Cambridgeport- Troy Wunderle, the artistic director of Circus Smirkus Vermont’s acclaimed traveling youth circus, has signed on as Director of Clowning for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at its Winter Quarters in Florida for the rest of the year.

Wunderle, 36, of Cambridgeport, is a 1995 graduate of Ringling’s famed Clown College, and toured with “The Greatest Show on Earth” throughout the United States and Mexico. He has been working with Circus Smirkus for the past 13 years.

Wunderle’s month-long stint, which began the day after Thanksgiving and will continue until after Christmas, has taken him to Tampa, where 130 performers from the Blue Unit, one of the circus’ three traveling troupes, have convened for rehearsals. Wunderle is working with the unit’s dozen professional clowns.

“The ideal candidate for this job is not just someone who is funny,” said David Kiser, director of talent for Ringling. “We look for someone with excellent communication skills, someone who can communicate not just with performers but with the entire creative team. We found that in Troy.” Kiser said that Wunderle, having been a performer, can help not just with developing clown gags and routines, but also with each individual clown’s movement, makeup, and personal motivation, and act as liaison with the producers and directors. Kiser also said that Wunderle’s background in graphic arts, in which he holds a degree, helps him to design props and communicate with the show’s artistic team.

“Every year, we come to Smirkus not just to enjoy the show but to look for talent,” said Kiser. “We were thrilled to discover that Wunderle’s duties with Smirkus could be arranged so that he could be free to work with us.” Wunderle will return just in time to direct the appearance of Circus Smirkus performers at First Night in Burlington, on December 31.

Kiser said Wunderle’s job is part of the “massive feat” of creating, in only one month, a full-scale production “worthy of the description ‘The Greatest Show on Earth.’”

For his part, Wunderle says it is a “huge honor” to be tapped for the Director of Clowning job. “The creativity is fantastic!” he says. “It’s exhausting, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

In addition to his time with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Wunderle has toured throughout the United States as a freelance performer and Circus Smirkus employee. He has worked in each of Smirkus’ three programs: He served as a coach and head coach at Smirkus Camp, a residential summer camp; has worked as the coach and coordinator of the Smirkus Residency Program, which brings circus arts into schools; and has been a coach and, most recently, the artistic director for the Big Top Tour, the organization’s flagship traveling youth circus which tours the Northeast each summer. His antics have been featured on the Disney Channel, The Today Show, Martha Stewart, Chronicle, Fetch!, Fox & Friends, and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Wunderle runs Wunderle’s Big Top Adventures, an interactive circus arts organization based in Cambridgeport. His wife, Sara Wunderle, works as assistant circus operations director for Smirkus, and the couple’s children, Ariana, 6, and Emily, 8, perform with the summer Big Top Tour.