Two men will make a trip to Franklin to entertain fans at the upcoming Franklin Rodeo.
Rodeo clown and barrelman Dusty Myers and specialty act Troy Lerwill will be on hand to perform for fans during each night of the rodeo May 18-20 at the Williamson Co. Ag Expo Park.
Myers, who lives in Jumpertown, Miss., grew up the son of a rodeo clown and bullfighter, and when he was thirteen, began working small shows around his hometown.
He was a bullfighter for more than a decade when a knee injury forced him to turn to making people laugh. He had watched comedians from the 1950s and ‘60s for years. “Red Skelton and Milton Berle are clean comedians,” he said, “and I patterned myself after them. They knew how to do comedy.”
Myers also loves watching cartoons, and his acts reflect some of them. “I’m such a fan of old school cartoons. They were the best. Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, and the best of all time is the Road Runner. I try to stage my acts like the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. It always goes wrong; it never goes right.”
Lerwill, who calls Payson, Utah home, is a six-time Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Clown of the Year and has combined his passion for motorbikes with his love for rodeo to make a living.
He was born into a rodeo family with a dad who team roped and a mom who was a former rodeo queen. He preferred bikes, though, and got his first motorcycle when he was eleven.
Lerwill found out he was good at motocross racing and spent six years racing professionally. But at the age of twenty, he was burned out from it. He switched to racing mountain bikes, and then began bullfighting. A chance conversation with a stock contractor switched him to rodeo clown. “The contractor told me, ‘if you can get a microphone and do comedy, I’ll pay you $200 a performance,’” Lerwill remembers. “I thought, golly, that’s a lot of money. I can do that.”
Lerwill found his niche in rodeo with his signature act: jumping a Ram truck and trailer – sixty feet in length – with his dirt bike. The jump isn’t scary, he says, but the landing can be. There is no landing ramp for him; he lands in the dirt. “The first time I (jumped), I was much taller, and now I get shorter every year,” he jokes.
He’s found his niche in life. “I tell kids all the time, God gives every single human being the ability to do something a little bit better than any other human being. If you find that within yourself, you really never work a day in your life. It’s what you do, and it’s enjoyable.”
Both men entertain at more than 100 rodeo performances a year, and enjoy their jobs. “I love what I do,” Myers said. “I get to the rodeos, and I’m excited. If I’m at a rodeo, I’m happy.”
Myers and Lerwill will entertain during each night of the Franklin Rodeo May 18-20. The rodeo begins at 7 pm nightly. Tickets range in price from $10-$20 and are available online at FranklinRodeo.com and at the gate. For more information, call 615-RODEO11 or visit the website.
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