What’s The Circus Like These Days?

In ye old circus days of yesteryear no doubt there would have been a bearded woman, dwarf and various others with abnormal deformities such was the Victorian’s taste for a ‘freak show’. Then there would have been some large, scary, man-eating animals – the very thrill being whether the lion tamer would get through the performance with his arm intact.

Thankfully, things are different now. The wild animals are gone – and although a government ban is still in progress – most circuses have already ditched the exotic animals. I would have certainly been put off if it was still common practice. In the place of elephants and lions we had dancing horses and even that act made me feel a little uncomfortable (although they were clearly very well looked after). While the nearest we had to the freakier side of the circus was a contortionist and strong man.

Stepping into the huge ‘big top’ tent, it felt like we going back in time. Never mind my daughter, I was excited – this was my first time at a circus too! Buying some obligatory plastic tat along the way, in this case a battery powered multicoloured twirly thing with an ugly clown on the top, we settled into our rigid plastic seats along with hundreds of others, families and couples alike. Talking of clowns, I’ve never been able to stomach them (anyone else?). I’m sure it goes back to when I was 12-13 years old and would watch horror films such as, ‘It’ and ‘Clown House’ (remember them?) at sleepovers with my friends. Think it has scarred me for life. But, this being a circus, I was subjected to two of them. They were just about bearable in their mildly amusing slapstick act (which the children seemed to love) and from where I was sitting I couldn’t see the full horror of their spooky make-up.

Opening the show were the acrobats. There’s a reason why this act has endured for centuries. The group, from Cuba, had us mesmerised as they were catapulted up into the air, seamlessly twirling around several times before landing on a crash mat held by their colleagues who coolly followed the line of their fall. They later performed an extremely dangerous act which called for a safety net (good job as well as one of them fell twice). I could have watched them for the whole two hour performance they were that good. But, the show was broken up with the horses, a contortionist (which my daughter couldn’t watch), and an excellent strong man who had us all transfixed and our mouths open in amazement as he bent a metal bar, pulled a van on a piece of rope – not with his hands – but with his teeth – and we watched with trepidation as it also drove over him.

What I loved about Zippos Circus – which has been voted the ‘Britain’s Best Circus’ for the past two years – was that it is a truly international show. They clearly get the best acts from around the world and the quality showed. Hercules, the strong man, was from Ukraine, the acrobats from Cuba and a contortionist from Mongolia.

We could have done without the audience participation which was a bit cringe (especially when the person was clearly not comfortable doing it), the ‘clown’ who filled in-between acts was a little tedious (although seemed to amuse the children) and while Norman Barrett MBE may be a great ringmaster, I didn’t care for his budgie act which consisted of several budgies performing stunts such as going down miniature slides and swings. Enough said.

On the whole, it was a great day out and surpassed what little expectations I had before entering this other world living inside the huge tent. Having just turned two years old, the two hours (with a break) were a little long for Mrs T but she gazed quietly, memorised, through most of it and only started to get wriggly towards the end. She absorbed it all up and seemed to enjoy herself. Her best bit? Well, the part where the clowns sang Happy Birthday to two children in the audience, of course!! Yep she couldn’t stop singing it afterwards. Good job my husband and I appreciated the show. This modern circus has retained its traditional core but has been brought right up to date – without any forlorn looking animals – just some high quality international performances. Plus, if you thought it was just for families – you would be wrong – there is something for everyone.