Short Stuff: Toronto Clown Riot

Summary

Short Stuff: Toronto Clown Riot (Stuff You Should Know, July 1, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this lively Short Stuff episode, Josh and Chuck recount the bizarre and chaotic events of the 1855 Toronto Clown Riot. They delve into the underlying social dynamics of 19th-century Toronto, explaining how a drunken brawl between circus clowns and firefighters escalated into a city-wide riot, eventually sparking significant changes in Toronto’s civic landscape. The hosts balance historical facts with their trademark humor, making an obscure incident both informative and entertaining.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: Toronto, 1855

• Early Toronto's Rough Edges: Toronto in 1855 was “not the metropolitan kind of refined, big city that it is now. It was tough. It had like, 352 drinking establishments for the 40,000 people there. It had a lot of brothels. And they were people that liked to mix it up.” (Chuck, 02:35)
• Circus Arrives in Town: The S.B. Howes Star Troupe and Menagerie and Circus arrived from New York and brought a group of burly clowns who were also responsible for physically setting up circus tents. (Josh, 03:07-03:47)

The Brothel Brawl: Clowns vs. Firefighters

• Location: The brothel at King and John streets, run by Marianne Armstrong, was the favored hangout of the Hook and Ladder fire brigade, a private fire company.
• Nature of Both Groups: “The clowns at the time are not the lovable psychopaths that we have now in our circuses. They were, you know, kind of the road crew as well as clowns...big dudes. And the firefighters...they had private fire departments...racing to fires to get there first. And there were several instances of them arriving at the same time and, like, fighting one another to put out the fire. While the fire's burning.” (Chuck, 03:47-04:56)
• Immediate Spark: “Pretty much everyone's account is the same, is that the clowns started it. I didn't see anything that said that the firefighters did. So it was either like clowns cutting in line or there was a clown that knocked...a firefighter's hat off...And all of a sudden a big brawl breaks out.” (Chuck, 05:37)

Aftermath: The Clown Victory and Escalation

• Clowns Win: “I'll tell you who won. Chuck the Clowns won...I don't think anybody disputes that because the one firefighter was seriously injured...they all retreated as well. So the clowns just were like, okay, great. Well, we're here now. So they just enjoyed the rest of the night there, right?” (Josh, 08:14)
• Political Backdrop: Toronto was controlled by the Orange Order, a powerful Irish Protestant fraternal group: “If you wanted to be an elected official, a cop, a firefighter, if you wanted a government job, you basically had to be an Orange man, a member of the order. And the Hook and Ladder Company were all Orangemen, which meant they were deeply connected to a lot of other people they called brothers in town.” (Josh, 08:37)

The Riot Grows

• Retaliation: The next day, the Orangemen retaliate. “A bunch of mad Orange men show up and they're like, we're gonna...kick the fun out of these clowns. They started attacking the circus, basically, and it got really out of hand.” (Chuck, 09:34)
• Riot Turns Destructive: “They were throwing rocks, they were beating up the clowns...the entire circus was overwhelmed...The Hook and Ladder Company...showed up, and rather than put out any fires, they actually started fires. They started burning down the tents. They had fire axes, which they used to break up the property of the circus.” (Josh, 09:59)

City's Corruption on Display

• Police Inaction: “The police show up. But they were also corrupt because they were also Orange men. Orange people. Or at least the chief was, and I bet a lot of the cops were.” (Chuck, 10:37)
• Mayor's Legendary Intervention: Toronto lore claims Mayor Quimby himself intervened heroically: “He's said to have grabbed the axe out of the hand of a rioter mid swing as he was about to bring it down upon a clown.” (Chuck, 10:53)
• Praise for Police Chief: “The police chief...is supposedly credited with saving the animals, are keeping the rioters from harming the animals, which...It's a big mark in his favor, frankly.” (Josh, 11:17)
• Eventual Dispersal: “The mob dispersed and the circus people came back and grabbed their things and they hightailed it out of town. They were like, we're going to Ottawa. This place is way too hot for us.” (Josh, 11:49)

Legacy and Reform

• Justice?: “17 people were charged with rioting...because of the corruption that there wasn’t a big widespread dragnet over this whole thing.” (Chuck, 12:54)
• Long-term Impact: “It was kind of the last straw for the people of Toronto with...these corrupt Orange Men kind of running everything.... And so the Reform Party comes into power and the idea of reform is top of mind. It took about 100 years to kind of get the Orange Men completely out of the picture.” (Chuck, 13:23)
• Key Turning Point: “He (Adam Bunch, Spacing Magazine) points to the clown riot as like, the turning point that eventually became the foundation for the modern, less corrupt and less orange, I guess, police force in Toronto.” (Josh, 13:42)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Early Toronto:

