County Fair shows offer laughs and gaffs

It's fast and furious and filled with antics aimed squarely at your funny bone - it's Nojoe's Clown Circus at the Highlands County Fair.

The Clown Circus features Nojoe, who is big enough to fit into those big clown shoes, and Toot, a slimmer funny man, who tries, to no avail, to keep Nojoe in check.

The clowns offer up plenty of props and pratfalls with no let up of constant chatter and bantering between them as they juggle, balance and cook up a storm on stage.

Nojoe is Joey Thurmond and Toot is his son, Tyler.

When Thurmond was 6 years old a family trip to the circus introduced him to clowning and he soon taught himself how to juggle and balance weird objects.

Thurmond said his son made history by being the youngest (at 16 years old) to be named Clown of the Year by the Family Entertainers Association.

"Together we are the 2009 Clowning Duo of the Year," said Thurmond, who is from Dallas, Ga.

During a break from the zaniness, Thurmond's wife, Jamie, takes the stage to perform Poi, which involves twirling or spinning balls on a length of chord or flexible material.

Nojoe's Clown Circus' shows are at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. today and 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday at the Exhibit Stage.

At the Highlands Today Stage on Wednesday evening, five volunteers from the audience found themselves in the middle of another fast-paced show.

A school-aged boy and girl, two young men and a woman quickly reacted to prompts and unseen circumstances conjured up by master hypnotist Mark Yuzik.

After informing the audience about the misconceptions about hypnosis, Yuzik called for three to four minutes of silence so he could hypnotize his volunteers.

"No worries, no cares, only a few moments of total peace - total relaxation" he intoned. "You'll feel the arms in your lap getting heavier, heavier.

"Everyone on stage look directly at me. Look directly into my eyes and as you do you will find that your own eyes will begin to burn and water."

As soothing music played, Yuzik continued his soft, but suggestive incantation sending the volunteers into an altered state of consciousness.

When he told the subjects that it was very, very cold, a temperature of minus 40, they quickly huddled together to stay warm.

One-by-one, the hypnotist suggested situations for each of the volunteers who seemed to respond on cue in their own little world.

When he touched his own forehead a huge rat will appear, Yuzik told one of the young men.

The young man scurried on top of a metal chair in apparent fright when the hypnotist touched his forehead.

All the volunteers were set into a frenzy when Yuzik told them they were in a competition to dance to a speeded up version of the Macarena. First prize would be $1 million, he exclaimed.

The Master Hypnotist shows will be at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. today and 5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m. Saturday at the Highlands Today Stage.

The Highlands County Fair concludes on Saturday.

The midway, featuring the Reithoffer shows, is open today from 5 p.m.-midnight and will be open on Saturday from 1 p.m. - midnight.