David Graham and Tobin Renwick of The Red Trouser Show duo met each other in first grade.

“We were in the same class. We’ve been best friends ever since,” said Renwick. The friends bonded over their interest in the circus, and around fourth or fifth grade, they learned how to juggle and unicycle. They participated in the middle school circus show.

At the time it was just a hobby, Renwick said. Neither one of them knew that they would later perform as a career.

Every summer since eighth grade, the boys did a Circus Smirkus summer program together. When they graduated high school, both decided they did not want to go to college, and joined Circus Smirkus full time for two years.

It was when they were in between circus gigs that one of their friends suggested they try street performing. They did, enjoyed the freedom it gave them to make their own schedule, and decided to continue with it.

“Luckily, we both had really supportive families,” said Renwick. “I don’t think many parents would be thrilled if you told them you wanted to be a street performer.”

Their act has allowed the pair to travel to perform, and has taken them as far as New Zealand and Scotland.

One of the most interesting performance experiences they had was in Pakistan. The pair was there performing with an international circus show.

“It was actually one of our first gigs as well. That was actually prior to learning how to street perform,” said Renwick. “While we were there, we had one of our worst falls ever. I fell off David while we were doing standing head. Luckily neither one of us got hurt. I came down head first but managed to avoid getting injured.”

Graham and Renwick share an apartment in Dorchester for part of the year and spend the other part of the year living and performing in Key West. They attend festivals and fairs to supplement their street performance income, and occasionally work in the circus for short periods of time. Renwick believes the success and longevity of the group act lies in the bond the friends have, which he describes as being more of that of ‘brothers’ than friends.

And why does the duo wear red trousers?

“The pants came before the name,” said Renwick. “In the circus, it was The Flash Four, but then people went on to do different things, and it was just the two of us. We were performing down in Key West, and a couple of our friends started calling us The Red Trousers.”

The name stuck.

The Red Trousers are constantly building on more challenging acts. Recently, they perfected and added an upside-down juggling act that they had been practicing for two and a half years.

Their job has allowed them to build a global network of performance artist friends whom they often see at festivals around the world. At events, they are surrounded by people who have the same career paths and interests as they do.

“I think maybe as a group, we have more of an entrepreneurial spirit. Wanting to make your own way and doing something that you love,” said Renwick.

The pair is interested in property investment, and Renwick spoke of plans to eventually open Bikram yoga studio with his girlfriend, who is a yoga instructor. However, both plan on continuing to perform their act as long as they are having fun and are physically capable.

“You can’t really beat the feeling of having a few hundred people around you laughing and having a good time because of what you’re doing,” Renwick said.

You can catch The Red Trouser Show this weekend, October 12 through 14, at the Street Performer Fall Festival at Faneuil Hall. In the meantime, get a sneak peek at their performance in the video below.