Bert Davis Rodeo Clown

COLFAX – This year's Palouse Empire Fair Rodeo is hosting Rodeo Clown, Bert Davis. Davis has spent forty-three years as a rodeo performer starting his career performing in 1974 at the age of 16 as a rodeo bullfighter, working with senior clowns and bullfighters until he started performing solo. Davis has worked special events in forty-five states, five canadian provinces, and in Australia.

Davis was on America's Got Talent in 2010, season 5. "We made it the Vegas round," Davis said.

"They wanted us to cancel out on some of our existing contracts and at the time there was never an animal act to win America's Got Talent." Davis didn't want to ruin his career as a rodeo performer by risking dropping his contracts for the show, so he declined moving forward.

"I told them summer is our biggest time, this is our best time," Davis said, "if I cancel out for a show I might not win. I'd lose all the contracts we have."

Davis explained that America's Got Talent was still a great experience. "We learned to do a stage show," he said.

All of Davis' acts are dog acts, "It's pretty cool. No one in the history of rodeo has ever done it. We're the only one in north america where all our acts are dog acts," he said.

During the act Davis will be have 3 dogs running barrels at the same time. There are usually four dogs this year, Davis explained that during the second week of august at a rodeo in montana one of his dogs got injured performing, "she twisted her gut," he said "she was the oldest out of the dogs we have."

Davis has been working with dogs since 1995, the dog that got injured was one of the top three dogs he's ever had, he explained. "40 percent of her stomach was bad," he said "We couldn't do the surgery, because some of her stomach couldn't come back. She lasted for three days and passed away."

Right now they're training a fourth dog "we don't know if she'll be ready or not," he said, further explaining that nobody has every ran three or four dogs over a barrel at a time in the history of rodeo.

Davis has never been to or performed in this area of Washington, "Since I've never performed at the area we'll have our acts Davis' Muttley Crew," which includes eight dogs that come out and do different tricks. "Another act I'll do is Trash Can Kitty," he said explaining that it's been performed three times at the national rodeo. "It has an original trash time dog named Kelsey. Kelsey and Kitty have been nominated for PRCA act of the year, and we're eligible to be nominated for this year."

Davis is excited to share his act with the Palouse, "I'm excited, because I've never been in that area," Davis said, mentioning that he is pretty proud of they're dogs, "Everyone loves dogs, and will enjoy our show. Some of my humor is pretty funny too."