Michael Elton Casey cuts hair for longtime customers on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Courtyard Place. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Every morning, Michael Elton Casey – who has been cutting hair for more than 20 years – unpacks a U-Haul trailer and sets up “The Funhouse Barber Shop.” The traveling barbershop in the heart of the Miracle Mile resembles a late 19th-century Barnum and Bailey big top. Although he previously ran a shop on La Brea Avenue, the traveling funhouse is his new home base.

“It’s kind of a blue-collar, pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps mentality,” Casey said. “We don’t miss a beat. We make do with what we got and we work hard.”

Just across the street from the La Brea Tar Pits, under a carnival-style pop-up tent on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Courtyard Place, visitors can step right up to find Casey, The Funhouse ringleader, giving haircuts which his customers describe as the best in Los Angeles. The open-air salon is replete with eccentric curiosities – taxidermied animals, distinguished figurines and a vintage armoire filled with tools. Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat, Casey reaches into each drawer, manifesting shears, clippers, combs and a duster brush to transform a customer’s hair.

Casey – a screenwriter and fan of the nearby museums – said he enjoys being an “artisan” for the surrounding Miracle Mile community, which includes actors, agents, music executives and creatives. He attributed his unique barbershop to his upbringing in Indianapolis.

“Indianapolis is home to the Indianapolis Fairgrounds,” Casey said. “I grew up next to the fairgrounds. I was always at the carnival – at the funhouse. All of that funhouse atmosphere is reflected in my subconscious mind. When it came time to get a shop together, I put it together like a wacky funhouse. The Black man’s barbershop, particularly, is as whimsical and fanciful as a funhouse.”

Casey’s sense of whimsy is even reflected in his own dapper style. Donning a checkered shirt, plaid bow tie and suspenders, with a perfectly trimmed beard and dreadlocks fashioned into a neat bob hanging just above his eyebrows, his appearance is somewhere between Willy Wonka and Rick James.

In a typical week, Casey said he gives about 100 haircuts. Longtime customer Raymond Brothers traveled an hour and a half on a Tuesday afternoon to receive his usual haircut. As Brothers sat in the hydraulic pump barber chair, Casey clipped away while retro soul music flowed from the stereo and two other customers waited in line (yes, there’s even a waiting area).

“He’s the best barber in the city by far,” Brothers said. “I’m an attorney – I had offices here and in D.C. I would come back from D.C. to here just to get a haircut, that’s how good he is.”

Brothers said the Funhouse creates a sense of community, with an atmosphere of camaraderie that one might find at a beloved neighborhood barbershop.

“A barbershop is a place where you can come be yourself and talk about political issues, social issues, spiritual issues – it’s a different spot,” Brothers said.

The Funhouse Barber Shop is located at approximately 5750 Wilshire Blvd. and open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Casey said haircuts are $50, but, “there’s such a thing as friends and family discount.”

For information, call (323)377-3011 or email thefunhousebarbershop@gmail.com.