DETROIT — For Insane Clown Posse fans, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

The demented Detroit rap duo is headlining its annual Hallowicked concert Saturday night at the Masonic Temple. It's the Spooky Season tradition's 33rd year; going back to 1994, ICP has performed in its hometown every year on Halloween night. (There was just one exception, in 1996, when ICP's Joseph "Violent J" Bruce shattered his collarbone in a pro wrestling match, and the Halloween show was postponed until December.)

The face-painted, Faygo-loving Clowns have been weaving the tale of the Dark Carnival, the umbrella under which their entire mission unfolds, since the release of their debut album, "Carnival of Carnage," in 1991. Last year's "The Naught" represented the sixth and final entry in the group's second deck of "Joker's Cards," the storytelling cycles that have made up the group's main thread of recorded output; one more five-album cycle remains before the Clowns say they'll call it quits.

With Hallowicked on the horizon — along with a pair of shows Oct. 29 and 30 at The Vault, their first-ever concerts in Saginaw — we talked to Violent J, 54, about all things ICP, including his Juggalo Championship Wrestling pro wrestling promotion, plans for the next set of "Joker's Cards," his Michael Jackson fandom, Bigfoot sightings and more.

(Note: conversation has been edited for clarity.)

Q: J! How's the tour going?

A: It's awesome. We've got three more shows to do, including Halloween. Easy-peasy, man, I get to lie in my own bed every night. I was thinking about something the other day: If I could teleport, "Star Trek"-style, out of my bedroom to the dressing room, I would play every night for the rest of my life. It's the rest of the day that sucks. It's the travel, it's the bus, it's the airports, it's the driving, it's the wait. But imagine just painting up in your bathroom, getting dressed in your closet, and then standing on a thing and teleporting off to the venue!

Q: There was a time a few years ago when you guys were going to call it quits from the road, or really scale back your live dates. That didn't exactly happen.

A: It didn't, because I had a procedure and it corrected my irregular heartbeat. But we did stop going out on the road for a month at a time. The most we go out for now is two weeks. But even that is not as easy as it used to be. We still play a lot, and we've been pretty busy this year, man.

Q: How is touring business for you guys these days?

A: It's phenomenal. We have been selling out venues we've wanted to sell out our whole lives. How is that possible we're selling them out now when we're old men? The business is going so incredibly good. We must have played 12 festivals this year, and next year we want to do just festivals. All of our annual events, and maybe like a weekend here and there, but these festivals, man. They're just so powerful. You play for so many people who have never seen you before. You make so many fans. And all those 50,000 people in the crowd are blasting social media posts into the world about you, you know what I mean? It's so effective. We play a festival and we hear about it for two weeks all over social media. It's just not the same as when you come and do a local concert.

Q: Have you run into anybody cool backstage at these festivals?

A: We don't really do all that. There's a lot of attention when me and Shaggy are walking around the festivals. It's a big deal, because we don't come out of our ground hole. It's a big deal in the festival world, because these people have heard about us their whole life. They're not necessarily fans or whatever, but then they're like, 'damn, that's them!' When we're at the festivals, it's just pictures and autographs, that's it, and I'm talking about backstage. I think the makeup has the most to do with it. Everyone wants a picture because we're standing there in the makeup. We don't do that much politicking backstage. These festivals have a lounge area for all the artists: there's catering, a bartender, and we don't do it, we don't partake. We just stay in our trailer, and that's the truth. We did play a festival and Paris Jackson was there, but we didn't get to see her. I wish I would have ran over there.

Q: What did you think of the "Michael" movie?

A: I went with my whole family — the kids, everybody — and I fell asleep at one point. I know that story so well, and all that kept popping up in my mind was, 'that's not actually Michael Jackson.' No matter how good he dances and everything, that's not him. And I know the story, so I just found myself bored with it. That sucks to say because I had high hopes. And the inconsistencies and the way they did things conveniently? I don't know. I've just read so many books, and I know that story so well.

Q: What did you think of "Primetime," the Chris Hansen movie?

