Clowning achievement JJ Harrison ready to do some walkin' and talkin' at Moses Lake Roundup

MOSES LAKE — He might have gotten his Ph.D. in post hole diggin’, but rodeo clown JJ Harrison is one of the smartest guys out there on the rodeo trail and certainly one of the funniest comedian barrelmen in the business.

The committee struck gold in bringing Harrison back to do a little walkin’ and talkin’ on the arena floor of the Grant County Fairgrounds Aug. 16-18 at the 75th annual Moses Lake Roundup. Harrison makes his return to Moses Lake for the first time since 2014 and it's the good folks in the Columbia Basin that make him darn glad to be coming back.

"It's one of those rodeos that I’ve been trying to get back to for quite some time,” said Harrison, who actually has a master’s degree and taught science and social studies at a Walla Walla middle school for eight years.

“It’s a great crowd and they respond really well to my brand of comedy and that’s what I’ve always enjoyed. I’m an off-the-cuff guy, I like to wing it. With that Moses Lake crowd, they don’t come to see a particular contestant. They don’t come because they’re really into tie-down roping. They come because they want to be entertained. That’s what great about Moses Lake for a guy in my job. I’m the bridge from the contestant to the fan.”

Harrison’s a Pacific Northwest guy, having grown up in Omak, but he’s worked all over the country since graduating from Washington State University. Pat Beard, the son of renowned stock contractor Frank Beard from Ellensburg, was the first to recognize Harrison’s talents in Walla Walla, Wash., and hired him for a bull riding competition he put on in Vancouver. Harrison’s been walkin’ and talkin’ ever since.

“I think the key that sets him apart from other comedian barrelmen is his quick-wittedness,” said Columbia River Circuit president Rowdy Barry, who will work the bulls with Harrison at the Moses Lake Roundup. “We call the chatter, walkin’ and talkin’ and JJ is pretty unique. There’s probably only one other guy that’s done as much walkin’ and talkin’ as JJ, and that’s why committees keep hiring him.”

Longtime Moses Lake Roundup committee members Doug Rathbone and Nick Dirks couldn’t be more tickled to bring back a star of Harrison’s magnitude to Moses Lake for the 75th annual Moses Lake Roundup.

“JJ is good. He has arena savvy. He works the crowd, he’s clean, he’s funny,” said Rathbone, who’s been on the committee 21 years. “He and announcer Will Rasmussen work very well together. Will’s been the voice of the Roundup for 25 years now. When you sit there and watch behind the chutes, I noticed the cowboys will stop and watch the clown act.

“When the cowboys take time from getting ready to watch the clown act, that says something. You know it’s a good one.”

Dirks, a former vice president and long-time committee veteran, agreed.

“JJ’s a good one, he’s sometimes booked two-three-four years out. But it came together at the right time and we couldn’t be happier to have him for the 75th annual rodeo,”Dirks said. “JJ’s all energy and he gives you 110 percent, whether it’s working with the committee, the crowd or the announcer.

“He’s an Omak guy and a Washington cowboy, so he’s not just some guy that’s passing through getting a check. He has a vested interest in the Northwest.”

There’s bigger, there’s brighter and there’s even more established rodeos than the one in Moses Lake. But when it comes to Americana and the heart of rodeo across this land, it’s rodeos like the Moses Lake Roundup that are the heart and soul of the sport.

“I’ve worked the National Finals Rodeo, which is the largest summertime rodeo. I’ve worked St. Paul (Minn.), which is the largest Fourth of July rodeo. I’ve worked Denver, which is the largest wintertime rodeos,” Harrison said. “It’s not that one’s better than the other, but I like the appreciation that they have for me and my job there in Moses Lake.

“They didn’t have to come and get me very hard to work the 75th annual Moses Lake Roundup. I was ready to be back in Moses Lake.

“I love this crowd and I think that will be evident on night No. 1. I will be excited to be back and I will be excited to interact with that crowd.”

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer with the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.