AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHNNY RIOT

JOHNNY RIOT is the co-founder of the Rio Brother Circus and the FREAK SHOW Halloween production which operates each year in Forrest City during October. Featuring a haunted house, a late night Halloween show and a deranged clown troop, FREAK SHOW has steadily gained in popularity every year. Here are some excerpts from journalist Bradford West's interview with Johnny Riot.

BW: There has been a rash of strange clown sightings around Forrest City. Some have speculated that these sightings might be a public relations campaign being conducted by you to promote your Halloween production, FREAK SHOW. Is there any truth to those speculations?

JR: Absolutely not. We do not engage in that sort of guerrilla marketing. I categorically deny that we are related in any way to any strange clown encounters.

BW: Scary clowns freak me out.

JR: [Grins widely]. Scary clowns freak everybody out. And I can confidently say that the FREAK SHOW clowns are the scariest.

BW: In the age of the internet, social media and video games, can a traveling circus survive?

JR: I believe many people in this country feel a longing for more real-world interaction and tactile experience. Walking through the FREAK SHOW haunted house will always be a more compelling experience than walking through one in a video game. Having an experience on an iPad can never fully compare to having an experience that you can touch and feel in real-life.

BW: The name of your circus is The Riot Brothers. Is there another Riot Brother?

JR: That's a story for another day.