A: (Hansen) is a friend, and he told me the movie is a hit job. I don't see it like that. I don't think it was out to assassinate his character, because they could have did a lot worse if they wanted to do that. I just think it was a bizarre, artistic, weirdo stretch on reality. There's so much that didn't actually happen, and they made it happen, and it wasn't necessary. They could have took the Michael Jackson route and just told everything like it happened, and it would have been interesting enough; they didn't have to add all this crazy, sensationalized s—. I've always been mesmerized by "To Catch a Predator," I thought there was enough substance and reality to make that movie great. They didn't have to do all this crazy s— to it.

Q: You guys played Cadillac for the first time this year, and you've got your first shows in Saginaw coming up. How did you start hitting these markets in Michigan you've never played before?

A: I loved (Cadillac), that was great. We were just sitting around with Joey (Shaggy 2 Dope, ICP's other half) and Billy (Bill Dail, ICP's manager) and thinking, "Where can we go? Let's try something different. Where can we go where we've never played before?" And we picked Cadillac, and there was a venue up there, and they've been doing shows. We didn't know what to expect because we've never been there, and the show sold out within an hour. So we went back and did another one and that sold out, too. Now the Saginaw deal, we've been doing JCW up there for the last six to eight months, and those are the best wrestling fans. That's become our hottest Clown Town for JCW. So we're really excited about the concerts.

Q: For the Cadillac shows, did you stay the night, or did you come home?

A: No, we drove right home. On the way up there, there were so much forests we were driving through, I googled "Cadillac" and "Bigfoot" and it came right up: Cadillac, Michigan, is a well-known hot spot for Bigfoot activity.

Q: You've been on the search for Bigfoot for some time. Have you had any activity lately?

A: I had an occurrence the other day, as a matter of fact. A guy came to our show in Scranton, Pennsylvania, or something like that [editor's note: the show was in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania], and he has been all over the news lately, because he was hunting and he smelled this awful smell, so he followed it. He and his buddies thought it was a dead caribou, and it turned out it was a dead Sasquatch. So he put it on this tarp and he spent three days dragging that rotting, stinking corpse out of the woods, and now he has the corpse. He had it taxidermized, and a documentary crew came over from Japan and did something on it. I've been wanting to contact this guy, and I was thinking about how to go about it, and he hit me up! Ain't that crazy? So he came to the show and he told us the whole story, and either this (person) has a Bigfoot body, or he's one of the best liars I've ever met. Because he told us that story, and it was fascinating, it was so full of detail and everything. So I told him, "Why don't you get a real display to show it in?" He's like, "Oh man, I don't have the funds." I was like, "Why don't you get a publicist, and go on all the talk shows?" He's like, "Again, I don't have the funds." I said, "Alright, brother. I'm going to be your silent partner with this thing, but I need to test it." He was like, "Why?" I said, "Why? You're claiming you have a Bigfoot! And you want me to put money into it! I'm going to have to have it independently tested," you know what I mean? He said, "I've already had it tested, I've got the papers." I said, "I get it, but it's 2026, and anybody can fake papers, brother." So he was like, "Alright, let's get it tested." So when I'm finally off the road, I'm going to do my due diligence, and find a university or something that will test this thing. How crazy is that! It looks real enough, man.

Q: But like you said, it's 2026, they can make a lot of things look real these days.

A: You're right about that. This thing could have been built out of a 3D printer for all I know. (Laughs.)

Q: You've been spending a lot of time building out your wrestling league, JCW. How has that been going for you?

A: This is my baby. I'm doing this for me. I'm not focused on getting a TV deal anymore, I just want to make a wrestling show that's crazy and unforgettable. That's what I want to do. It's a Juggalo world wrestling organization. We were so focused on getting wrestling fans, but having achieved that, I feel like I want to start introducing more wild aspects into the show, and take it more toward Juggalo land. We're doing some — in my opinion — incredibly creative fun stuff. I love what we're doing, I've never seen these angles in wrestling, ever. I wish people would give it a chance. I'm getting absolute enjoyment out of JCW, it's another tunnel in the rabbit hole of ICP. It's another way to express myself creatively. I love, love, love the fact that I get to watch my TV show Thursday nights at 7. [Note: New episodes air weekly on YouTube.] And I love watching the comments. I remember when we first started, we were trying to break 100 people watching live. You'd see 67, 69 people watching live. Now we break 3,000 all the time. We hover at like 2,200 viewers. I love it, man.

