Lubin, an International Clown Hall of Fame inductee, has been touring with the circus as “Grandma” the clown since 1975 and has been a much-beloved fixture of the Big Apple Circus for 25 seasons. This season marks Grandma’s last appearance with the Big Apple Circus, which runs through Monday at Dulles Town Center. So you are leaving Big Apple Circus and taking Grandma with you. Where to?
I moved to Sweden about nine months ago, which is where my girlfriend lives, and my intention is to continue doing different projects, theatrical and on television, in the United States and in Europe.
As a huge fixture of the Big Apple Circus, how do you feel about leaving?
It’s a hard decision and it’s ripping my guts out on a daily basis. I will miss it desperately.
How would you describe Grandma?
Grandma fits very nicely in the circus as someone who defies authority, but kindly and not in a negative way. I like to say she’s impish. Grandma is feisty and a bit of an anarchist.
Grandma emerged while you were at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1975. What was the inspiration?
I had to come up with lot of different things to do for acts at Ringling Brothers and one of the things I came up with was to play a little old man character. But I thought people would look at me and say that it was a rip-off of an Arte Johnson character on “Laugh-In.” So I said, OK, I’ll turn it into a little old lady instead.
How did it work?
At first, the effect of Grandma showing up at the circus was that the audience thought, ‘Oh no, one of us has ended up down there.’
How did you salvage the act?
A lot of trial and error, it’s the only way to learn comedy.
— Susan Ferrechio
