Best of Boston

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and hear why news anchor Jack Lepiarz left WBUR after 13 years this past February: He (literally) ran away to join the circus. For years, the son of a Big Apple Circus performer spent weekends moonlighting as Jacques Ze Whipper, a joke-cracking, whip-cracking showman in French baron breeches who regaled Renaissance fair crowds with droll antics and fire-lash tricks. But after blowing up on TikTok (where he now has 2.8 million followers) and appearing on America’s Got Talent in 2022, Lepiarz felt the circus-performer circuit calling him full time. This fall, you can find the Emerson grad at King Richard’s Faire — just follow the wuh-psssh, wuh-psssh.