Clowning Around Again with Bozo

Last year, Tony and I met Joey D'Auria, better known as Bozo. After chatting with him, I just felt he would be willing to do a short interview, even though I hadn't previously requested one. He very graciously agreed. You can find that video and a lot of other fun interviews on the Global Traveler YouTube channel.

He gave us a few interesting tidbits, including revealing actor David Arquette owns the rights to Bozo. Because of this, D'Auria is now allowed to do such appearances.

A few weeks later, Tony and I went to another convention and we saw D'Auria again. Of course, I had to go back and thank him again. He was just as gracious. What a nice man.

Tony and I still joke that we interviewed Bozo. Succeeding Bob Bell, D'Auria filled the clown shoes quite well. Both men wee big parts of our childhood. There may be bigger names I interviewed over the years, but few made me as excited as this one.

 Tony, Joey D'Auria and me in Milwaukee, WI-August 2025.

Meeting Bozo at Nightmare Weekend

When my pal Tony saw Galaxy Con Nightmare Weekend was taking place in Chicago, he let me know and we applied and received media passes. While we had several folks we wanted to meet, Joey D'Auria was tops on that list.

D'Auria is a Chicago legend. He is the second and last man to portray Bozo the Clown, a beloved television staple for many years in Chicago. He replaced Bob Bell, another legend), keeping the essence of Bozo, but making it his own, too. Filling Bell's shoes could not have been easy, but D'Auria did it seemlessly.

When we met him the first day, he told us a few bits of Bozo trivia. He was so engaging, I thought I had a real shot at getting an interview with him the next day. When we approached him again Saturday, he didn't even hesitate. I asked him to repeat a bit of what he told us the previous day and I asked a couple other questions.

After it was done, Tony and I were a bit giddy. "We just interviewed Bozo" became our mantra all weekend. Even if we did nothing else, I think we would have been happy.

We did do lenty more though, but I'll save those stories for future days. For now, I just want to soak in the fact that we interviewed Bozo.

Our interview is at Meeting Chicago Legend Joey D'Auria on Global Traveler's YouTube channel. While you're there, please subscribe!

Joey D'Auria, Tony and me in Rosemont, IL-May 2025.