Basketball, as you know, is arguably the most popular sport on the planet. There have been numerous movies made, radio shows, and even comics. However, did you know that you could see basketball at the circus? For years now, the King Charles Troupe has delighted audiences by playing basketball...on unicycles.
When Jerry King was a young boy growing up in Florida, he sneaked under a tent at the circus. What he saw, was the idea that would start the King Charles Troupe, now KCT, Inc. When he looked, he saw a man on a unicycle doing tricks on a high wire. "That stayed with me all my life," he later said.
Jerry dreamed of riding a unicycle. However, when he finally saw one in a bicycle shop in Tampa Bay, he was told "little colored boys" shouldn't aspire to such things.
Jerry, or Mr. Jerry as the troupe affectionately named him, grew up in a tough life. When his family moved north in the Great Migration, he would often go long stretches of time with no food. During the 1930's, he did hard time in Sing Sing for killing a man in a fight.
Then, Jerry served in Europe and North Africa during World War II, and his life began to change. He later bought a gas station and prospered. After marriage, in 1952, he and his wife gave birth to Charles King.
When Charles was six, Jerry taught him to ride a unicycle in the halls of their Bronx apartment building. "When my father brought it home, and I tried it out, I said to him, 'If this thing didn't go back and forth so much, I could ride it.'," remembers Charles.
Once Charles could ride it, he'd ride it in parks, and soon his dad was teaching Charles' friends to ride unicycles as well. One time, they were practicing on a basketball court and someone tossed a basketball to them, and that's how the KCT got it's act.
They auditioned for the Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus in front of Madison Square Garden, and joined the circus in 1969, becoming the first all-black circus act. They were gaining fame. They made appearances on "The Tonight Show", "The Dick Cavett Show", and "The Merv Griffin Show." Then, in 1991, tragedy struck. Three members, including Charles, died in a car crash. The act dropped out of the circus. Then in 1996, Mr. Jerry, the beloved architecht of the KCT, died.
Through the adversity, however, emerged a new leader, Floyd "Sweet" Harrison, a charter member of the KCT. He changed the name from the King Charles Troupe to KCT, Inc., and with the help of Cedric Walker of the UniverSoul Circus regrouped them. In 1998, KCT, Inc. was back in the circus. "This troupe is about living the ideals of character and integrity that Mr. Jerry taught us," says Floyd. "We've had rough times, but they've only deepend our faith in those ideals."
Today, KCT, Inc. is still one of the mose unique circus acts ever. The perform not only at circuses such as the UniverSoul Circus, but also for schools and charities. From all the adversity, they've emerged as one of the most popular acts ever. And to think, it all started with one "little colored boy" dreaming of riding a unicycle.
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