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Henri Hilarious Wants To Be A Clown with Braeden Schilling Smith- Circuspreneur Podcast Ep.90
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On this special mentorship episode of the Circuspreneur Podcast, host Shenea Stiletto interviews Clown in training Braeden Schilling Smith, also known as Henri Hilarious. This episode is to encourage the up and coming Circus generations, through educational conversation and inspiring dialogue. For those that love the Circus.
Braeden Schilling first got interested in clowning and the Circus Arts when he was 7, right after going to a Ringling Bros. show. When he was 17, Braeden joined the Colorado Clown Alley, where he trained and performed with other clowns. That’s when he started building his clown persona, Henri. At 18, he began auditioning for circuses, diving into the world he’d been dreaming about since he was a kid. After graduating high school, he decided to take it a step further and apply to circus school—which Braeden is currently getting ready to do. Braeden, or Henri Hilarious, hopes that attending circus school will help prepare him for his future circus career.
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Transcript
Introduction to StageLink.com
00:00:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
This podcast is also available via Stagelink dot.com, the groundbreaking new platform for live performing arts. Please support the podcast by liking, subscribing, commenting, and tagging the podcast. It helps us to continue to bring the industry high-level content.
Meet the Guest: Braden Shilling-Smith
00:00:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
I'm your host, Sinead Stiletto, and my guest on today's Circuspreneur podcast is circus clown and training, Braden Shilling-Smith, also known as Henry the Hilarious. Welcome to the podcast, Braden.
00:00:34
Braeden
Thank you so much! ah One thing quickly, I'm sorry, it's only I ah with French pronunciation because I named my character after one of my favorite French artists, only De Toulouse-Lautrec, who are was
00:00:51
Circuspreneur Podcast
Aww.
00:00:54
Braeden
variant of painting, not Cirque du Ville, but one of the most famous ah impressionist paintings of circuses is done by him. So I kind of wanted to take a lot of classical, it's not really classical art, but like fine art and circus and just combine it.
00:01:16
Circuspreneur Podcast
Well, that's brilliant. So we have the American version, Henry, or we have Henri. ah I love that.
00:01:22
Braeden
Mm hmm.
00:01:23
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you for the circus history, Braden. And let's go into a little bit about your bio.
00:01:26
Braeden
Of course!
Inspiration and Early Beginnings
00:01:29
Circuspreneur Podcast
Braden first got interested in clowning and circus arts when he was seven, right after going to a w Ringling Brothers show. The second he saw the clowns, he decided he wanted to be one of them someday. Practically the moment Braden walked out of that show, he started learning everything he could about clowning and the circus. For the next 10 years, Braden read every book he could find, practiced performing on his own, and binge watched YouTube videos. When he was 17, he joined the Colorado Clown Alley, where he trained and performed with other clowns. That's when he started building his clown persona, Henri.
00:02:00
Circuspreneur Podcast
At 18, he began auditioning for circuses, diving into the world he'd been dreaming about since he was a kid. After graduating high school, he decided to take it a step further and applied to circus school, which Braden is currently getting ready to do. Braden, or Henri the Hilarious, hopes that attending circus school will help prepare him for his future circus career. And you have quite a bit of circus history, which we just heard, Braden, which was really brilliant and spectacular of where you created your stage name. And that was actually one of the things that I was going to ask you at the beginning of the podcast. How did you come up with Henri the Hilarious? And you said it so well with such a beautiful accent, because having a stage name, I think, is one of the most important things that you can do. But it's also one of the hardest things to kind of develop
00:02:49
Circuspreneur Podcast
for yourself.
Crafting a Clown Persona
00:02:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
And you took us through a beautiful journey of how you came to that you know that that resolution of this is going to be how I present myself into the circus world. And can can you share a little bit about why you think it's so important to have a stage name other than the beautiful presentation that you just did, Braden?
