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Tricia Manuel originally hails from Maple Lake, a very small town in rural Minnesota. She was working on a degree in Theatre Arts at the University of Minnesota and interning as a stage manager at the Children's Theatre Co. of Minneapolis, when her life was taken over by the art of clowning. She headed west to perform with the Kit-N-Kaboodle Theatre Co. as a beginning clown in the summer of 1982. In the fall of 1982, she attended Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey's Clown College. Out of 60 prospective candidates, she was chosen by her performance to receive a contract to work for the Greatest Show on Earth, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus (RBBBC). She toured three full seasons with the circus, performing as a clown in over 500 performances per year from 1983 to 1985. To further her clowning art, she decided to leave the circus. She was offered a position with Ringling, performing at Disneyland in Circus Fantasy. For its entire three-year run, she performed in the famous theme park. During this time, in the off-season, she developed her skills in Birthday parties, company picnics and did consecutive tours with traveling variety arts stage shows. In 1987 she was brought in to create the first Female Clowning and Costuming Course at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse, Clown Camp. For 7 consecutive years she taught at Clown Camp creating new and innovative ways to educate the growing numbers of professional and amateur clowns. In 1988 she designed costumes for the 20th Anniversary of RBBB Clown College. She also designed costumes and props for the 1988 Edition of the Gold Unit of RBBBC that toured Japan. In 1989 she established Pricilla Mooseburger Originals (PMO), a clown costuming company. She revolutionized the market by encouraging individual custom designs, and consequently encouraging individual clowns to new things. She has built costumes for clowns on every major American circus, and quite a few of the smaller shows. She has supplied Ground Round Corporation with Bingo costumes, and Breezy for banks in the Chicago area. She has become the best know clown costumiers around the world. Her top of the line website www.mooseburger.com has made it possible for clowns all over the world to have high quality costumes, make-up, wigs and books to help them advance their clown performances. In 1994 she started Mooseburger Clown Arts Camp to offer the ultimate interactive clown arts educational experience. The dream of Moose Camp was and is to teach the fundamentals of clowning through a variety of mediums in an effort to help people move on to another level of clowning. She also believed in preservation of circus routines and adapted them to be shared in every program she hosted. Because of her efforts, in partnership with Frosty Little, Old circus gags are still being taught, and preserved and performed by the students who attend Moose Camp. Over a thousand clowns from all over the world have attended Moose Camp programs. Tens of thousands in the U.S. and abroad have attended Tricia's classes and benefited from her generous style of teaching. She has brought in students from most every continent on the globe to join and study the art of clowning. Tricia has written articles for clowning magazines such as Laugh Makers, Clowning Around, and The New Calliope. And now she writes an educational article for her newsletter every month, which is free through this website. 
In the year 2000 Tricia and her partners created The Great Clown Adventure. This convention in Las Vegas was designed to put performance and education into a short fun venue. Hundreds of clowns from all over the world attend. Circus legends such as Frosty Little, Earl Chaney, and Jim Howell attend keeping the circus tradition alive, sharing stories and teaching skills.
Tricia loves clowning, and has given the last 21 years of her life to it, with no end in sight. She loves teaching and watching people learn and grow. She has given up much of her own clowning to be able to travel, to costume and to teach. She knows that she touches more people through the people she teaches and costumes than she could on her own. And she honestly enjoys watching clowns grow! There is nothing more exciting than watching students and customers discover new things in themselves. When she gets to clown, she is incredible. Any one who has ever performed with Pricilla Mooseburger finds her to be talented, spontaneous, or fun. And she has performed with hundreds of clowns, including a few of the clown hall of fame inductees. She has performed all over the country, at large events, hundreds of conventions, even parties for celebrities. Yet, when you ask her what she has liked best, you will hear about the friends she worked with, and how wonderful they are. She may tell you about what a gift it was to watch The Greatest Show on Earth sitting quietly next to Lou Jacobs, or to be called "cute" by Red Skelton at the Circus, or to work side by side with Frosty Little. And she wouldn't be bragging. She has just had a pretty unbelievable life so far. In her time in clowning, she has pushed the role of women in clowning. She has impacted the makeup style and look of clowns around the world. More importantly she has championed the cause of encouraging clowns to break out of themselves and dare to attempt to be great clowns. In a world where we are encouraged to fit in, Tricia is inspiring them to stand out. Interested in hiring Pricilla to teach or sell her wares at your convention or workshop? She would love to help make your next event a success!
Contact her by email, phone, fax, or mail - all of her contact information is at the bottom of the page.
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