‘It’s up to us to put the footwork in’: Quan Fields (aka Quany the Clown) on making it as a circus performer

When Quan Fields was 12, he was set on auditioning to perform with one of the largest touring circus acts in the country, the Ringling Brothers Circus.

Quan Fields: And the closest audition was in New York. And my grandma was like, you can’t get there. You’re only 12, and there’s no way in hell you can make it to Ringling Brothers. 

Quan was living with his grandparents in North Philadelphia at the time. The audition was on a school day. Even if he got permission to go, Quan would need someone to accompany him since he was underage. 

Quan Fields: Finally, my grandpa, he’s like, “If you find a family member or someone in New York, I’ll let you go.”

Quan says his grandparents weren’t familiar with the big city, so they didn’t feel comfortable taking him themselves.

Quan Fields: He thought I wasn’t going to find anybody. But Facebook and MySpace was out, so I found a family member.

But this relative in New York, said they wouldn’t take him either. So Quan opted for plan B: Skip school and get there on his own.

Quan Fields: I was up all night Googling how to get to New York from Philadelphia. The cheapest way was to go on the 11th and Market, and go on the Chinatown buses. And it’ll connect you from Chinatown, Philadelphia to Chinatown, New York.

Twelve-year-old Quan went to school, wrote his name on the attendance sheet, and left the school grounds with a friend who agreed to go with him to the audition. He used saved up allowance money to buy a bus ticket. He made it to New York City. But while waiting to audition, Quan accidentally photobombed a picture the Ringling Brothers staff uploaded to their Facebook page, just in time for his grandfather to casually scroll through his own facebook feed and see it. 

Quan’s grandfather was not happy. He found a number to call staff at the Ringling Brothers audition. They pulled Quan out of line. 

Quan Fields: And he said, “Quan, we can’t have you audition. You’re underage. You’re not here with a parent. And you’re supposed to be in school.” So I’m like, man, I didn’t spend all this money. We gotta do something. They actually allowed me to audition. 

Quan Fields: And that’s how I ended up auditioning for Ringling Brothers.

His determination got him an audience … but Quan was just a kid. They didn’t hire him. But he was inspired. Quan left the audition knowing he was destined to join the circus. 

Quan Fields: And from there on, I knew it. I couldn’t work for anybody. I found my way into the circus. I gotta get there.

I’m Nichole Currie, and this is Thriving — an audio documentary about our economic future together. I’ve been following 10 Philadelphians for a year to learn what it takes to make it in America. After a pandemic and so much social upheaval: What are the obstacles and opportunities we all face to economically thrive in the United States? Each person we’re following tells us something different about our collective future.

In this episode: young and emerging Black Men. 

Due to disinvestment, racism and cultural factors, young Black men continue to be one the most economically vulnerable groups in America. This cloud of disadvantages makes it difficult for many to reach financial security and pursue their dreams. And yet like any integral group, they still find ways to generate culture and experience joy.

Today we’re following Quan Fields, a 28-year-old Black man who lives in Frankford in Northeast Philadelphia. Quan is also known as Quany the Clown, and he is trying to make it in a very unique industry: the circus. 

Quan Fields: It’s beautiful. Some people, they don’t like the smell of elephant dung and sawdust and peanuts and popcorn, kind of candy all in the same room. But to me, it smells like magic.

Quan Fields loves the circus. 

When he was growing up in North Philadelphia, his grandparents would make a special trip to see it, about three times a year. 

Quan Fields: Any time we went down to Ringling Brothers we always catch the train. We had a car, but for some odd reason, my grandma was like, “You gotta catch the train, you gotta get on the train. It’s nothing like getting on the Broad Street line and going to see a show.”

The train ride was like an adventure for him. 

Quan Fields: The anxiousness of actually about to get to the venue. Like, OK, you’re at, uh, you’re at City Hall. When are we going to get to Pattison? We got to get to Pattison. So you hurry up and get through his doors and see the show. I’m quite fond of those memories on the train with my grandma. 