  • “It had like, 352 drinking establishments for the 40,000 people there. It had a lot of brothels. And they were people that liked to mix it up.” (Chuck, 02:35)

• On the Oddity of the Situation:

  • “This all sounds very funny, by the way, even as it's coming out of my mouth.” (Chuck, 05:37)

• On the Riot:

  • “Rather than put out any fires, they actually started fires.” (Josh, 09:59)
  • “He's said to have grabbed the axe out of the hand of a rioter mid swing as he was about to bring it down upon a clown.” (Chuck, 10:53)

• Josh Defends Juggalos:

  • “You know, I know some Juggalos or former Juggalos. They're good people.” (Josh, 12:23)

• On Reform:

  • “He points to the clown riot as like, the turning point that eventually became the foundation for the modern, less corrupt and less orange, I guess, police force in Toronto.” (Josh, 13:42)

• Running Joke:

  • “Well, you know how you find out somebody's an Orangeman? ...the Orange man handshake is when the cop goes to grab your hand to shake it, you take it away and smooth the side of your hair, and he or she will do the same thing.” (Josh, 14:09)

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Timeline of Key Events

• [02:32] — Toronto context & description of 1855 city culture.
• [03:07-03:47] — Background on the circus and its clowns.
• [03:47-05:37] — Introduction to the Hook and Ladder fire brigade and their rivalry with the clowns.
• [05:37] — The brothel brawl erupts (clowns vs. firefighters).
• [08:14] — Outcome: Clowns win the brawl.
• [08:37] — Exploration of the Orange Order's grip on Toronto.
• [09:34-09:59] — Retaliation and the riot turns destructive.
• [10:37] — Corrupt police and the legendary mayoral intervention.
• [11:49] — Circus flees Toronto.
• [12:54] — Aftermath: charges, limited justice, and seeds of reform planted.
• [13:42] — The riot's legacy as a catalyst for future civic reform.

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Tone & Style Highlights

Josh and Chuck approach the topic with their signature mix of irreverence and curiosity, dropping puns (“Toronto Clown Riot is a better band name”) and running jokes (Gordon Lightfoot references, clowns as “lovable psychopaths,” the Orange man handshake) while thoughtfully unpacking the deeper political and social implications of this forgotten episode in Toronto’s history.

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Takeaway

The Toronto Clown Riot of 1855 was more than just a bizarre brawl; it was a flashpoint that highlighted the city’s corruption and the ethnopolitical dominance of the Orange Order. The incident, as framed by Josh and Chuck, ultimately seeded the reforms that led to a more equitable and modern Toronto government and police force—proving once again that sometimes, history’s strangest stories have the most lasting impact.

Transcript

[Rebecca Nagle]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Josh]

Guaranteed Human.

[Rebecca Nagle]

I turned off news altogether.

[Chuck]

I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.

[Josh]

It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.

[Chuck]

We got clear facts.

[Josh]

Maybe we could calm down a little.

[Chuck]

NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News, reporting for America.

[Michael Rapoport]

This is Michael Rapoport. And my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast, is unlike anyone you've ever heard. If you're looking for strong opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture, and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid, Jafar Jackson, should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rapoport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast podcast.

[Josh]

Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh. There's Chuck. Jerry's here, too. She's just on mute and she's sitting in for Dave, who's not here. And this is Short Stuff.

[Chuck]

That's right. About the Toronto clown riot.

[Josh]

That was dead on. Toronto.

[Chuck]

That was supposed to be a clown horn. It sounded like a sick mule in my head. It was gonna come out better, and I thought about doing a second take, but who cares? Let's leave it in there. It's fun.

[Josh]

It was a sick mule doing the disco call.

[Chuck]

Wow.

[Josh]

And we also culled a lot of information from the Toronto Star, Spacing Magazine, specifically Adam Bunch on Spacing Magazine and the Circus Diaries.

[Chuck]

That's right. The sexiest miniseries.

[Josh]

The Red Shoe, Circus Tires.

[Chuck]

But we are talking about one of our towns that we love a lot, Toronto. And we are coming back there to Massey hall, by the way, as part of our Canadian tour. We always love Massey hall in particular, and playing to our friends there. I think our very first live show ever was in Toronto, Right?

[Josh]

I think it was actually. Yeah, our BARS episode. Good call, Chuck. That was our first one.

[Chuck]

That's right. That's what gave us the taste, everybody.

[Josh]

The taste of Tarana.

[Chuck]

That's right.

[Josh]

And also, I've spoken to Chuck, everybody. He's promised to do, like, 90% less Gordon Lightfoot jokes this time.