00:03:10
Braeden
Of course, thank you. um
00:03:15
Braeden
For not just with circus, but with for a lot of art and performance in the modern world, some of the most notable performers and artists go by not the ruining.
00:03:31
Braeden
my one of my favorite musicians, Lady Gaga. No one outside of a select few know her by her real name. And at this point, at least to me, Lady Gaga's become an icon. And I was thinking, hmm, I kind of want to choose a name that's iconic like that, but for clowning.
00:04:01
Braeden
And so I um just brainstormed a lot and I went through a good deal of different names, personas, little character development until I settled on the one I have now.
00:04:24
Circuspreneur Podcast
That's amazing. and I love that you use Lady Gaga as a reference. And I also, too, have a stage name. Most of us do. I mean, some people think that my full name is a stage name, Shanay Stiletto, which, um you know, because Shanay is a really um historical term in ballet. It's like one of the first learns that you first terms that you use. um in ah first I think it's the one of the first terms where you learn to spot, I think, correctly in ballet. So anyhow, most people think that Shanay is a stage name, but it's not.
00:04:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
That is my real name. And then the stiletto part is something that I came to later in life. But so many of us have that. And it's really important. It's not just your persona. It's usually how people will be able to remember you. It's trying to catch people's attention about you, connecting it to something that makes people think about you easier. It can help you get jobs because people like the way that your stage name sounds. um And it you know is usually connected now to all of our social media. Most of us don't use our full like, you know, we say like government names. um Yeah, you know, ah so it's really important to remember someone's stage name because that could be the difference between somebody knowing who you're talking about or not and being able to facilitate an opportunity for them. What were you going to say?
00:05:35
Braeden
Um, one, I really like this, your stage name. I love alliteration. Maybe you could tell.
00:05:45
Braeden
And I think it's just, it's alliteration, like what we both have.
00:05:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you.
00:05:52
Braeden
Alia Leblias for me, Shanace a little for you. Like alliteration is great with branding.
00:05:59
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes, it is so important to build yourself as a brand in the circus industry. And the sooner that you do it, the better. There are some super iconic brands out there. There are some people, I honestly don't even know what their real name is. And that's a testament to who they are. And that also happens just because people don't go by the regular names, but I've known some people for years. And you know if you asked me what their real name was, I wouldn't be able to tell you like right away. I wouldn't have to.
00:06:25
Circuspreneur Podcast
I would tell you their stage name first and then maybe have to like work on it and to try to remember, which is not a bad thing. It's a great name. It shows that they've done their work in projecting themselves as a brand, like you said, Brandon. breiding And so I think that this is a really great podcast to have with you, Braden, a really great idea to introduce an artist that wants to be in this business, that wants to be a part of this industry and then also wants to share their personal experiences of what they're going through now because we talked about this before the podcast, Braden, that this could really help um other artists that want to get into this business.
00:06:56
Braeden
Mm hmm.
00:07:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
Maybe they're, you know, it doesn't matter what age you are because we know that, you know, circus workers start at all ages. um you know trying to get into this business. But I wanted to present your journey um in the hopes of supporting folks that are interested in taking your journey from you know circus inspiration to ultimate, maybe circus school, then to subsequent circus career, and those can kind of all mesh in within one another. That's you know kind of how it works. You can start working even while being in circus school. so Let's start from there, Braden, about your inspiration to get into this business. You were talking to me right before we got on about um you know kind of the difficulties that you see about breaking into this business. and This podcast is projected to so help
00:07:49
Circuspreneur Podcast
anyone that's interested learn how to break into it a bit easier. So let's share your experience on that, Braden. Why do you feel like it's so hard to break into the circus industry?
