About the show
Barry Lubin
Born in Atlantic City, Barry attended Emerson College in Boston with aspirations of becoming a TV director. During a sabbatical from his studies, he auditioned for and was accepted into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College where he fell in love with the art of clowning. Subsequently he joined the Greatest Show on Earth for five US tours, and it was there that he created Grandma, the beloved clown who has graced the Big Apple Circus ring with her antics since 1982, most recently starring in Play On!
Barry has appeared in several Off-Broadway productions, in the films My Life, Big Top Pee Wee, and Alice, and has worked with Snappy Dance Theater in Boston, CBS’s “Circus of the Stars,” and MTV directing comedy segments. Recent television work includes a featured role in “Evening at Pops” on PBS, in-flight entertainment for JetBlue, and starring roles in two pilots for Nickelodeon Networks, for which he also served as Executive Producer, Creator and Writer with Yvette Kaplan. He has been featured many times on NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and on NBC’s Today Show; in a recent Emmy Award–winning special for WABC-TV; and on “The Late Show with David Letterman” four times.
Barry is a 2002 inductee of the International Clown Hall of Fame. He performed at the 2006 International Circus Festival in Budapest where he received the coveted Moscow State Circus Prize. Recently, he starred in Circo Massimo for Italian television and Stars in der Manege in Germany, and also was featured in Circus Krone’s Winter Program, only the second American clown invited to perform in their 88–year history. Barry recently traveled to Saipan to direct a clown theater piece, to Taiwan to debut his new solo show and performed at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo and did his first theatrical tour of Germany in "Clowns," garnering glowing reviews and new fans.
When Barry isn't performing in the Big Apple Circus ring, he is appearing internationally in circus, theater and television in Europe and Asia. Barry recently became an Honorary Board Member of the internationally reknowned youth circus, Circus Smirkus. He is the proud father of daughters Danielle and Emily.