Trailer for the documentary Circus Kid.
“Most kids dream about running away from home to join the circus, but for me, the circus was my home. I had to join.” In the interval between Ringling Bros. and Cirque Du Soleil, Lorenzo was born into the Pickle Family Circus—an innovative travelling show that merged traditional circus skills with Bread-and-Puppets theatre stylings, emphasizing clowning and progressive politics. The circus, founded in 1974, was led by Lorenzo’s dad Larry Pisoni, who regarding his own clowning with obsessive perfectionism and expected no less from his collaborators, including six-year-old Lorenzo who is put under contract and demanded to “do it again” until he performs every gag flawlessly. Now an adult and struggling to unravel the peculiarities of his childhood, Lorenzo seeks out his dad and other “Pickles,” including legendary clowns Bill Irwin and Geoff Hoyle. Executive produced by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men's Don Draper), it’s not surprising that the film reveals a world fraught with illusion, contradiction, and plenty of greasepaint.