Jon Griggs taught himself to juggle at the age of 14 and also learned mime skills. In 1985 at the age of 18 he was accepted into Ringling Brothers Clown College in Venice Fl. Upon graduation he received a contract to work on Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus on the Red Unit, where he walked 10ft tall stilts (making him 16 ft tall) and clowned for 1 year in 1986. He was also training on the trampoline and learning to catch on the trapeze. In 1987 he joined the Trapeze Troupe from South Africa “The Soaring Stars” on Ringling Brothers Red Unit, where he performed for 2 years as a trapeze artist. In 1989 he traveled overseas performing as a catcher on the flying trapeze until 1999. He performed in England, Holland, Taiwan, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Italy over his 10 years in Europe. In 2000 he rejoined Ringling Brothers Circus as a clown and coach, in 2001 he became the backstage property manager, fixing and repairing all of the props and floats on the show, then in 2003 became the Operations Manager, and was in charge of the logistics of moving the show in and out of venues, and running the day to day operations. In 2005 he became the General Manager of the Red unit at Ringling Brothers, and would oversee every aspect of the circus, from animals, the train, transportation, and the 350 employees that traveled from town to town. In 2010 Jon left Ringling to settle down in Bradenton, FL. Coming to Sailor Circus in 2015 he began coaching low casting (mini trapeze), trampoline, comedy slide table, unicycle, casting cradle, teeterboard, and bungie. Jon is now the Facilities Maintenance & Safety Manager here at The Circus Arts Conservatory.