This was in the early 2000s when circus acts like the Ringling Brothers, Universoul Circus, or the special Bellobration show by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey came to perform at the Wachovia Center, now known as the Wells Fargo Center. 

At one of those shows, when Quan was 10 years old, he met Bello Nock, an American Daredevil and circus performer. 

Quan Fields: He was a regular guy.  He — I didn’t know he was a clown because he was a light Auguste clown.

An Auguste [“ah-goose”] clown does not wear a full face of makeup like a traditional clown. These clowns typically entertain audiences with slapstick comedy, pranks, and exaggerated facial expressions.  

Quan Fields: I’m like, hey, I could be like that guy. 

Bello’s act looked fun and easier than other performers in the circus. 

Quan Fields: I don’t got to be up in the sky, jumping around, falling around and doing crazy things. I could be right on the ground and be a brown clown. 

Quan dreamt of being like the few Black performers he saw. He had officially caught the circus fever. 

Two years later, Quan made that trip to New York to audition for Ringling Brothers. And he came back to Philadelphia with the circus on his mind. Twelve-year-old Quan told his family that he was serious about being a clown. To prove it, he launched his own business.

Quan Fields: The whole business started based upon a lie. It’s the best lie I ever told in my life. I did my little cousin DJ’s first birthday party. And they originally tried to hire Jazzy the Clown. She’s one of the hottest clowns here in Philadelphia.

Jazzy was and still is a very popular hip-hop clown in the Philadelphia area. 

Quan Fields: They couldn’t afford her. So I’m like, listen, I just seen Bello two years ago. I just went to the Ringling auditions. Let’s go to Party City. We’re going to get me a costume. We’re going to get some makeup. I’m going to be the clown.

Quan agreed to do the show for free. He got a simple costume and called himself Quany the Clown. He learned beginner-friendly tricks on YouTube, like juggling and pulling a coin from behind a child’s ear. 

Quan Fields: And it was the worst show I ever did in my life. But for some odd reason, from the outside looking in, people liked it. And that’s how it started. 

Now in the fall of 2022 — 16 years later — Quan’s business has grown. 

He still performs at birthday parties, but Quan is also booked for block parties … weddings … 

And along with his solo performances, he started Quany and Friends, a troupe with some other local clowns. And when he can afford to, Quan runs a summer program for kids to learn circus arts. He even performed in a music video for Philly-native musician Tierra Whack’s song, “Stand Up.”

Quan has become very well acquainted with social media. He uses TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to show off acts that he hopes will potentially grow his business.

Like one involving his poodle — Miss Winnie.  

Quan Fields: She pushes a shopping cart. I have her walk around and grab items off of this shelf that I created, and we call it our DoorDash Act. 

To pay the bills, Quan has multiple streams of income, including a small dog grooming and dog training business. But Quan still really wants to perform in the circus. 

Three years ago, right before the pandemic took off, Quan began thinking of expanding his clown business. He started talking about this with his friend and colleague, Zohar Yakov. Zohar performs as a clown in New York City under the name of Zabo. 

Zabo is a third-generation circus performer who’s traveled the world. Sometimes Zabo acts as ringmaster, at other times he’s an Auguste clown like Quan. 

When Quan and Zabo were talking about their shared dream of performing in the circus three years ago, their first thought was to audition for touring circus acts like the Ringling Brothers, Universoul Circus, and big shows like the Big Apple Circus. 

Quan Fields: And we noticed it doesn’t matter how skilled you are, being a man of color. It’s hard to get on shows. So, um, that’s where the actual drive actually came from. It was like, OK, so we can’t. We can’t make these people hire us. How about we create the opportunity for us? 

Enter stage left: Zabo’s Circus.

Quan Fields: Zabo’s whole, um, dream was to own his own circus. I want to have it, but I don’t want to run it. And that’s basically what Zabo’s Circus is. I’m actually a part owner but I don’t take no responsibility for that stuff.

At first, both Quan and Zabo wanted to launch their own circuses. But Zabo registered his business first, and invited Quan to become a co-owner. Quan agreed because he’s less interested in the business side of things and Zabo and his family have a lot of experience in it.

