Rodeo Clown

Choc Ridgeway is a half-blood Choctaw making his first appearance as a professional rodeo bullfighter. In his mid twenties, Choc is running from a failed marriage to the daughter of a prominent white family in Oklahoma. In the custody of the wife he left behind is his five-year old son. The story unfolds as the physical and emotional journey of the young cowboy shows his adventures in trying to prove himself as a bullfighter with no act except riding bulls backwards at the end of each show. The majority of professional rodeo cowboys today are college educated athletes who rodeo for a living. Making a living in rodeo requires a cowboy to be in good physical condition and to have a positive attitude. Many rodeo athletes, when possible, are accompanied on the rodeo circuit by their families throughout the year. Rodeo Clown, on the other hand, is a story about Choc Ridgeway, a man who views rodeo as still a part of the Old West. He tries hard to make a name for himself—to make it big—but his free-wheeling lifestyle leads him into conflicts with some of the established cowboys in the sport. Choc tends to characterize the public image of the cowboy of twenty to thirty years ago. Rodeo today continues to become more professional, but there are still a few who run on the wild side of life. Rodeo Clown, although a work of fiction, has authentic rodeo action and captures the flavor of rodeo in the 1970s.