Lorenzo Pisoni is the son of Larry Pisoni and Peggy Snider, the founders of the Pickle Family Circus. Lorenzo started traveling with the troupe from birth, and began making cameo appearances with the circus at age 2. At age six, he became his father’s clown partner, performing with him until age eleven, when Lorenzo began touring with the circus on his own. Lorenzo’s memories of growing up in this unique world are the basis for Humor Abuse. 

Bill Irwin, Lorenzo Pisoni and Larry Pisoni. Photo by Bruce Glikas.

The Pickle Family Circus was founded in 1975 in San Francisco, California by members of the San Francisco Mime Troupe. The Circus formed an important part of the renewal of the American circus tradition, or New Circus Movement, influencing the creation of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal.

After leaving the San Francisco Mime Troupe, The Pickle Family Jugglers (founded by Peggy Snider, Larry Pisoni, and Cecil MacKinnon) decided to create the Pickle Family Circus. Their first show was in May 1975, in the gymnasium of John O'Connell School in San Francisco. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Circus performed on weekends in the Bay Area during Spring and Fall, and toured for 3 months in the summer, mostly in towns and cities in California, Oregon and Washington. The Pickles later extended their tour to perform in Alaska, as well as the mid west and east coast. In 1981 the circus performed a two-month winter run at the Roundhouse Theater in London.

The early company operated on three fundamental principles: All decisions were made cooperatively, all members got the same pay, and all performers also had offstage jobs. Only a very few company members did not perform, serving the need to maintain an ongoing office while the company was on tour. The company had its office and rehearsal space in a former church in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, and many of its members lived in and were active in that community.
Clowns were always central to the Pickle performance, making multiple cameo appearances throughout the show, interacting with the other artists, as well as having acts of their own. The original principle clowns were Larry Pisoni, Bill Irwin and Geoff Hoyle. After Irwin left the Pickles in 1979, Pisoni and Hoyle worked as a duo until Hoyle left in the mid 1980s.

Juggling was also an essential part of the Pickle Family Circus, and every show ended with the "Big Juggle", involving almost every cast member in intricate club passing patterns.

Several members of the Pickle Family Circus were in the 1980 movie Popeye starring Robin Williams, including Bill Irwin (playing Ham Gravy), Larry Pisoni (Chico), Geoff Hoyle (Scoop), and Peggy Snider (playing Pickelina and credited as Peggy Pisoni).
The Pickle Family Circus is now a part of Circus Center, which is composed of the San Francisco School of Circus Arts, the New Pickle Circus, and the San Francisco Circus; The New Pickle Circus stages a professional show mounted each December in San Francisco and several special productions throughout the year.  Their influence continues to be felt throughout the New Circus and New Vaudeville movements, and the Pickles spawned hundreds of artists whose work continues to delight audiences to this day.

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