The duo started off performing at small-scale events, sometimes for free. If Zabo could get a gig in New York, Quan would travel to perform with him. And vice versa when Quan booked Philly events. To make ends meet, Quan also kept up Quanny and Friends, while Zabo ran a small entertainment production company in New York City. 

Quan Fields: So that’s what we have been doing for the past couple of years.

They were trying to learn the business side of things back then, but now in the fall of 2022, they want to put some of that knowledge into action. Quan and Zabo want to take the full leap, expand beyond their solo performances and orchestrate their own circus. 

But it won’t be easy.

Chris Wink: As one analysis, put it, no other demographic group has fared so badly, so persistently and for so long as young Black men. Yet they’re the biggest contributor to American culture of any other demographic group.

That’s Chris Wink. He’s a journalist who founded and still leads the news organization Technical.ly. He says Black men have not fared well economically because our country hasn’t invested in them properly. Their education, their ideas, the neighborhoods they often live in. And that takes a toll — on them and society. 

Chris Wink: In the last 10 years of business and economics reporting, one of the big research discoveries and focuses was this concept of lost Einsteins.

“Lost Einsteins” — it’s the idea that if every demographic group can be expected to have similar levels of inventiveness, then when a group has fewer opportunities and falls behind economically, society is missing out on a lot of potential innovation. Think Black and Hispanic people, women, and low-income groups.

Chris Wink: And the idea is for a long time, lack of representation in economics and business growth and prosperity. Um, that when communities were disproportionately kept out of, of those economic opportunities, there was assumption that there was only a moral case. “Oh, this is wrong. We must do something about it.” The lost Einsteins and some follow-up research pointed out that it’s not just a moral issue. This is all of our loss. When we lose out on the most inventiveness in any community, every single person in the country, in the community, in the world misses out on that inventiveness.

We miss out on new technologies, solutions to social issues, and trail-blazing entertainment. 

Chris Wink: There is a moral imperative to make sure that young Black men are better represented in prosperity and economic growth, but it also leaves everyone poorer when we miss out on these, this vibrant portion of our community.

For someone like Quan, he wants to express himself through clowning, and also — make a living with it. AND, when he has the capacity, he wants to be able to teach circus arts, especially for Black kids, to give them something positive to do. All of that requires Quan to get the types of economic and cultural opportunities that are often denied young Black men.

Chris Wink: I also know personally, Quan is one of the most creative and determined spirits I’ve ever met in my life. 

Independent of this project, Chris and Quan have actually known each other for years, dating back to when Chris met Quan at a neighborhood arts center. So he’s witnessed the evolution of Quan’s clown business from early on. 

Chris Wink: I can’t find in fiction a more perfect representation of a story than living in one of the most economically disinvested communities in the country to focus on starting a business one, but starting in business that brings and extends joy, the most earnest and wholesome and wide-eyed joy I’ve ever seen.

In November of 2022, Quan and Zabo are trying to get more visibility for Zabo’s Circus. 

So people can book them for shows. So they can get paid. 

Quan Fields: We had our demo reel, everything together. But the thing was, I kept telling, uh, Zabo, he’s like, we’re promoting on social media. We’re doing this and doing that, but we’re missing something. And I’m like, dude, we’re missing the media kit. Every show has a media kit. 

A media kit is a marketing tool. It showcases different price packages, animals and acts that Quan and Zabo can include in a show and it breaks down different performers’ talents and the kinds of entertainment they can provide.

Quan Fields: Tells you everything about Zabo Circus, how we started. It talks about, um, the different artists, where we come from, different shows we worked on around the U.S.

By February of 2023, the duo sent the press kit to more than 500 organizations across the East coast —  place like chambers of commerce or YMCAs. And they presented the kit at a trade show in Hershey, Pennsylvania last month.  

