Meet the Ringleader and SideShow Stuntman BRYCE "THE GOVNA" GRAVES

Bryce "The Govna" Graves stands beneath the stark glow of stage lights, his top hat tilted low to cast long shadows across a face marked by mischief and midnight hours. Bloodshot eyes peer out from beneath heavy black liner that traces crow's feet and streaks like tear trails down his cheeks in twisted, clownish lines. A devious grin parts burned lips, framed by a long, salt-and-pepper gypsy beard. Draped in a traditional blood-red ringmaster's coat, rich with sideshow tattoos including a two-headed baby that nods to his Texas origins; he pairs the sacred garment with thrift-store dress slacks, raggedly cut at the ankles to accommodate monochromatic high-top Converse. Untouched by fleeting trends, his look is pure, unapologetic eccentricity.

The Govna carries the weight and wisdom of someone who's lived 150 years in half the time. His voice, gritty, smoke-scarred from decades of fire-breathing, glass-eating and commanding crowds, cracks over the loudspeaker with a Southern revivalist preacher's fire, laced with a Texas drawl that cuts like a hot blade through butter. He walks tall on a body that's been battered, seduced, and pushed to extremes, yet his piercing gaze holds depths of hard-earned knowledge. Street-smart, business-savvy, and deeply intuitive, he reads people, opportunities, and life itself with uncanny precision. Honest, direct, and unabashedly intelligent, he's a private man whose personal world remains shrouded in mystery.

The Govna has no patience for pessimism, he's a survivor, a relentless force who always finds a way. Passionate to the point of obsession about his craft, he treats his performers like family, fiercely protective and loyal. His reputation is sacred; he guards it with principled ethics and a heart of gold. Charming, quick with a hearty laugh, and endlessly curious, he craves new experiences daily. Often misread as stern or abrasive, it's the drive of a man keeping a chaotic empire alive, organized, protective, and unyielding in his dedication to those he loves.

Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Garland, the Govna was one of four children in a troubled home. Charismatic from the start, he talked his way through life as a self-proclaimed "at-risk youth," escaping gangs and family strife by running away to Hawaii at 18. He dove into high-rise window cleaning, a dangerous entrepreneurial gig hanging off skyscrapers for over 10 years, while studying entertainment and managing bands on the side. A firm believer in handshakes over contracts, he fit no mold.

In his early twenties, he became a father to a daughter he keeps fiercely private. Returning to Dallas, he balanced fatherhood, a small horse ranch, and entertainment ventures. His résumé reads like a wild resume: cosmetology school, stunt training with the National Stuntman Association, even illegally tending bar at 15 and through his 20s. He knew livestock, but his soul craved adrenaline.

His career ignited in music and media. Starting in 1998 with his artist management company Brown Gravy Entertainment, he worked as a tour manager, artist manager, booking agent, and concert promoter. In 2001, he captained the Making Memories Bike Ride, a grueling 11-day charity event from Canada to Mexico for breast cancer support, raising over $100,000 and aired on Dallas radio. By 2005, he co-created, co-produced, and co-directed True Music, the world's first HD rock-n-roll TV show with billionaire Mark Cuban. Its success landed Budweiser as sponsor, expanding the True Music name to back hundreds of bands, tours, festivals, and venues worldwide. He was a casting producer for a variety show in Istanbul, Turkey and co-founded Applied SB and GroupieTunes, once a ringtone company and the largest mobile content provider for independent artists.

A pivotal moment came in 2004 at a haunted attraction outside of Dallas, where he booked and promoted his first traditional freak show. Hooked, he managed and part-owned that vaudeville-style traveling troupe for 4 years. Frustrated by creative clashes with his former partner and building someone else's legacy, he had an epiphany: Why not forge his own?

Selling shares from his ringtone company (making him a millionaire-on paper), Bryce poured everything he had, money, sweat, blood, and tears into reviving what was once the most successful Broadway musical in history, a 1930's/40's production called Hellzapoppin!  Launched as his magnum opus, it grew from nothing into the world's largest traveling circus sideshow, boasting thousands of performances across 16 countries. Featuring death-defying circus stunts, it merges classic sideshow with modern spectacle, featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not! and at renowned festivals worldwide.

Alongside his life partner and co-producer, Miss Willow Lauren, plus a band of gypsies and loyal dogs, The Govna continues expanding this empire, including Hellzapoppin Trading Co. (screen printing merchandise company). A born leader and catalyst for others' success, he's the sinister Southern preacher who entices crowds to face fears, laugh heartily, and embrace the weird. Untamable, limitless, and forever chasing the next thrill, Bryce "The Govna" Graves lives by his own creed: “Give me your eyeballs, and I will put them in a jar of formaldehyde and show you the world.”

-The Govna