The King Charles Troupe (also known as KCT or the KCs; founded as Charles Unicycle Riders) is an American group of

unicycling A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spe ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

playing circus performers. In 1969, they became the first known major African-American circus act in modern American circus.

Early history

The King Charles Troupe was created by Jerry King in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

in 1958, "as a community unicycle club that instilled the ideas of Christian principals, character building and discipline to give neighborhood youth an opportunity to become productive citizens." King was inspired by a performance he saw in 1918 of

Ringling Brothers Circus Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a Germ ...

, where he witnessed a man ride a unicycle on a highwire. He taught his 6-year-old son, Charles, how to ride a unicycle in the hallway of their apartment building. King started a club, and his students would refer to him as "the Old Man" or "Mr. Jerry." One of King's students, Albert Owens, was on a unicycle when a basketball rolled near him. While still on the unicycle, Owens shot the basketball into a hoop. From there, the first iteration of the King Charles Troupe was formed. Originally called the "Charles Unicycle Riders" after King's son, ''de facto'' business manager Bill Minson, a

reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

, rebranded the group as the "King Charles Troupe...because it had a showbiz flair to it." They would train by riding on

cobblestones Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a ...

. A talent scout for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, , attempted in vain to convince the circus to hire them.

Irvin Feld Irvin Feld (May 9, 1918 – September 6, 1984) was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros. a ...

, at the time the producer for the circus, saw the Troupe perform on

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

. He was impressed, and had them audition for him on the

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, subsequently hiring them for the 1969 show as the circus' first all-

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

circus act, the same year the circus had hired its first Black

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

Reggie Montgomery Reginald "Reggie" Alexander Montgomery (Sep 15, 1947 – Jan 13, 2002) was an American clown, actor and director. He was best known as the first African-American clown to perform in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, though he spent o ...

. Feld fired several managers who were intolerant of the Troupe on account of the Troupe's race.

Later history

In 1981, the Troupe performed with the magicians

Siegfried and Roy Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

in their show "Beyond Belief" at The Frontier hotel in Las Vegas. Siegfried and Roy included the Troupe in a number where they escorted a white showgirl down a large staircase, an act that faced "extreme disapproval" from hotel bosses. It was unheard of to mix black and white people that way. Siegfried and Roy said In 1996, they performed with the UniverSoul Circus. In 2006, they performed in the first season of America's Got Talent. They were eliminated in the semi-finals. In 2015, they joined the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade in

Savannah, GA Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the f ...

. In 2020, the King Charles Troupe was inducted into the

Circus Ring of Fame St. Armands Key is an island in Sarasota Bay off the west coast of Florida in the United States. It is part of the city of Sarasota, Florida. The island is connected to the mainland by the John Ringling Causeway. History A Frenchman named Char ...

, an award that recognizes people who have made a significant contribution to the art and culture of circus. In 2021, the Bronx honored The King Charles Troupe with a co-name street ceremony. The street name sign is called "King Charles Unicycle Troupe Way" and sits on the corner of E. 170th St. and Clinton Ave in the Bronx, NY. 1400 Clinton Ave is where Jerry King, wife Alma King, and son, Charles King all lived. As of 2023, the group is based in

Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-larg ...

References

External links

*
The King Charles Unicycle Troupe visits MLK Elementary
video from 2013
King Charles Troupe Memories
video from 2021 {{America's Got Talent, state=expanded 1968 establishments in New York City Unicycling Circus performers of African descent American circus performers America's Got Talent contestants 20th-century circus performers 21st-century circus performers

Early history

Later history

See also

References

External links