Challenges in the Circus Industry
00:08:00
Braeden
I it's not like a typical industry like business where you pursue a degree at almost any school and I mean not almost any but you understand what I mean and
00:08:22
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:08:26
Braeden
then once you have a degree, you can go and do whatever side of business you want. It's not like that where you have a degree and you are immediately, I don't want to say guaranteed because that's not true as we're increasingly seeing, but it is that you have sorry, better chances of getting in to that industry instead of with circus which is in three i'm sorry extremely competitive and I've encountered a lot of gatekeeping and there's I don't want you
00:09:24
Braeden
talk about this a lot, but this one specific version, but I also feel like there is a good deal of nepotism in the industry. And I think that really similarly to the film industry, music and politics. In fact, my ah high school graduation essay was about that.
00:09:54
Braeden
It's all a big combination of things that prevent young first generation performers like myself. I'm only 19 who,
00:10:15
Braeden
as I said it in my bio and as you said so perfectly, thank you.
00:10:25
Braeden
I've wanted this for a majority of my life. So it's kind of difficult to go from a mindset then that's like, Oh, I'll get in.
00:10:42
Circuspreneur Podcast
Mm.
00:10:42
Braeden
This is easy because um there's so much media around like running away with the circus. Like, oh, it's this easy thing. There's a circus. You go up, you say, hey, I want to perform. And I'm not saying this doesn't happen because it probably does. But it's not that easy, especially when there are practical dynasties of families who are Who have been in the industry and Let's be honest kind of dominate it Whether you think that's good or bad is your own opinion And I think it's a little bit of both But like they have all these experience they have
00:11:41
Braeden
this experience and there were people from those families and there are people like me who want to break in so that's just made it so competitive and there's not like a book like how to get get into the circus for dummies or uh that series is still polished right oh yeah i should reach out to them
00:12:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes, and that would be a great one. I love it, Braden. It's definitely out there.
00:12:12
Circuspreneur Podcast
Tell them to call me too.
00:12:14
Braeden
ah so
00:12:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
We can help out.
00:12:16
Braeden
And there weren't things on YouTube at least that i that I've seen that are like a step-by-step guide to like, this is how you get in. So it's really hard to figure out.
00:12:31
Circuspreneur Podcast
I it takes it takes a concerted effort Braden which is what you're discussing and I like that you put it in the vein of industry because most people just don't even look at the circus arts as an industry at all they think it's like what you said you just run away to it anybody will just hire you from out of nowhere. You can kind of just like step into you know a school, um you can step into a job, you don't have to train very much, or it's just kind of handed to you. And even if you come from a pretty rigorous or like you know um multifaceted background, people still think that your ascension into the circus arts was really, really easy, which I like to remind folks, you know even my pathway here
00:13:12
Circuspreneur Podcast
creating a career and becoming a circuspreneur and getting into this business and being self-started, which most of us have to be, it's not easy. Even if you came from like a really big gymnastics career or you know you came even from the best circus school, any of those things, you have to learn what it's like to be in this business. And I find that a lot of circus schools don't teach this, like what you're saying too, Braden. They don't give a step-by-step guide of once you even have your performance and you have your act, how to be a businessperson or an entrepreneur. in this industry which is really what it takes to be able to exist in this you know you can go into a lot of environments and maybe have one great job and it might not lead to another job and there is you know a type of perspective and a type of way that you have to move and shake in this industry to make sure that you can maintain a career make sure that you can maintain a contract. make sure that you're in the proper networks that are you know that that would be valuable to you, that would help you to stay in this. And it's constantly evolving. That's the other thing about the industry. And I love what you talked about in terms of um of circus industries and circus families. Not all of us come from a circus family. I also too didn't come from a circus family. And we were I've worked with circus families for years where It is sometimes it's a lot of cousins and if you don't know the right cousin, you're maybe not going to fall into that position or it's because you do know a cousin and a cousin likes you and they bring you into the show. And that is very real. Even to this day, I would say that the industry is evolving.
