(26:06):
have an accent when I saythat. Egg roll. The egg roll. I'm
just kidding. Oh, here's one.This is what we've all been waiting
for. National forklift safetyday. What O Herbs and spices day.
Did you ever grow herbs orspices at your house?
I grew herbs. Yes. I lovebasil. A lot of basil. Rosemary,
(26:29):
basil, thyme.
Yeah, I'll be darn. Really?
Yeah.
Basil.
It's a lot cheaper than buyingit at the store.
Uh huh. The Belmont Steaks iscoming. Oh, yeah. It is cheaper than
buying it at the store.
Belmont Steaks just happened.
I know.
So it's the former Belmont Steaks.
It is.
The horse that won theKentucky Derby. Won the Belmont.
Yeah. National GermanChocolate Cake Day. Do you like German
(26:52):
Chocolate Cake?
I do.
All right. What is this?National Making Life Beautiful Day.
Remove those Snapchats andInstagram filters and.
See what people really look like.
And they're real beauty. Howabout national say hi Day? Hi.
That's every Day.
How you doing?
Every day.
Howdy. Yeah, I like that too.Yeah, there's not much. There's just
(27:16):
not. We're getting into thepart of summertime when they. We
just don't celebrate manydays. I don't think.
I don't think Congress doesn'thave anything to do.
Democracy Day is coming up.That's the one.
Every day.
That's one of my favorites.Yep. Yep.
Okay.
Okay. That's Jerky day.
Beef jerky day.
Do you like. I like beef jerky.
As long as it's not overlysodiumized. How about that one?
(27:40):
Yeah. Sodiumized.
Sodiumized.
That's a new word.
Yeah. Mark. I dropped my copyof Oliver Twist on my toe. It hurt
like the dickens.
Oh, my. You did not just say that.
Most people write congratsbecause they don't know the spelling
of C O N G R A J U L A S H I,o, n s. Do you know that in 3025
(28:10):
years, life will either bereally good or really bad? Because
it's going to be 50. 50.
Oh, yeah. Sorry.
And I saw an old dude with afishing rod outside my local bar
fishing in a puddle. He lookedso cold. I said to him, come in for
a drink and get warm. As wesipped our double whiskeys, I thought
(28:30):
I would humor him. I askedhim, how many you caught today? He
replied, you're the eight. Anda waitress asked me if I want a box
for my leftovers. We wentthree rounds before she knocked me
out.
Oh, no.
(28:53):
Let's see. What's this? Ididn't believe. Excuse me? I didn't
want to believe my dad wasstealing from his job as a road worker.
But when I got home, all thesigns were there.
Oh, yeah. All right. Yeah.
My therapist told me the wayto achieve true inner peace is to
finish what I start so far. Ifinished two bags of M&Ms. And a
(29:16):
chocolate cake and I feelbetter already. And we'll close with
this one. A truck driver wasdriving along on the freeway. A sign
comes up that reads, lowbridge ahead. Before he knows it,
the bridge is right ahead ofhim and he gets stuck under the bridge.
Cars are backed up for milesand finally a police car comes up.
The policeman gets out of hiscar and walks around to the truck
(29:37):
driver, puts his hands on hiships and says, says, got stuck, huh?
Truck driver says, no, I wasdelivering this bridge and ran out
of gas.
Yes. Love that part.
Oh, that's all for this show,folks. Thanks for listening. If you've
enjoyed this episode, you canlisten to additional shows@stlntune.com
consider leaving a review onour website, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser,
(30:00):
or your preferred podcastplatform. Your feedback helps us
reach more listeners andcontinue to grow. I want to thank
Bob Berthisel for our thememusic, our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage,
our guest, Jack Marsh and cohost Mark Langston. And we thank
you for being a part of ourcommunity of curious minds. St. Louis
in tune is a production ofMotif Media Group and the US Radio
Network. Remember to keepseeking, keep learning, walk worthy,
(30:22):
and let your light shine. ForSt. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.
Sam.
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