I enjoyed chatting with Anthony Lucia this week. He is a real down home cowboy. Anthony is a trick roper. What is a trick roper you ask? A trick roper doesn't just rope the calves, he ropes anything that he can get his lasso around, including himself!!
Anthony will be visiting St. Paul in February while traveling with the World's Toughest Rodeo. I asked Anthony about traveling with the rodeo, how he learned to rope, his stint on America's Got Talent, and more!
Anthony spent his childhood traveling the rodeo circuit with his dad seeing the world from a pick up truck. He always wanted to be a cowboy and found his roping talent at a young age. He was inspired to try roping a roper at a rodeo when he was 9. He played with the rope and after getting into trouble for roping his siblings, he needed to find something else to do with his talent. He started doing tricks with the ropes and found out that he had a natural talent. Anthonly performed for the first time at age 12 as the opening act at a rodeo. His dad told him if he wants to be good at this, he had to do a lot of hard work and practice. He took his dad's advice and went pro at age 23.
Now, traveling with the rodeo, he enjoys his time on the road. He did say that it is a lot different than traveling with his dad. At that time, he was just the helper. He worked on getting stuff ready for his dad to perform. Now that he's the performer, he feels a lot of pressure when his name is called. It is his job to make the crowd go wild. And that is exactly what he does! He told me that during that 5-6 minutes when the crowd is going crazy for him is such a rewarding time for him. Anthony is really looking forward to coming to St. Paul. His dad was raised in St. Paul and he has family here.
Anthony made it to the top 40 on America's Got Talent! I asked him what it was like to be on the show. He wouldn't trade the experience for anything. He enjoyed it and made some lifelong friends. He did say that he met A LOT of very interesting people. I can only imagine! What a crazy ride that must have been. He told me that it really shows the true essence of a performer when you pull them out of their territory like that. He said that "pulling a cowboy out of Texas" and putting him in the spotlight was definitely a different experience.
Macaroni Kid would love to send you and your family to see Anthony at the World's Toughest Rodeo. The cowboys and cowgirls are coming to the Xcel Energy Center on Feb 3rd & 4th.
You can purchase tickets HERE.
Or try your hand at winning a family 4-pack of tickets By clicking HERE !