00:14:39
Circuspreneur Podcast
a lot more and it has over you know the past um you know few decades where there isn't, I think, as strong of a hold of the circus industry families on this industry, but it's definitely a part of how this environment moves and shakes and you definitely have to be attuned to that, which you are so brilliantly. I would love for you to go into Braden in why you want to go into circus school, first off. What do you think that circus school is going to do for you? How it's going to benefit you? And why do you what is where does your passion for clowning come from? um I know that you saw w Ringling when you were young, and that ignited your excitement and your joy around it. But what's kept you engaged around the excitement of clowning? Because clowning is also um an original art form that's changing a lot, too. It's not necessarily what it was even, I would say, 10 years ago. um you know There's not, I think, the same axis of clown colleges like they used to either um from what I understand of talking to folks that are in the clowning industry too. So you are really kind of branching out onto an art form that is really changing right now from what it has historically been in
Aspirations and Future Goals
00:15:44
Circuspreneur Podcast
the past. So how did that feel?
00:15:47
Braeden
Well, I, as I told you before recording, I, about an hour ago, got off of a Q and&A Zoom for people who want to apply for NECA, which is one of the, as I've heard, one of the best circus schools in the US. And the thing for me about circus school is it's the creation of the foundations like I want to not just know how to know how sorry know how to do physical comedy but I also want to both perfect that and learn new skills I am
00:16:43
Braeden
fascinated by tightrope walking, not high up though. I have a thing about heights, but lower would be great. And there are other circus disciplines that I find interesting that I would not want to pursue as like a full career, but I'd like to incorporate into what I have to offer and my acts and I think circus school is the perfect environment for that because there are people there whose job and who have dedicated their time to teaching the next generation of performers and I think
00:17:32
Braeden
if I want to, which I do, pursue a circus career, I think that's the next logical stuff step to get myself from where I am now to like being the I want to be the first queer person to perform or and or win at Monte Carlo. That's like my big overall arching goal is to be at least one of the first.
00:18:11
Circuspreneur Podcast
That's amazing.
00:18:11
Braeden
i don't know if there's I don't know if there's already been a queer person to perform or win, but as far as I know, um I'd like to be the first.
00:18:26
Circuspreneur Podcast
That's an amazing goal. And I hope that you make it there, Braden, because that's a phenomenal goal. And so to go into your love of clowning, you know what continues that fire inside of you, Braden, to explore this art form? and you know Also too, like you said, physical comedy, what keeps that passion going for you? and who inspires you um other than where you got your likeness, your name, um your stage name on Read the Hilarious, who else inspires you in this industry um to want to take it you know to to places like Monte Carlo?
The Joy of Clowning
00:19:04
Braeden
What keeps me going on clowning is that I don't want to describe it in this way, but it's the best way I can put it, but it's performing, especially making people laugh, has this almost
00:19:32
Braeden
sensation I don't know how to describe it anything else but it feels just so good and I'm certain it's addictive to performers and it's addictive to me it's just making people happy and performing for people makes me happy
00:20:00
Braeden
and I want to make people laugh and I want to spread joy. That's what keeps me going.
00:20:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
That's what keeps me going too. Do you have more to add to that?
00:20:22
Braeden
Um, yes. It's
00:20:28
Braeden
I've always been a person who cares a lot about others. And so that's where wanting to make people happy probably comes from.
00:20:51
Braeden
And to be completely honest, one of the biggest things about clowning I love is costuming the makeup. It's just, I don't know what it is, but putting on makeup,
00:21:11
Braeden
getting into for my full clown persona, taking whatever stressors or anxiety I have out so in my personal life, taking that off and just getting into the mind of a clown. It's so cleansing and it's really therapeutic to go out there and make people happy.
00:21:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes, I love that. I have felt that way many times when I've gone on stage where my day maybe hasn't been going so well or my week hasn't been going so well.
00:21:59
Circuspreneur Podcast
And then as soon as I step on stage and as soon as I step off stage, the ability to just release all of the burdens that have been going on. I mean, sometimes it's a burden to get on stage, you know, don't get me wrong.