Q: What are plans for the next ICP album?

A: We have six songs ready for the next Joker's Card. There's going to be five more Joker's Cards and then we're done, done, done.

Q: How are the Joker's Cards shaping up?

A: I already know what the next five Joker's Cards will be, artistically. I know how many songs are going to be on them, and I know what they're going to be titled. The last deck is different. This one feels like they all need to be delivered the same way, and they're all going to be roughly the same size. There's a pattern to the last five. It's very strange, but I'm just going along with what the Dark Carnival tells me, brother. So I can't fully explain it, but they all have a similar style to the name. Look at it like this: You take a carnival, and you have the Strong Man, you have the Bearded Lady, they're similar to that. Instead of it being called "The Great Milenko," where you don't know what it is, it's very frank what it is, it's very blunt what it is. They're very pronounced and in-your-face.

Q: What kind of timeline are you working on? Five albums, that could take 15 years.

A: If I live 15 more years I'll be super happy. (Laughs.) They'll be like five quick punches. The last deck is like slapping the s— out of your face. All five, like a knockout punch. There's no game playing or riddling, it's all just in-your-face.

Q: We're now going on 35 years of the Dark Carnival. How is it speaking to you these days?

A: Like it always has, nothing's changed. It always talks to me when I'm not thinking about it. You can't knock on its door, it knocks on yours. You're not going to get any answer if you try to contact it. (Laughs.) I probably sound like a f— maniac.

Q: You've long been obsessed with the number 17, and it's held an important place in ICP lore, and now Kid Rock is sharing your obsession with the number 17. What are your thoughts on his new direction?

A: I knew he was making a record about heaven, and I was happy for him. I actually left a comment on his page. I said, "Good for you, brother." I'm glad to see it. I hope he is a better person now while he's making this record, I'm sure he's feeling it. Because when you make a record about heaven, that's a good f— feeling, man. We're both from Detroit and we both see 17 as our connection to the spiritual world somehow. It's pretty interesting. What are the chances?

Q: How was the Gathering of the Juggalos this year?

A: I was so busy that I never even got out and saw the Gathering grounds. I'm embarrassed to say it, but it's the truth. We got there, I got painted up, and just started working. We did meet-and-greets all day, every day. We would finish one, we'd have 15 minutes, and then we'd start the next batch. That's all we did, and then it was work at night, whether it was wrestling, the concert, or whatever. There is no more 'gathering' for us, it is just work. It's like being a parent at a birthday party. The party is for everyone else, you have to do the work. (Laughs.) I think that's just the way it's going to be.

Q: Will the Gathering ever come back to Michigan?

A: We would love for it to come back to Michigan. We have a promoter that's going to help us next year, and he's going to help us find a location. Because a lot of people are instantly scared of the Gathering. They won't have it. But this guy is so good that he can smooth over any fear like that. So he's going to help us find a perfect location. We're making good connections.

Q: Does Hallowicked still hold a special place for you guys in your world?

A: Yeah. Hallowicked is mixed emotions for me though, you know I lost my girlfriend at Hallowicked. So it's a double-edged sword. There's a lot to be celebrated, and then there's that other side of it.

Q: How do you feel going into Hallowicked this year?

A: I feel like a monster. Our new thing lately has been coming up with a theme for the stage set. A couple years ago we did Super Mario. Last year we did Spongebob. This year? Joey came up with what we're doing, he came up with it like six months ago, and it's awesome. I'm so excited.

Q: Is the "monster" a hint?

A: Yeah.

Q: You're not going to be Godzilla, are you?

A: No.

Q: Overall, it sounds like things are going well for you and ICP right now. Would you say that's the case?

A: It's good, it's positive. If there was a color to this life that I'm living right now, it would be a bright, happy one.

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INSANE CLOWN POSSE

Saturday

Masonic Temple, 500 Temple St., Detroit

3 p.m. doors, 4:30 p.m. JCW wrestling, 7 p.m. concert

Tickets $84-$174

axs.com

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