Man in the Can

Ronald Burton is almost unrecognizable when he is not wearing his makeup.

Burton, who worked at the Siloam Springs Rodeo this weekend, is better known as the man in the arena cracking jokes about his wife, laughing about injuries from his own rodeo career, or driving half a taxi cab away from an angry, purse-wielding passenger.

Burton, who has been in the rodeo business for about 25 years, started out riding bulls before transitioning to bull fighting.

"I laugh and tell people that I quit riding bulls for two reasons: I was not any good and I was not getting better," Burton said.

Burton said the transition to being a rodeo clown was easy.

"I was always the class clown," he said.

Burton's antics take him from Alaska to Texas and from East Coast to West Coast. Burton, who is based in Philadelphia, Miss., said his year starts in February and goes all the way into November. During that time he is at a different rodeo every weekend.

"It's a lot of windshield time," he said.

"What drives me and inspires me is the rodeo fans," Burton said. "It's the people."

"For those two hours that the rodeo lasts, if I can take their minds off their work week or whatever problems they might have, that's my favorite part."

Burton is the subject of a recent documentary about the life of a rodeo clown. The movie, titled "Man In The Can," was the product of a documentary producer following Burton with a camera for three years, Burton said.

The documentary has received special screenings at the Rodeo Hall of Fame and the rodeo championship in Vegas.

"What I liked so much about the film is that it is 100 percent authentic," Burton said.

When the director, who Burton originally met while working on a different project, approached him about the film, Burton said he thought it was a great idea -- but he said all the rodeo footage had to be real and genuine. The result is a documentary that has been embraced by the rodeo community for its accuracy, Burton said.

"I'm just a normal guy with a pretty cool job," Burton said.

Burton's acts of buffoonery have earned him several awards, including the Cowboy's Professional Rodeo Association Contract Act of the Year award for the past five consecutive years.