00:22:10
Circuspreneur Podcast
But many times it's the burdens within our personal lives that you can just You know, the audience just gives you so much. They uplift you and they uplift you, I think, right out of those burdens and being maybe stuck in your own mind. And I feel like performing has really gotten me out of my own way and out of my own mind so many times. And then the rest of my day or the rest of my week is like amazing because I feel so, like you said, cleansed. It is like therapy. And there's actually
00:22:10
Braeden
Right.
00:22:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
um this new initiative, Braden, which I think is really interesting where they want to prescribe the circus arts for folks as as as medicine. So it can be your prescription that a doctor writes for you to go and see a show, to go see theater or to go to go to see circus arts. So we already know that our art form heals and cleanses and brings joy and upliftment. And then it will now, hopefully in the future, be mandated where it's an actual prescription of medicine.
00:23:11
Braeden
Oh my god, I love that and I think the entire world should get to prescribe that.
00:23:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
I think it's awesome. And so who inspires you? Is there anyone specific that inspires you in this industry that you would like to give you know your perspective on or give love to um about how they make you feel or a career trajectory that they've had that you kind of are basing that on? Or do you not have anyone? Because not everybody has someone that they're specifically looking up to in this business. I have a whole host of performers that I've loved their careers over the years. Some of them are still performing. Some, you know, stop performing even before I started to become a performer. And I've based a lot of what I do in my career off of them. Even now, I'll just go back to thinking about what would they do, you know, even now. And then like that gives me ideas and kind of propelled me forward creatively. So is there anyone like that for you? Or is it mostly just an inspiration you take from other places or other artists outside of circus?
00:24:15
Braeden
I mean, yes and no. There are so many other, not just clowns, but jugglers, acrobats. People from so many disciplines and just circus performers in general are so inspiring.
00:24:34
Braeden
And I think everyone, whether you're an established performer, or someone like me who's just trying to get started, or someone who has no interest in the circus at all, should look to circus performers for inspiration because there is so much determination and and ambition, but Almost all of the people I've interacted with are super nice.
00:25:10
Circuspreneur Podcast
That's lovely to hear.
00:25:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
I'm glad that everyone's been nice.
00:25:13
Braeden
and
00:25:14
Braeden
And... Oh, sorry.
00:25:16
Circuspreneur Podcast
It's okay.
00:25:16
Braeden
And obviously, like, there are probably some people out there who aren't really nice. I've gotten replies from casting directors that were quite rude.
00:25:32
Braeden
but I still have to look at the ratio. Oh my God, I'm using math terms. I never thought that would happen.
00:25:45
Braeden
But if you look at, thank you, if you look at the ratio of not very nice people to nice people, there's so many more nice people.
00:25:45
Circuspreneur Podcast
Brilliantly.
00:25:55
Braeden
And that's something I just love about the circus community is for the most part, everyone's really welcoming. And I have made so many friends via networking on Instagram and just reaching out to people who I can ask for a advice like hey I wrote this I don't I'm not really sure if it's good could you please give me some advice or ask for tips on makeup or how to write and
00:26:41
Braeden
an application for an audition, stuff like that. And so many people I have reached out to are like, yeah, sure. I'll look over this for you. Or, oh, you should fix this. I like this, but maybe you should try this. And there's so much collaboration and there are people who have upfront told me oh this is some what I'm do have told me what I'm and I'm not I'm going to paraphrase because I don't remember it but what I they said what I'm doing for you is what I wish someone had done for me and it's like paying it forward so I want to do that for I mean I don't have a ton of experience yet but
00:27:30
Circuspreneur Podcast
and That's so special.
00:27:41
Braeden
Once like I performed in circuses and once I have an established career, I'd love to be that person for young performers to reach out to and be like, hey, I really admire you or not even say that. But that's what I say, because it's like it's always good to be nice to people.
00:28:11
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes.
00:28:13
Braeden
And if you approach it like, Oh, I really admire you, but I have a question or I need some advice. Oh my God. I just love to be that person, like an informal mentor for someone and to help them get to where they want to go.
