After being born into the circus in the 1969s, Julie Honey has lived in a unique world, one where her dad swallowed fire, her mum was a mind-reader, her brother was a knife-thrower, and Julie was seated at a breakfast table with a baby chimp. More than 50 years on, Julie is still entertaining from her home in western Victoria, alongside her talented dog.
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00:00 Up, quick. Do it steady. Be steady now. Be steady.
00:07 Well, I was born into the circus and I've been clowning since I was eight years old.
00:12 And I clowned with my brother. My brother was three years older than me.
00:16 And we used to put on these little shows and Dad would do the magic and the fire eating.
00:22 And, you know, we'd go round little towns like this and rent a hall and put on a little variety show.
00:27 And we were the clowns. All dogs on the seat, quick.
00:32 Performing family. My brother was a knife thrower and my parents were performers.
00:38 Dad was a fire eater and they had a mental telepathy act, a very good mind reading act,
00:44 which performed all over the world. And Mum would put the blindfold on and Dad would walk round
00:50 and people would hand him things and he'd just ask her, "What have I got in my hand?"
00:54 And she'd tell them it was a very, very good act.
00:57 Sam.
00:59 Yeah, and it's show business just in the blood. You just keep moving.
01:03 I do a little bit of everything. Clowning and a little bit of juggling, a little bit of magic.
01:08 My trick dogs and, of course, the music. I bring a lot of joy singing.
01:14 Good boy. On your seat.
01:17 My first trick animal, I was given this big old English pointer, Sam.
01:22 And a friend of mine, Stuart Lear, was a wonderful horse trainer, and he was training this little pony
01:28 and nobody was allowed to watch him train. He wouldn't give his secrets away.
01:32 Anyway, I watched him and within two weeks I'd trained my big English pointer to do the whole act,
01:38 the liberty act that the pony was doing. So Sam was a big hit.
01:42 And then later on in life I just started getting dogs and training them.
01:47 I always get rescue dogs or older dogs because they find it harder to get a home.
01:53 Everybody wants a puppy.
01:55 Flash was nearly 12 months when I got him.
01:58 Him, he was 18 months when I got him. And he was a rebel.
02:03 It took me a long time to work out what I was meant to do, what my purpose on the planet was.
02:08 And I'm quite happy to say, well, that's what my purpose is, to bring joy and to help people.
02:14 That's worth all the money in the world when you can bring joy like that.
02:17 Walking, walking, walking.
02:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]