Clownin’ around

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In this photo, Jordan and Lambert pose in their "work clothes" at a rodeo in the 1960s. The two will reunite in an appearance at the Hubbard Rodeo on May 27 and 28.
A vintage photo shows Billy Jordan's old "Buckin' Ford" during a rodeo in the 1960s.
Rodeo clowns Curtis Lambert and Billy Jordan will reunite for a special appearance at the Hubbard rodeo May 27 and 28.

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May 22, 2011

Legendary rodeo clowns reunite for Hubbard shows

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Sun May 22, 2011, 03:00 PM CDT

Corsicana — It was one of those nights when the Buckin’ Ford wasn’t behaving just right. The back seat had exploded down like it was supposed to, and the charge that made a 30-foot geyser shoot from the radiator worked, but the brakes were hot, and from where young Catfish Lambert was driving in the backseat there was no kill switch, and he ended up driving that old jalopy into the rodeo stands. Nobody was hurt, but there were some frightened rodeo fans — and a couple of scared rodeo clowns, too.

Even now, 45 years later, Lambert protests his innocence.

“It was an accident. I didn’t do it on purpose,” he said. “That was the day I turned 21.”

Billy “Wild Bill” Jordan met Curtis “Catfish” Lambert around 1968 when Lambert was looking to move beyond riding bulls to taunting them on foot.

“I was 19,” Lambert said. “I’d been riding rodeo in high school. I was in good condition. I could run. The stories about bull fighting appealed to me. I learned the hard way you could out-turn them but not out-run them.”

“I was 33 when he met me,” Jordan said. “He was still a puppy.”

As the senior clown, Jordan was the barrel man, meaning that his job was to attract the attention of an enraged bull, then hop into a large barrel and get purposely tossed around. Lambert was the bull-fighter, whose job it was to distract the bull from the cowboy gasping for air on the ground. Together Jordan and Lambert were rodeo clowns whose routines were designed not just to attract the eyes of wild animals, but large audiences.

Their skits included one where they “milk” a steer by pumping its tail like a jackhandle, the Buckin’ Ford with its souped-up suspension, exploding rear seat, projectile radiator and other trick features, the pick-pocket gag, the various animal skits with ducks, dogs, a pet skunk, and other critters, combined with their own daring and timing around 2,000-pound animals.

“If anything broke down they expected you to keep the attention of the audience,” Jordan explained.

“We were real popular,” Lambert said. “It’s a matter of timing and drama and delivery. We were funny.”

Some of the skits Jordan created himself, but some were picked up from older rodeo clowns.

“Some we innovated, and some we got from guys (who worked) back in the ‘30s,” Lambert said.

In 1974, the partnership split up with Jordan heading to the Midwest and Lambert heading West.

There wasn’t a specific reason for the break-up of the act, according to both men. It just happened. Prior to teaming up with Lambert, Jordan had also worked with Skipper Voss, Antelope Lester and Keith Anderson.

“I don’t know. It’s not like we were the Everly Brothers. We just went different directions,” Lambert said.

Forty-two years later, Lambert was at a rodeo event and heard about a rodeo clown reunion in Santa Fe, N.M. He mentioned to one of the organizers that he used to work with Billy Jordan and found out Jordan was a member of the group.

“I thought he was dead,” Lambert said. “I hadn’t heard about him forever.”

Lambert, now 62, got his old pal’s phone number and called him, only to find out they lived about 12 minutes apart in Corsicana.

“He shocked me when he called me,” the 75-year-old Jordan said. “I didn’t have the slightest clue ‘till he told me ‘Catfish.’”

It’s not completely unexpected that both men would end up in this area. Jordan grew up in Hubbard, and rode bulls on the weekends under a fictitious name while he was in high school so he could keep his spot on the football team.

“I had a friend who rode barebacks and bulls. I had a car and he didn’t,” Jordan explained.

Being part of the rodeo circuit is fun and adventurous, and you work with a tight-knit group of trustworthy people whose handshakes were better than most signed contracts, Lambert said.

“It’s like a fraternity,” Lambert explained. “When people gave you their word, you could count on it. People were honest and sincere.”

After working rodeos for years, Lambert went to work for the phone company, married and raised a family. Jordan did electrical work for Brown and Root all over the world.

“That lifestyle wears you out,” Lambert explained about the rodeo. “You’re always traveling. The more you do that the more you become a homebody.” Both men continued doing rodeo shows on the weekends, separately.

Jordan now works for the USDA, but he has continued to do rodeos on the side. He was recently inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. Lambert is also an active member of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.

“Last year, at the age of 73 and three months, I fought three bulls at the Cowbell Reunion,” Jordan said.

On Memorial Day weekend, both Saturday and Sunday evenings, the two reunited clowns will give a performance at the Hubbard Rodeo. They plan on doing their famous “milking the steer” skit, Jordan said.

“It’s less punishing,” Lambert added.

—————

Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “sound off” to this article? E-mail: Soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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