[Chuck]

That's right. But we need to hop in the Wayback Machine for this one because we're going back to 1855, When Toronto was a different place. It's not the. It wasn't the metropolitan kind of refined, big city that it is now. It was tough. It had, like, 352 drinking establishments for the 40,000 people there. It had a lot of brothels. And they were people that liked to mix it up. It seems like back in the day,

[Josh]

for sure, not just the people at Tirana, but the people who were in circuses too, like to mix it up. And specifically in July 1855, when our event takes place, the S.B. howes Star Troupe and menagerie and circus was in town. And that circus was from New York State, and they showed up in Toronto, they set up their tents and said, hey, everybody, come see. And of course, since this is a circus, even an 1855 circus, there were a bunch of clowns there, Chuck. And these clowns, they had a long day of performing, and they said, let's go to a local brothel. And they did as a group.

[Chuck]

That's right. They said, let's go get drunk and doing other things you can do at brothels. And they went to Marianne Armstrong's brothel. It's a corner of King and John streets. And this happened to be a brothel where that was kind of the main hangout of the Hook and Ladder fire brigade. So we need to explain a couple of things about these two groups. The clowns at the time are not the lovable psychopaths that we have now in our circuses. They were, you know, they were kind of the road crew as well as clowns. So they had to put up these big tents, break everything down, get all the gear in place. So they were brawny, like big dudes. And the firefighters of the day in Toronto, at least, and I bet they were like this in a lot of places. It was before the city government had, you know, was in charge of that kind of thing. So you had private fire departments and private companies that, you know, build for their services. Like, we'll put out your fire for this amount of money. So you have fire. Private fire companies, like, racing to fires to get there first. And there were several instances of them arriving at the same time and, like, fighting one another to put out the fire. While the fire's burning.

[Josh]

Yeah, several instances. One as recent as just a couple weeks before that Hook and ladder company who called Marianne Armstrong's House of ill Repute their hangout. They showed up to one, and there was already another company there, and they got into a fight and a riot broke out. Right. So there was a firefighter riot at a burning house. The firefighters all decided instead of putting the house out, they let it burn and looted the houses around it. It was that kind of riot. These are the firefighters in Toronto at the time. Right. So by the time this Toronto clown riot happens, the Hook and Ladder Company has already been in one riot within the last few weeks, and I guess they were itching for another one or something.

[Chuck]

Yeah. So they were there and they were hanging out and they were drinking, and the clowns show up and they're ready to do their thing. And pretty much everyone's account is the same, is that the clowns started it. I didn't see anything that said that the firefighters did. So it was either like clowns cutting in line or there was a clown that knocked. This all sounds very funny, by the way, even as it's coming out of my mouth. Or a clown knocked a firefighter's hat off and went. And all of a sudden a big brawl breaks out. And maybe we should take a break there and tell everybody who won right after this.

[Josh]

Okay,

[Michael Rapoport]

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[Josh]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

[Chuck]

The declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered, you know, sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it.

[Rebecca Nagle]

Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? Why is it important that Americans know about it?

[Chuck]

Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself.

[Rebecca Nagle]

I'm Rebecca Nagle. Gohin Tawa Don Jalika. Yetli KE la Citizen of Cherokee Nation.

[Josh]

Are you guys big Chiefs fans? Hell, yeah.

[Rebecca Nagle]

This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learning things with Jack and Jack churning on.

[Josh]

I'll tell you who won. Chuck the Clowns won.

[Chuck]

You know it.

[Josh]

I don't think anybody disputes that because the one firefighter was seriously injured, and so he was kind of removed from the brothel. And as his fellow firefighters were dragging him off, they all retreated as well. So the clowns just were like, okay, great. Well, we're here now. So they just enjoyed the rest of the night there, right?

[Chuck]

That's right.

[Josh]

The problem was, is that the city of Toronto at the time was run and was for like 100 plus years by an Irish Protestant group called the Orange Order. It was kind of like a fraternal order. And if you wanted to be an elected official, a cop, a firefighter, if you wanted a government job, you basically had to be an Orange man, a member of the order. And the Hook and Ladder Company were all Orangemen, which meant they were deeply connected to a lot of other people they called brothers in town. And the clowns had just stepped in it big time.

[Chuck]

Yeah, this has got to be from Syracuse University's Orangeman. It's got to be related, right?

[Josh]

I don't know.

[Chuck]

I meant to look that up, but as soon as I saw Orange men, I was like, wait a minute, Syracuse. So I imagine that came from the same Irish Protestant order. That would be a weird coincidence. How many Orange men are there, after all?

[Josh]

Well, they grow a lot of oranges in Syracuse, so maybe that's it.