Quan Fields: So a trade show is basically, um, a big convention for, um … entertainers and big entertainment companies. And basically you have your people like your fairs, your amusement parks, those people, whoever goes out for their talent relations, they come out to see what are the new shows in the country. So you can bring them to like your Six Flags, your Dorney Park. People from America Got Talent come there to find new acts for their show. You get a little bit of everything. You also get promoters for like the NFL, NBA, because they need acts for the halftime. 

After that, Quan and Zabo were in a waiting game. They thought that if the media kit was out there, people would come calling. But still, they weren’t getting booked. And Quan started to become frustrated. Zabo kept working his connections … Quan kept marketing the circus on social media and  — then one day …  the algorithm smiled upon them. Here’s what happened:

Way before THIS Thriving podcast was released, short audio profiles were published about the participants, including Quan. He shared his own audio story on Instagram and Facebook. To his surprise, a distant supporter of his reshared the Instagram post. A supporter who happens to be a famous actor. 

Quan Fields: Uh, Mr. David Arquette. 

David Arquette. 

Quan Fields: He reposted it. 

Little known fact: He’s not just an actor known for his role in the “Scream” franchise. He started studying to be a clown just last year, and bought the rights to TV character Bozo the Clown. Quan became acquainted with David Arquette over social media, over their love for the circus. 

Quan Fields: I honestly believe because David Arquette reposted it, and this new game came out, and “Scream” was coming out, he already had eyes on him by him reposting it. I think that’s what really helped it take off.

The post went viral. 

Quan Fields: I swear like instantly, 30 minutes. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. My phone is going off. People just commenting, commenting, commenting. People call me. “Hey, I didn’t know you were starting a circus. I thought you was a one-man show. I thought you were just doing birthday parties.” I’m like, wow.

Nichole Currie: Had you ever thought about reaching out to him before?

Quan Fields: Honestly, until he bought the brand of Bozo, I never knew he had so much in common. David is a clown. David is a comedian. David is an actor. The only difference we have is, David is rich. And Quany’s trying to get rich. [Laughs]

Nichole Currie: Understood. Um. So, OK wow I’m definitely going to put that in the episode.

After this post went viral, friends and strangers donated money to help Quan make his bigger circus dreams a reality. Some even booked Quan or Zabo’s Circus for performances across the tri-state area. One person who reached out to Quan was a councilman for the city of Chester, Pennsylvania. Councilman William Morgan.

Quan Fields: He seen the show. He was just amazed. He just couldn’t believe what he had just saw. And he would just ask me, “Do you plan to go further with this?” And I was like, I’m glad you asked that. And I told him a little bit about Zabo’s Circus. He was like, whatever, whatever you need for me to help, I got you. And a lot of people say that. So I thought nothing of it. I gave him a nice smile. 

But Councilman Morgan was serious. 

Quan Fields: And since then they’ve just been blessing me with shows after shows after shows after shows.

Quan performed at events for Father’s Day and Back to School Drives. These were solo performances that brought in about $2,000 each time. More than what Quan’s solo performances made last year. The viral post also brought Zabo’s Circus to the attention of Live Nation, a company in New York City that specializes in booking musical guests, corporate events, and other forms of entertainment. These shows have allowed Quan to invest in his business. Because one thing about starting a circus, it takes a lot of upfront cost. Costumes, makeup, animal care, venue rental. To keep his act fresh, Quan also needs to be able to afford new and better tricks up his sleeve. And thanks to this new publicity, in the summer of 2023, Quan saves up and buys an expensive new prop: a fire cage. 

Quan Fields: I actually won it in an auction. Yeah, because of these shows I was able to save up enough money that I was able to beat out a bunch of different magicians from all around the world to get that thing. Um, but that thing ran me a $5,000. The shipping was worse. That was about $3,000 just to get over here.

The cage came from Mumbai.

Quan Fields: Almost every magic show has it now, but this trick was used by David Blaine.

A fire cage is a classic prop for circus performers and magicians. You know, the performer sets the interior of the cage on fire. 

Quan Fields: So the audience just sees a fully engulfed flamed cage.

And then covers the cage with a scarf-like piece of fabric. Then the performer removes the cover, and — hopefully — an audience member or team member is now sitting in the cage miraculously unscorched.

