What It's Like to Be a Jouster at the Florida Renaissance Festival

Hailing from the western coast of Ireland, Sir Keegan's flowing brown mane only seems to add to his Old World character. Unlike most knights, he's anti-monarchy, not answering to any lord. This makes him popular with peasants, who have bestowed upon him the title of the people's champion.

When he's not competing in the joust, sword fighting, or wowing audiences with his trick-riding at renaissance festivals, Sir Keegan — real name Caleb Austin Jordan — spends much of the year on the road driving his Ford truck to fairs and sleeping in a ten-by-ten-foot tent.

"I've learned to make that tent a home," says Jordan, though he admits, "I hope to upgrade to a ten-by-20 tent."

The actual Georgia native is set to star in the live-action Knights stunt show at the 32nd-annual Florida Renaissance Festival, which runs weekends from Saturday, February 3, through Sunday, March 24, at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach.

Presented by DeBracey Productions, Knights features two horseback riders charging at each other at full speed with lances in hand. The show is a reenactment of the Renaissance-era competition where the goal was to hit an opponent as hard as possible. But to protect the knights and horses, the joust portion of the DeBracey Productions show is carefully choreographed.

Jordan says he loves being a part of the stunt show because of the precision required. Well, that and he likes being able to visit different states. It also probably doesn't hurt that the jousting show — which includes a chariot race and skills competitions that aren't choreographed — tends to be the most popular Renaissance festival attraction. Crowds can't get enough of the sights and sounds of galloping horses, bent shields, and broken lances.

Still, there is a downside to being the main event at a Renaissance festival. Some in the community resent all of the attention that the jousters receive.

"This sounds partly egotistical, but it's because we do a lot of things," Jordan says. "We fight with swords, we hit each other like football players, and, most importantly, we ride horses. We do a lot of things that make jousters seem attractive — sometimes more attractive than they actually are. The easiest comparison is the jocks."

"One of my favorite backhanded compliments over the years is, 'Wow, you're way smarter than I expected you to be.' Also, because some jousters are attractive, it's easy to develop a womanizer reputation."
Well, are there groupies in jousting?

"I would say there are superfans rather than groupies," says Jordan, who is dating someone in the industry. "Somebody will come up to the fence after a show and say something really forward that makes me blush. It doesn't happen to me a lot in Maryland, but it does happen in Florida and Ohio. Now and then, they'll give you their number. But these days, it's more about social media."

The DeBracey Productions show was performed over 39 weekends in 2023, according to owner Bill Burch, who goes by Sir William DeBracey in the show. He says the jousting show tends to have the biggest budget at a Renaissance festival but adds that there is little money to be made in jousting unless you dedicate your life to it.

"We pick up horse shit every day. We deal with sick horses at night. We're just as broke as everyone else," Burch adds. At the same time, he loves the freedom that the job provides and the sight of horses outside his window every morning.

Burch was first introduced to the world of Renaissance festivals when his sister performed in one for one summer. For him, it was like Six Flags theme parks but without the expanses of concrete. He was drawn to this show on grass and dirt before him with no barrier. Add in his love of acting and horse riding, and it seems like he was destined for a life of jousting.

According to Burch, others are drawn to the jousting world due to the sense of community. He says that the community can provide them with the acceptance they may have been missing.

"It's often people who don't fit in anywhere else," Burch says. "We have people who were hermits and intimidated by the outside world. They rarely spoke to strangers. What the show does for them is give them a place to talk and build their confidence. It's a bunch of misfits that all fit together."

Like Burch, Jordan grew up attending Renaissance festivals, but he never imagined he would one day be a part of them. It wasn't until a friend tipped him off about auditions for jousting in Georgia that he even considered it. He says it took him a year of training under Burch to get the hang of the joust and longer to get comfortable with horseback riding.

Surprisingly, Jordan says he has suffered very few serious injuries during his nearly nine years in the industry. He has been stabbed twice — once in the arm and once in the thigh — but that occurred while sword fighting. Burch has also suffered a few injuries, but he says they're primarily long-term issues due to spending so much time on a horse.

The goal of the show is to make the action look real while keeping everyone involved safe. Of course, the show also sets out to entertain, which is why the always-changing winning knight at the end is predetermined for storyline purposes. Still, that hasn't kept some audience members from treating the joust show like a real-life sporting event.

"Maryland has had a problem the last couple of years with people gambling on our shows," Jordan says. "We've had people come up to us afterward upset that they lost real money. It got to the point where management had to announce, 'This is a theatrical show. Please do not bet real money.'"

Florida Renaissance Festival. 10 a.m. to sunset Saturday, February 3, through Sunday, March 24, at Quiet Waters Park, 401 S. Powerline Rd., Deerfield Beach; 954-776-1642; ren-fest.com. Tickets cost $14 to $32; admission is free for children 5 and younger.