For 15 years, Dominic Giorgi was a rodeo bull fighter.
Then he wised up and became a rodeo clown. Giorgi, 35, gets paid more now as a rodeo clown providing entertainment for the crowd while not having to risk life and limb against an angry bull.
“I don’t have to get hurt doing this,” said Giorgi, who was the rodeo clown at the 82nd annual San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo last weekend for the second straight year. “Bull fighting is an adrenaline rush, and you can say we’re adrenaline junkies. There’s something about controlling an animal that’s uncontrollable at times. It’s fun and there’s nothing like it.”
With the fun, however, comes a laundry list of injuries. There’s an old saying in bull riding that it’s not if you get hurt, it’s when. Giorgi can attest to that, having suffered an assortment of injuries over the years, including a broken leg, broken arm, cracked ribs and some pinched nerves in his back.
“I’ve actually been mostly healthy compared to some other guys,” Giorgi said. “I haven’t really had a major, bad injury that’s taken me out for a long time. There’s a lot of luck involved and understanding and respecting your animal that they have the capability to take you out at any moment. Yet you still have to push that danger zone all the time, but be smart about it.”
For those unfamiliar with rodeo, bull fighters are the guys who rush in to grab the attention of the bull once the rider is thrown off. The safety of the riders is their top priority, and if they have to, bull fighters will literally get in between the bull and the rider and take the hit—then hope they won’t get absolutely mauled in the process.
A rodeo clown provides entertainment throughout an event, cracking jokes and doing stunts to keep spectators engaged during the show’s entirety. At the Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo, Giorgi definitely earns his paycheck.
“This rodeo is busier than most because you have the track for horse shows and the main arena, where all the rodeo events are,” he said. “There’s not a lot of dead time, so the announcer and I have to be sharp to keep things going and flowing.”
An Oakdale resident, Giorgi made the transition from bull fighter to rodeo clown four years ago, and his hard work and passion has earned him gigs in rodeos in Alaska, California, Nevada and Oregon.
Starting this weekend, Giorgi will spend time in Cody, Wyo., attending a clown camp run by Justin Rumford, who is a three-time winner of the Rodeo Clown of the Year, which is awarded by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
“I’m going to be in Cody for a week, and hopefully this is the start of making this a full-time gig for me,” said Giorgi, who is a well driller. “This is a big stepping stone for me to hopefully jump-start my career into more full-time gigs. I’m going to meet up with (Rumford), and he’s going to show me some stuff and push me in the right direction and take me under his wing a bit. Hopefully, I’ll get every gig he can’t go to.”
Giorgi plans on absorbing everything that comes his way, knowing he’s learning from the best. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Rumford said the top rodeo clowns can make anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 a year.
“I hope to learn a lot more about barrel work (in regards to) when the bulls are out there,” Giorgi said. “And more about working the crowd and being more spontaneous, making a lot of quick second decisions, and when to be funny and not be funny. Hopefully he fine tunes what I already do well and helps me improve in the areas I need to develop more.”
It goes without saying that a rodeo clown needs to possess some serious personality. Giorgi said he wasn’t exactly known as Mr. Charismatic growing up, but being a rodeo clown has really let his persona come to life.
On day two of the Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo, Giorgi brought a vacuum to the arena to do a faux clean up around the barrels. Born and raised in Sacramento, Giorgi had friends outside of the area who introduced him to rodeo.
“Rodeo just stuck with me, and my parents were willing and able enough to support my passion and let me try it out when I was young,” he said. “It just stuck with me, and I didn’t want to do anything else.”
Even though well drilling pays the bills and affords Giorgi and his fiancé, Melissa Elliott, a solid living, being a rodeo clown makes him feel alive. Early in his rodeo career, Giorgio tried bull riding, but that path didn’t last very long.
Then he got into bull fighting before making the transition to a rodeo clown, a move that’s turned out golden.
“It was a good move because bull fighting only lasts so long,” he said. “This allows me to stay in the arena and be active in rodeo.”