[Chuck]

Okay, that's probably it. Gentle winters there. Good for the fruit. So word spreads about what happens at this fight, and the next day a bunch of mad Orange men show up and they're like, we're gonna. We're gonna kick the fun out of these clowns. They started attacking the circus, basically, and it got really out of hand.

[Josh]

Yeah, it did get out of hand. They were throwing rocks, they were beating up the clowns, and the crowd just kept growing and growing. And so not just the clowns, but the entire circus was overwhelmed. Then the Hook and Ladder Company, who had been in the fight the day before with the clowns, they showed up, and rather than put out any fires, they actually started fires. They started burning down the tents. They had fire axes, which they used to break up the property of the circus. Everybody kind of dragged the circus performers wagons down to this lakeside and tipped them over. It was a bad jam for sure.

[Chuck]

Yeah. So the circus is in big trouble at this point. So they're like, thank God the police. The police show up. But they were also corrupt because they were also Orange men. Orange people. Or at least the chief was, and I bet a lot of the cops were. Mayor Quimby finally steps in and calms everything down. He arrives on the scene and this is. I love this because this is totally made up lore, but I've got to read it anyway. He's said to have grabbed the axe out of the hand of a rioter mid swing as he was about to bring it down upon a clown. Yeah, the mayor's office put that out

[Josh]

the next day for sure. He was shirtless, too, when he did it?

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Josh]

The police chief, who, like you said, was an Orangeman and was very corrupt, he is supposedly credited with saving the animals, are keeping the rioters from harming the animals, which.

[Chuck]

Yeah, not the elephants.

[Josh]

It's a big mark in his favor, frankly.

[Chuck]

No, for sure.

[Josh]

Aside from that, though, the police just sat on their hands. They purposefully did not intervene. Right. Eventually, this riot, what became known as the Toronto Clown Riot or the Toronto Circus Riot, I prefer Clown Riot. What about you?

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's the better band name, so that's what I'll go with.

[Josh]

Sure. It eventually settled down. The mob dispersed and the circus people came back and grabbed their things and they hightailed it out of town. They were like, we're going to Ottawa. This place is way too hot for us.

[Chuck]

You know what? Now that I'm thinking, though, you can't use Toronto Clown Riot as a band name because once Insane Clown Posse did that, that you just can't even come close to touching that word in a band name, I don't think.

[Josh]

Could you use it as like an album name?

[Chuck]

Maybe. But I don't know. Who wants to be associated with the Juggalos?

[Josh]

You know, I know some Juggalos or former Juggalos. They're good people.

[Chuck]

Oh, yeah. All right.

[Josh]

I'm going to stand up for him. Sure.

[Rebecca Nagle]

Look at you.

[Chuck]

Going to bet for the Juggalos.

[Josh]

Sure.

[Chuck]

I feel like Aaron Cooper has done. We talked about Juggalos before, and I believe there are pictures of us as Juggalos, if I'm not mistaken.

[Josh]

Yeah, for sure. I think from our Magnets episode, maybe.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that sounds right.

[Josh]

So, Chuck, Okay. Obviously the whole thing settles down. Everybody gets level headed again and justice prevails.

[Chuck]

Yeah, we'll see. We'll let the audience decide. 17 people were charged with rioting. It was basically because of the corruption that there wasn't a big widespread dragnet over this whole thing. But the one, you know, it took a while. But the one good thing that came out of this was it was kind of the last straw for the people of Toronto with, like these corrupt Orange Men kind of running everything. It was kind of like the, you know, New York City's Tammany, right?

[Josh]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

And they were like, we're not gonna handle this anymore. We can't be like New York. And so the Reform Party comes into power and the idea of reform is top of mind. It took about 100 years to kind of get the Orange Men completely out of the picture. That's kind of the weird part.

[Josh]

Yeah. Adam Bunch in that Spacing magazine article. He says, though, that he points to the clown riot as like, the turning point that eventually became the foundation for the modern, less corrupt and less orange, I guess, police force in Toronto.

[Chuck]

Yeah, I'm look and see when I'm there, when I'm walking around, which is I love to do that when I'm there. I'm going to see if I see any, like, Orangeman stuff anywhere. Any hints.

[Josh]

Well, you know how you find out somebody's an Orangeman? You should walk up to a cop and what you do is you hold out your hand like you're going to shake it. And then the Orange man handshake is when the cop goes to grab your hand to shake it, you take it away and smooth the side of your hair, and he or she will do the same thing. Just watch.

[Chuck]

Okay. I thought you would go up to them and squeeze their skin like you were popping a zit to see if any orange essential oil comes out.

[Josh]

That works too.

[Chuck]

Yeah. All right.

[Josh]

Okay. I think Short stuff is out.

[Rebecca Nagle]

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, my heart radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.