Ringling, The Last Laugh: This is the real story of the Ringling Brothers as told by John Ringling, the last surviving brother, in 1936."Riveting a visceral approach resonates with a golden glow that reminds readers of great American novels from the past" David W. Menefee BookPleasures. com On a snowy spring night in New York, in 1936, John Ringling, the Great Circus King, exited Madison Square Garden through a dark back alley. He walked out to 49th Street and met an old friend he hadn't seen in decades. Ringling, almost seventy, was disheveled and alone. The two of them sat at a bar