LOOK, UP IN THE SKY! COMIC DAREDEVIL BELLO NOCK FLIES HIGH FOR RINGLING BROS.

Byline: Jerry Rice  Staff Writer

'AIR NOCK'' may not have the same ring to it as ``Air Jordan,'' but that's not about to keep Bello Nock on the ground.

During his five years with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, he has dangled upside-down from a helicopter above the Statue of Liberty, walked a 360-foot-high tight rope over Reliant Stadium in Houston, and now he runs, jumps and somersaults around a giant treadmill called the Whirling Vortex of Vertigo.

The comic daredevil will be doing that last stunt up to three times a day as the Ringling Bros. circus comes to the Southland for performances at Staples Center and the Arrowhead Pond.

``I love to challenge myself,'' says Nock, 36, a seventh-generation circus performer. ``I try to do something every year that no one has ever done before. Hanging by your toes from a helicopter, 300, 500 feet in the air (above the Statue of Liberty) was something that no one has ever done before. I don't know if anybody would ever care to do that again. There were some pretty high winds.''

It's not surprising that Nock has a knack for pushing the limits of physically daring comedy. He comes from circus aristocracy - a family of daredevils, acrobats and other performers who trace their performance roots back to 18th-century Switzerland.

Also, Karl Wallenda, patriarch of the wire-walking circus family the Flying Wallendas; Gunther Gebel-Williams, the legendary animal trainer and circus performer; daredevil Evel Knievel; and world-famous clown Emmett Kelly were regulars at Nock's home when he was growing up.

But Nock has arguably surpassed them all. Time magazine named him America's best clown in 2001. And the New York Daily News didn't stop there, saying that he ``might be the greatest athlete ever'' to set foot in New York's Madison Square Garden. High praise indeed when you consider the venue has been graced by the likes of Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Peggy Fleming, Wayne Gretzky, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis and John McEnroe.

``Talk about your jaw-dropping, dream-come-true moments,'' says Nock of the New York Daily News tribute. ``As an entertainer, you never think that anybody's going to see that you're an athlete. And as an athlete, you're usually not an entertainer because athletes are in competition. ... Could I even touch the toes of one of those guys in their category? bsolutely not.''

And they likely couldn't touch Nock's toes - which fit comfortably in his oversized performance shoes - when it comes to the circus.

For the 135th edition of the Greatest Show on Earth, Nock not only runs and tumbles in the 40-foot-long Vortex of Vertigo (which resembles a giant hamster wheel), but also displays some of his other talents as a clown, musician (he plays 12 musical instruments) and quick-change artist.

``Mostly I love taking people out of the audience and having them entertain or perform with me,'' Nock says. ``You can never be prepared enough for that. You never know what's going to happen because everyone acts and reacts differently to so many different things.''

One constant in Nock's life is his family. He and his wife of 17 years, Jennifer, have three kids ranging in age from 9 to 16.

While all of them have performed with Nock at one time or another, he's not encouraging any of the kids to follow the family tradition unless they want to. And if they want to do something else, that's fine, too. It's only fair, Nock figures, because he's following his dream.

``I loved making people laugh. I loved taking chances. I loved being a daredevil at a very young age,'' says Nock, who first suited up for a Dumbo circus routine at the age of 3.

Making people laugh is still his No. 1 priority. That was especially clear to him during the audience-participation segment of one special performance.

``A woman grabbed me and pulled me close and said, 'I'm dying of cancer. I haven't laughed in years. You made me feel like a kid again.' When she released me, she was crying,'' Nock says. ``Here's this older lady, and everything she said, that's my goal every day. I want to make someone forget about their pain. It doesn't matter if they're going through cancer or they stubbed their toe on the bedpost. You want to make people dream, to live a fantasy life. If I can do it for them, what a great feeling.''

A hair-raising performer

Circus daredevil Bello Nock gives new meaning to the term ``life under the big top.''

Standing 5-foot-7, Nock has a 9-inch hairdo sticking straight up, which means he can go hair-to-eye with NBA star guard Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat.

``It stands on end somewhat naturally,'' Nock says. ``I also use a little bit of hair spray. Most people think it's egg whites, super glue - I've heard everything. But I can't imagine sticking glue or eggs or Jell-O in your hair and living like that. That's got to stink; it's got to smell.''

Besides hair spray, gravity comes into play, too. After washing and quick use of a towel, he bends over and looks at a mirror between his legs then blow-dries his hair upside down.

Nock rarely lets his hair down, so to speak. When he's not performing he still keeps his 'do, which he calls a high-top, when he's at home and just about anytime he's out in public. (Be sure you don't sit behind him at a movie theater.)

``I go incognito every once in a while,'' Nock says. ``My middle daughter once asked me, 'Daddy, can you be ours today?' I never thought of that (before then). (When we go out), it's like, `Hey, you're the guy from the circus.' `Hey, I saw you on TV.' `Hey, you're the guy on the poster.' You have to be nice to everyone. Not that I'm not nice when my hair is down, it's not like I'm Evil Bello. So I may put a hat and glasses on and be just a dad for those days.''

The only person Nock trusts to cut his hair is his wife, Jennifer.

``I have never colored my hair,'' Nock says. ``It's a natural fire-red, like three different colors. My wife says, 'If I didn't know you, I would think you color your hair because redheads sort of change color in the sun.' I'm not a true redhead, I'm a blond redhead, a strawberry blond.''

So does he ever have a bad-hair day? Rarely.

``I've never really had an uncontrollable hair day,'' Nock says. ``My hair sort of has a life of its own, and it's been pretty good to me.''

- Jerry Rice

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS

Where: Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

When: Wednesday through July 24.

Where:Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

When: July 27-Aug. 7.

Tickets: $13 to $85. Most seats $10 on opening night at each venue. Call [phone], [phone]; www.ringling.com.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

no caption (Bello Nock)

Box:

A hair-raising experience (see text)