Step right up! Step right up! Get the scoop on carny life

Give it up for my man, Donald Poythress.

He's been a carnival worker for seven years, operating a ride called the Ring of Fire.

It's basically a giant O that goes round and round, or as they say in France, loop-de-loop.

With the Coastal Carolina Fair in town recently, we decided to see what life's like as a carny. So, Donald, if you would ...

P&C: What do you do in your spare time? What do carnies like to do?

A: Well, you don't have too much spare time at all. You go to stores. You go shopping. You do pretty much what everybody else does.

P&C: Read, sculpt, paint?

A: Some of 'em do. Like me, I like messing with TVs.

P&C: What about the term, carny? As a carny, do you take offense?

A: No.

P&C: Do you refer to yourself as a carny?

A: I am an employee. Jack of all trades and a master of none.

P&C: Well, do you know Carnie Wilson?

A: No. Is she that snake lady?

P&C: No, not quite. What makes the cotton candy so delicious? Is it the cotton or the candy?

A: It's the sugar.

P&C: Do you get hopped up on the junk?

A: Oh, yeah. I eat a lot of it.

P&C: HBO recently had a show titled "Carnivale," where they showed circus workers with supernatural abilities. Do you or your co-workers have any sort of supernatural abilities?

A: Like what?

P&C: Flight.

A: (They have) strength.

P&C: I think that would be a natural ability.

A: Strength, yeah, you've got to have natural strength.

P&C: Who designed these rides? Because I noticed the Gravitron operates by centrifugal force — the same method doctors use to separate blood. Connection or coincidence?

A: I think it's just the way it is.

P&C: Now, how many tickets do these rides usually require?

A: Anywhere from three to five.

P&C: If I handed you, say, four tickets, would you give me a piggyback ride around the fair?

A: No.

P&C: How about eight tickets and I could crawl on your back and ride around like a horse? Hi-ho carny, away!

A: (Laughs) No.

P&C: How many years do you have to spend operating the carousel in order to be promoted to, say, the Ring of Fire? Is there a carny hierarchy?

A: No, it's just what your ability is. They can look at you and tell you what you can run and what you can't run, what you can set up, what you can tear down, stuff like that.

P&C: They can look at you and say, "Donald, I know you're a Ring of Fire guy. You're not a carousel guy"?

A: No, I'm not a carousel guy.

P&C: We're from Charleston and that's a college town. So what advice would you give someone attending school who's studying to become a carny?

A: Don't. Don't do it.

Reach Rob Young at 937-5518 and ryoung@postandcourier.com.

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