Ringmaaster finds a niche with an itch.

• Position: Jim Hobbs - People

Don't ask Jim Hobbs of Winston-Salem if he started his business from scratch.

He runs a flea circus.

Yes, there are still a few flea circuses around. (Hobbs thinks his is one of only three in North America.) No, there are no fleas in a flea circus - it's all done by sleight of hand.

Hobbs, though, must be pretty handy at holding an audience's attention with his phantasmic fleas. His circus in a suitcase performed more than 500 times last year. He made an average of $1,000 a week for 20 to 24 shows. "It ain't a bad way to make a living," says Alberti Flea Circus's ringmaster.

Hobbs' little illusion under the big top is a family business of sorts. It started in 1987 when he and his wife adopted a 6-year-old. To get acquainted with the boy, Hobbs found himself "doing the same thing my grandfather had done - telling him about the flea circus - to share our family's history with him." Hobbs picked up some tricks from his grandfather, who once lived in a Chicago boarding house that catered to vaudeville performers.

Darryl, now 10, travels with his dad as an...