Quan Fields: So right now what we are doing is we’re producing Bree, which is my fiance, and my pink poodle.

Quan also bought a Congo African Grey Parrot, and named him Mr. Buddy. 

Quan Fields: Buddy ran me $6,000. Buddy, he’s 10 years old actually, so he’s actually a rehomed bird. He already knew a few tricks, but he didn’t know how to do any of them on command. Like right now I’m just finally successfully training him to dance on command. Right now we’re trying to get his words and his vocalization skills a little better so he can talk to the kids during the show.  

At the moment Mr. Buddy can only bark like a dog, cough like a human, and meow like a cat. 

Quan Fields: But more so for Zabo’s Circus. The Zabo Circus aspect, I’m gonna be making Buddy appear out of thin air, out of different folios and things of that nature.

By the fall of 2023, Quan is in a good place. Zabo’s Circus is taking off as he had originally hoped, and he still has his Philadelphia group Quany and Friends to lean back on when he’s not on the road touring with Zabo. But as always in show business, there are ups and downs.  

Quan Fields: Because of this crazy weather, we’ve been having shows cancel, reschedule, and for me, because I’m in Philly and most of our Zabo Circus shows are in New York, that can become a problem, especially when you’re halfway there to find out they’ve been canceled. Other than that, I’m living, so you can’t complain.

This part of Quan’s journey has been a bit surreal for him. He thinks back to when he was a young Black boy, growing up in North Philadelphia. His family made sure he had everything he needed. But he tells me when he was skipping school to audition for the circus, he could not have imagined that his life and business would turn out like this — touring from state to state or spending thousands of dollars on circus props.

Quan Fields: Because of the price and where I came from. Your parents don’t have an extra $5,000, $6,000 to push out for, for a fire cage. We, we just don’t have the resources. We don’t have the magic clubs to teach. So it’s up to us to put the footwork in and figure things out. And yeah, it takes time, but I honestly feel now and then I got, I was so happy. It was like, dang, I finally did it. And I did it on my own. I really did it on my own, not only on my own, but with the help of other people finally believing in me and saying, “Hey pour into this guy, he’s serious.”

The people who supported him on Instagram, David Arquette, Chester Councilman William Morgan, his dear friend and business partner Zabo, and more. 

Nichole Currie: Do you feel like it paid off? Like, do you, like, even though it took longer, like you said, it probably took a privileged point of view?

Quan Fields: I say it paid off. It definitely paid off, because I can just say me being in the entertainment world, in general, I see a lot of these people who come from wealthy families and stuff and they get into the circus world and they don’t last because they’re used to things being handed to them.

Quan points to his fire cage, which is sitting on the porch right outside his living room window. 

Quan Fields: But um, that taking half my god dang life made me appreciate it more. 

We go outside to look at his investment 

The fire cage is under a blue tarp that could cover a SUV. Quan has three locks on the cage. Something his mom thought was over the top.

Quan Fields: She’s like, why do you got three locks on that thing? Just in case, just in case. It took me too long to get it. [Laughs]

Nichole Currie: OK, well this looks very expensive actually. You should cover it back up. [Both laugh]

Quan Fields: I’m proud. I’m happy. Like, I don’t have to go sit in the cubicle every day. Like people are bored. [Laughs] I get paid to have fun. And even when I don’t get paid, I get paid from the heart, so I’m loving it.

For Thriving, I’m Nichole Currie.

Thriving is brought to you by Technical.ly and Rowhome Productions with support from the William Penn Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Knight Foundation. 

Learn more about Thriving at Technical.ly.

Thriving’s executive producer is Technical.ly CEO Christopher Wink.

The series is reported, produced, and hosted by me, Nichole Currie. 

Our story editor is Jen Kinney. Managing producer is Alex Lewis. Mix and sound design by John Myers. 

Special thanks to Technical.ly editors Sameer Rao and Julie Zeglen. 

This episode features music from Blue Dot Sessions and Philippe Bronchtein. 

Our theme music is by Flat Mary Road. 

Thanks for listening.