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Nashville – Friday night on stamped days the energy was inside the Bridgestone Arena electric. Of course, it had a lot to do to see world-class athletes with almost 2-ton bucking bull had a lot to do with it. But the man who fuel the fire held thousands of fans on their feet and screamed was Brinson James.
People at home might call him a rodeo clown. And certainly, he has been. But Professional Bull Riding (PBR) does not consider himself a rodeo. Rodeo is entertainment. PBR is an athletic competition. And Brinson James is a entertainer – A hype man.
“It’s the best job, definitely it’s the best job,” James told Outkick. “A bull rider told me that when the crowd screams, it feels like they could ride any bull as they are loading. So I feel like it’s my job, just to make the crowd scream, to hype them, to show them that this is the best show on dirt. We want fun no matter what, party.
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Brinson James Entertainer performs on the Professional Bull Riding Canadian National Championships in Edmonton at Roger’s Place. (Ron Palmer/SOPA pictures/lightrocket via Getty Images)
Brinson James was destined for the arena
Originally from Florida, James was born in this life. His father, “Hollywood” Harris, has been a rodeo clown for almost 40 years. Together, they appeared like a father-son act across the country.
“Everyone grew up. I was Boogerhead. It was my rodeo love name. It was Hollywood and Boogerhead,” James said. “And for 18 years we traveled the country and went to various Rodos, PBRS, up to Canada, everywhere.”
James is still laughing about his old moniker.
“No one knows who ‘Brinson James’ is in Florida. Everyone who calls me Boogerhead,” he said. “I love it. It’s my name for sure.”
The family heritage runs deep. His father appeared in PBR World Finals in 1994, and Brinson grew up and stared at his father’s world final.
“My dad was here as an entertainer just before [legendary barrelman Flint Rasmussen] was, so all my life I grew up looking at his PBR World Finals Buckle, “James said in a May 2024 interview.” So it’s been my dream ever since I was 10 or 11 years old. “
He fulfilled this dream last year and earned his own buckle of just 30 years old.
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Brinson James Entertainer performs on the Professional Bull Riding Canadian National Championships in Edmonton at Roger’s Place. (Ron Palmer/SOPA pictures/lightrocket via Getty Images)
From Boogerhead to PBR Entertainer
At 12, James appeared with his father. In just 17 he got his first chance to run the show on his own.
“PBR Canada hired my dad and I to come and do all their events in 2012,” he explained. “Richard Jones, our music director, was actually responsible for all this at the time. He had seen my dad work a thousand times and would use us as a team up there, but my dad had a broken leg and couldn’t handle it. So my dad told Richard that I thought I was ready.”
He was. This break launched a career that has taken him from “Boogerhead the Rodeo Clown” to one of PBR’s leading underholders. It was an adjustment, but he made it happen.
“There is a difference between a rodeo clown and a PBRentertainer,” James said. “So it took a little bit.”
Best job in the world
Now 31-year-old, James has marked each box on the entertainer’s bucket list-from to debut in PBR World Finals for performing throughout Canada and the United States, to cut his own identity, after in his father’s footsteps.
And if there was ever any doubt that this was a family business, even Brinson’s dogs have become part of the action. Re-Ride and Cheddar (“The Wonder Dogs”) have wowed crowds over the years of frisbee tricks and barrel climbing between rides.
Brinson James responds during the 2024 Professional Bull Riders World Finals at AT&T Stadium on May 19, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Click Thompson/Getty Images)
For James, it’s a excitement that never gets old.
“That’s the crowd,” he said. “I love the electricity in the crowd when they really react, as here in Nashville, these people will party. It doesn’t matter what it shows it is … They will scream, they want to party, they want to have fun,” James told Outkick. “So it’s my favorite part, is to go out there, ask the audience to do some fun, and they respond to it and they have fun with me.”
Therefore, he never hesitates when asked what this career means to him.
“It’s definitely the only job I’ve ever had, and probably the only job I ever want. This is great.”