00:28:44
Circuspreneur Podcast
beautiful, Braden. That is really beautiful. I am happy to hear that you've been positively received and that you feel like people within the circus world and circus industry have been kind to you because that's what I want to hear. And I think it's a big reminder to all of us to stay kind in this business, to you know to mentor, to put things out. That's why I started the podcast because I have always thought, I thought about putting out a podcast for years And I put it out because I always thought this is something that I would have really loved to have had access to when I was an up and coming performer years ago and how many questions I had and how so many things were just kind of like winging it or you know reaching out to people, but you know having to do a completely different groundwork than kind of what exists today, um even though it wasn't that long ago.
00:29:36
Circuspreneur Podcast
But I'm happy to hear that you feel um a community here within the circus arts industry. I think that is so important. I think that we are a really interesting and diverse community, um and that so many of us do try and assist and help each other. And um you know to close out the podcast, Braden, I want to remind listeners about your journey, that you are up and coming, that you will and want to succeed in having this career in the circus as a professional clown that you want to perform, that you want to perform all over the world, or just in America.
00:30:14
Circuspreneur Podcast
Everybody has different goals. I don't want to put goals in your mouth.
00:30:15
Braeden
No, all over the world. I want to make as many people happy.
00:30:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
All over the world. Braden wants to be known all over the world. as many people as possible. So you are coming to a show near
Connect with Braden
00:30:25
Circuspreneur Podcast
them. And then also too, for folks that are interested in continuing to help Braden on his journey, Braden, how can we find you on social media? How can we contact you so that the community and that listeners that are interested in supporting your journey, which I know there will be many, can help you.
00:30:44
Braeden
Oh my god, that'd be awesome. um ah The best way is on my ah Instagram. um ah I'm gonna need to check it on my phone because I don't have it memorized, so bear with me. At only H-E-N-R-I underscore hilarious the clown. It's all one word, all lowercase.
00:31:14
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you. So everyone can find Ahmi, the hilarious, or Braden on social media, reach out to him. And again, everyone, this is a great reminder of speaking to someone like Braden who is trying to get into this business, that our kindness as professionals goes a long way, that no matter where you are at in your career, remember to be open to our future generations, to be kind to them, to be receptive, to you know to help to undo that gatekeeping, that Braden was discussing, he feels is one of the biggest hurdles to getting into this business, something that I speak about on this podcast all the time and something that you hear throughout several generations, either previous or up and coming.
00:31:58
Circuspreneur Podcast
So let's try and break these barriers for clowns and for performers like Braden so that he can have an easier time getting into this business than we did. Thank you again so much, Braden, for coming on to the Circuspreneur podcast.
00:32:11
Braeden
Of course, thank you for having me and Thank you for listening when I reached out. I was actually, I expected like, yeah, she's probably really busy. I might not hear back, but when I heard back from you, oh my God. It was just like, oh my God. I might be able to like get both my, not just my story out there, but like that.
00:32:43
Braeden
someone like me in my same position can listen and be like, he's going through what I'm going through, too. And I, like I said earlier, I want to make people happy. But I also want to ah achieve my goals in this industry. And if I get to do those both at the same time, well then, that's perfect.
00:33:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
Well, if that's what you're doing, Brayden. You are a guiding light and reminding other artists out there that they are not alone on their journey, that there is someone just like them, which is you, Brayden, on the same journey, whether it be easy, difficult, and multifaceted and multilayered. And um I was very happy to ah respond to you, Brayden, and to give you this opportunity. um And that's part of the reason that I provide the podcast. And so thank you again for contacting me and for tuning into the podcast, Braden. And also too, acknowledging that it is a resource for you that makes you feel like you can get into this business with some type of assistance and folks that are speaking your language, your circus language, and that hopefully the Circuspreneur podcast can continue to be a guiding light for you and help you to navigate this industry better. And so I will close out this episode with the Circuspreneur podcast.
00:34:15
Circuspreneur Podcast
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00:34:34
Circuspreneur Podcast
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