Some people have seen the movie A Knights Tale, but few have lived it.

Colin Corcoran is a man who lives a modern day Knights Tale, making a living on the back of a horse with a lance and sword in his hand.

“Why do I do it? I love it, jousting is what makes me happy,” said Corcoran.

Working for a company known as the New Riders of the Golden Age, Corcoran’s full-time job is to be a spectacle for people at medieval fairs all around the country even all the way up in Canada.

“I am a professional jouster, I travel and perform at medieval festivals all across the country,” said Corcoran.

Founded in 1982, the New Riders of the Golden Age is a company based out of Sarasota, Florida. At their Florida base, the company has a warhorse farm where Men come from all over the country to work, train and live the life of a traveling professional jouster according to the company’s website.

The Company performed at 15 shows last year all across the country and expect to be traveling to more this year according to their website.

Six or seven years ago, Corcoran was a frequent medieval fair goer when he fell in love with jousting and from that moment he knew what he wanted to do. It wasn’t until about a year ago that Corcoran finally decided to follow his passion and join the band of traveling jousters.

“I was at a joust when suddenly I thought, “wow what a cool thing to do” so after the show I walked up to one of the knights that performed and asked him how I could get involved with doing this kind of stuff,” said Corcoran.
Living in an RV, Corcoran lives a life on the road. It doesn’t bother him because its what makes him happy.
“I love what I do, there’s no doubt about it…my wife is a web designer so it’s easy for her to work on the road…we do what we can to get by and I make just enough money jousting to keep us happy,” said Corcoran.
While Corcoran and his crew aren’t on the road performing they use their free time to practice at the farm in Sarasota.
“We practice every day except on Mondays after a performance because we need to give the horses and the riders a rest,” said Corcoran.
Over the weekend, Reaves Park transformed into a medieval world drawing in almost 300,000 spectators. The Medieval Fair of Norman is an annual festival where people from all over come to partake in activities from axe throwing to sword fighting.
“I have been coming to the Medieval Fair for probably around 15 years or so…I love the atmosphere, the people in all of their costumes and I like being able to see all the arts and crafts being done in medieval style…it is something that is rare to see anymore,” said medieval fair goer Scott Mauldin.
With so many people flocking to medieval fairs all across the nation, the New Riders of the Golden Age at each show draw quite the crowd.
“It’s because people like you that come out to support us, that’s why we do this…we put our safety on the line to perform for our fans, so thank you,” said professional jouster Marcus Desmond.
In six weeks the New Riders of the Golden age will be traveling to their next show in Omaha, Nebraska, giving riders and their horses plenty of time to rest.
“It’s a lot of down time but that’s okay because it means more time to practice,” said Corcoran
For now, Corcoran will keep living the life of a traveling professional jouster looking forward to the next time he gets to perform.
“I plan to keep doing this until I find something I love more,” said Corcoran.