Jon Weiss

Biography: Jon Weiss, a native of Port Jefferson, New York, has been clowning around since 1982. As a young boy, he already had a passion in balancing objects on his chin and entertaining people. While his father wanted him to join the military after graduating high school, he went to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College instead. He also graduated from Suffolk Community College, and has studied at the Disney Institute and Clown College.

In 1986, Jon was married to Laura, who's also a circus performer, under the big top in ring two of New York City's Madison Square Garden. In 1990, Jon shifted from being a clown to a human cannonball. His wife, Laura, lights the trigger that launches him out of the cannon. He can also balance anything from a pen to a 16-foot A-frame ladder on his chin. In the circus, he teaches a pre-show balancing class in which he shows the audience how to balance a feather, and encourages them to keep the feather after they have learned just to remindJon Weiss, a native of Port Jefferson, New York, has been clowning around since 1982. As a young boy, he already had a passion in balancing objects on his chin and entertaining people. While his father wanted him to join the military after graduating high school, he went to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College instead. He also graduated from Suffolk Community College, and has studied at the Disney Institute and Clown College.

In 1986, Jon was married to Laura, who's also a circus performer, under the big top in ring two of New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In 1990, Jon shifted from being a clown to a human cannonball. His wife, Laura, lights the trigger that launches him out of the cannon. He can also balance anything from a pen to a 16-foot A-frame ladder on his chin. In the circus, he teaches a pre-show balancing class in which he shows the audience how to balance a feather, and encourages them to keep the feather after they have learned just to remind them that anything is possible. He has been traveling with Ringling Bros. for many years and has over 5,000 notches in his cannonball belt. He has been doing the cannonball act the longest of anyone in Ringling Bros.' history.

In 2003, Jon appeared in the fourth season of the Emmy award-winning reality TV show, The Amazing Race. He competed for the $1 million grand prize with his friend, Al Rios. Their team was identified with the Best Friends/Clowns tag. They made it in top four, but were eliminated in the eleventh episode.

Jon and Laura has three children named Jonny, Nicole (3 years younger than Jonny), and Max (2 years younger than Nicole). Ringling Bros. has been providing his children a private school and daycare on the road. So they are with them twenty-four hours a day, and seven days a week.

Jon enjoys golf, cooking and watching sports, and describes himself as "friendly, honest and ambitious." He fears "getting into an accident and not being able to support his family." Jon speaks no foreign languages and has traveled to Mexico and Canada, prior to the race (TAR4).

As for retirement, Jon has a few ideas. He says he'd like to travel around with Al Rios and speak about their television adventures or maybe have their own show.

/rouxan
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