My Life Under the Big Top

About the Book

In his book, My Life Under the Big Top, the Rev. David Fly shares his life’s journey as a standup comedian, a professional television clown, and an Episcopal priest. The three roles became increasingly intertwined throughout his life. The big top of the circus came to represent for him the church with its sense of wonder and mystery—a world from which no one is excluded. The role of the clown and the Christian is to play Stan Laurel to the world’s Oliver Hardy, exposing the folly of pretense and the vanity of pride. The book is both a memoir and a theological reflection.

About the Author

A standup comedian during his high school years and then a professional clown with his own television show for three years before his ordination to the Episcopal priesthood in 1966, the Rev. David K. Fly has served in urban, rural, and campus ministries throughout the Midwest. His last position was rector of Grace Church, Kirkwood, MO. Since retiring he has been in demand as a preacher, teacher, and conference leader. His memoir Faces of Faith – Reflections in a Rearview Mirror was published in 2004 by Church Publishing Incorporated, New York. “David Fly is fluent in the language of the lighthearted. He knows, as far too few in his calling know, that you can be serious without being solemn. He connects with us in a rich, entertaining and humorous way that points as well to joy which lifts our hearts and spirits. David knows well, as Peter Berger said, about the “comic relief of redemption” and he is fluent in its vocabulary.” – From the Rt. Rev. Hays H. Rockwell, Ninth Bishop of Missouri