Producer Joe Strange
About Joe Strange
Howdy, I’m Joe Strange. I’m a retired Circus Clown turned Ring Master for a Murder Mystery Comedy Dinner Theater. (Circus Joke) I’ve been running the Mystery Café since 1995 and have entertained over a million with the Circuses and the Dinner theaters I’ve been involved with.
My stint with the Mystery Café started in 1992. My time as a Circus Clown had ended with The Garden Brothers Circus of Canada. It had closed for the time being. I returned to Indiana, where I opened the Indianapolis Star to look for work. There was an ad for a brand-new dinner theater in Indianapolis called the Mystery Café. The Minneapolis Mystery Café was opening an Indianapolis location. I auditioned and won the part of Anthony Margate. The show was “Let’s Kill the Boss.” It was previewed here on October 10th, 1992. Thus giving Mystery Café the right to say “longest-running” Murder Mystery in Indianapolis. I played the Boss, so hence I was murdered. My body was loaded onto a dolly and removed from the stage. Today’s shows are in 4 Acts, while the shows back then were in 5 Acts. I died in Act 3. That left me with two Acts to find something to amuse myself with. We were doing the show at Del Frisco in Nora, on 86th St. Across the street from Del Frisco was Burger King. I always wonder what they thought of a guy coming in each Saturday night wearing a tuxedo to have a Whopper and Onion Rings.
I attended Clown College in 1984. Here's a picture of us with our performing professors.
In 1981, I was attending Purdue University’s theater program. I kept bugging our Professors to do more comedy. That is why, after Makeup class, the assignment that day was to put on a clown face. After they saw me as a clown, they said I should join the circus. With their help, I completed the application to join Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey’s Clown College in Venice, Florida.
In 1984, I graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Arts. I had not heard from Ringling, so I applied to an Amusement Park in Custer, South Dakota, and got the job. While there, Ringling called to say there was an audition in Chicago they wanted me to attend. I flew to Chicago and auditioned for Clown College. I returned to the Amusement Park. A few weeks later, I was accepted to Clown College.
Clown College was 9 1/2 weeks of Clown Bootcamp. There are rough and tough courses in Pie Throwing, water spitting, slaps, and falls. A big performance took place at our graduation ceremony. The next day, we were told whether we would be hired to join the Greatest show on Earth, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I was hired later. They classified me as an alternate. I later learned that a guy they hired has yet to show up in Winter Quarters for rehearsals. The second guy showed up for two days and then left. The third guy said no. When they called me, I was there in less than 24 hours.
From left to right, Mike, John, and Karen are preparing for the Clown Gag in the center ring called School Daze. Yes, that's me in the middle, wearing a dress.
1984-1990: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was my next stop and home for many years. I was on the Ringling Red Unit. Two units were crisscrossing the country back then. The theme lasted two years, and then it changed. My first theme was The Living Unicorn. The second theme was King Tusk, The Largest Living Mammal, traveling the Face of the Earth. My last theme was Gunther Gabel Williams' retirement tour.
1984-1990: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus’s Four TV specials, Countless Local TV shows, newspapers, and a Video about the Living Unicorn.
1992: The Garden Brothers Circus of Canada. I performed in Canada. Canada is just north of us, but it is another country. One performance was in a town near the border of our two countries. The National Anthem was played before the show began. That song sounded better than it did that day. As I mentioned, I did my first show with the Mystery Café after The Garden Brothers shut down for the season. At that time, the Minneapolis Mystery Café owned the local Mystery Café. Well, Minneapolis was going to shut it down.
This is a collection of pictures. I am with Shigemi, a Japanese girl clown on the top right.
1993: Retro Act Productions. I joined another Dinner Theater that worked with the Lions, Eagles, and other clubs.
1993 & 1994: Circus Fusco. I joined a one-ring Circus in Massachusetts. I did not travel but stayed in one spot for the summer. From Mother’s Day to Labor Day, we worked every day with two shows unless it rained, which it never did. I was one tired clown the day after Labor Day. At the end of the summer, we would travel to Maine to perform at some county fairs.
1993 & 1994: Mystery Café —That's right, the Mystery Café did not close after all. I returned to Indianapolis for two years and claimed a part in the show. It was strange. The guy who replaced me in the show would leave, and I would replace him. Then, I would go to return to Circus Fusco, and he would replace me.
This is a picture taken by an audience member. It is the final act of the show. It is from the Farewell tour for Gunther Gebel-Williams.
1994 Mystery Café: This time, the actor who kept trading parts with me was not leaving. The owner, who had taken over from the Minneapolis Mystery Café, hired me to run the company. He was from Minneapolis and traveled back and forth quite a lot.
1995 Mystery Café: After countless trips to Minneapolis and back, the then-owner turned to me and said the Dinner Theater was yours. He was not coming back to Indianapolis. Circus Fusco called and said we needed you. I told them I couldn’t do it—somehow, I had become an owner of a Dinner Theater.
1995-Present: I am still killing them with laughter and a good time. Who better to ensure you have a good time than a Circus Clown?
Anaheim, California, was one of our favorite stops. The building was built so that we had a corner where we could hang outside out of the general public's eye. I am practicing one of my rope spinning tricks.
We all lay on the ground while the photographer climbed a ladder. Looking down, he snapped the picture. Can you spot me?
I am in another Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Program picture.
The original name for this number was Spectacal, which was shortened to Spec. We all participated. That is me on the right. It was a Roman theme, and I was a Roman senator.
Strange Joe the clown Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus program picture , 1985
This is called a clown gag. It was a shell game. I got splashed with water at the end.
Strange Joe the clown
Strange Joe, The Clown of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
I appeared in the Lafayetter newspaper.
The Lafayette Journal & Courier
New York Newspaper
This appeared after I was down in Florida rehearsing for my first year on the show.
