Brinson James was born into the rodeo world. Starting out as a small child as part of a rodeo clown team with his dad, “Hollywood Harris”, Brinson grew up an entertainer. After being on the road until school age, his family settled in Florida, from where they would travel to and fro to attend weekend rodeos. Growing up, Brinson’s stage name was “Boogerhead”, and thought it would stick. But after an accident left his dad unable to perform for awhile, Brinson had to go solo. “Dad got yanked around real bad by a bull while protecting when I was 18. Praise the Lord it only broke his ankle, but we still had contracts to fulfill, so I stepped up and did the shows alone for the first time. It was the next year the PBR asked me and dad to go to Canada and he couldn’t. So they said, ‘Let’s try out Brinson.’” PBR Canada decided to keep him on permanently and his career took off from there. After going solo, he decided to use his first and middle names to create ‘Brinson James the Entertainer’. “I changed my name when I wanted to have a new brand and the PBR helped me do that.” Brinson is solely an entertainer and loves to dance, make people laugh and just have a great time, so using his name along with what he loves to do was the best brand he could make for himself it seems.
Brinson’s first Bulls, Bands & Barrels show? It was in Opelika, AL. “They had just gotten started. A marketing lady ended up at PBR Canada and she sent me their way. I actually have a consistent outfit that is bright orange, just like Bulls, Bands, & Barrels’ colors. You’d have never known it was a new event because of how well everything was put together. I just fell in love with it and the people involved.”, he says of BBB.
“It’s not your typical rodeo crowd, because these are party folk there to have a good time. I can find the party people in the stands, dance and entertain them on another level and it’s such a great time. They add more things each year and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Brinson James
Being from Florida, Jacksonville is the hometown show for Brinson. He’s bringing the whole family out for the show. The family atmosphere, especially behind the scenes, is his favorite part of working with BBB. “I only get to do a few shows with them a year, but they are just so welcoming and we just click. They trust in their team members.” At the BBB shows, he also has a partner: Reride, the Wonder Dog. “He runs barrels like the barrel racers, sometimes he beats their times. They just love him there at the BBB shows.” Reride has an Instagram, so check him out too!
If you ask Brinson what his favorite hobby is, he’ll tell you it’s laundry. He’s only home a couple of days a week before he’s gone again, so that’s his home-hobby because that’s all he has time for it seems. However, being at rodeos every weekend Brinson spends an incredible amount of time on the road, leading to a love of sightseeing. “I make mini-vacations out of it. I’ve been renting cars in a new place, I drive around without a map, find things to do, get lost, and then use directions to get myself back.” One of his favorite excursions was a trip by car from San Francisco to Fortuna, California. “It was laid back and beautiful. The big trees were a huge difference from the swamps of Florida.”
Brinson does have some advice for kids wanting to get into clowning. In his opinion, there aren’t enough people in the rodeo clown business. He sees people start clowning, but has a theory as to why they don’t stick with it. “You have to adapt to what the shows want. You have to be able to fill the lulls. So, find a unique look, be memorable, and adapt.” That’s pretty good advice for anyone.
Brinson is going to bring his family and friends to the Jacksonville show on February 29th, 2020, so you should too! It’s going to be a hair-raising event with something for everyone. Come out and see the Bulls, Bands & Barrels tour, along with Brinson James the Entertainer put on one heck of a show!