Our extended neighborhood has been plastered with signs and billboards for “The Circus” the last couple of months. I’ve always had a little bit of a circus thing, so we had no choice but to get tickets and go. I was a little nervous because the publicity felt a little weird… not “Zamboni Brothers Circus” or “Aussie All-Stars Cirque Magique”… just “The Circus”.

It turned out to be a pretty good show, but the name sort of made sense. The ringmaster said something about 5 generations of circus family, but actually it was just a collection of pretty generic, pretty traditional circus acts. Thankfully no animals were involved.

The bicycle/unicycle trick guy (above) was a highlight. There was a very young aerialist who probably got the role because she’s a family member, and a soap bubble number quite possibly done by her grandmother.

There was the motorcycle … actually multiple motorcycles … in the sphere. There were big jumps on both motorcycles and bikes. There was a clown whose pratfalls were a little too violent for me, and whose numbers went on a bit too long. There was a high silk number, even a song by the tiny lady ringmaster. They had an impressive amount of big apparatus… big spinning and swinging things that generated oohs and aahs and gasps from the crowd. A quick change artist.

And of course, the human cannonball! Our seats were right on the center aisle and he whooshed close past us into his inflatable landing pad… wow!

All in all, it was a good solid show. Even if they’re not in the Olympics, all the performers did flexy / scary / surprising things that few other people have the talent and dedication to master.

After, we talked about how hard it must be to make a living that way. The non-starring performers were busy doing the rigging work, and working the concession stand. And I’d guess they also do school shows, or give master classes at the local circus school, or wait tables or whatever, to help make ends meet.

And what do kids think? When I was 8 or 10, I would have been seeing a lot of that stuff for the first time. But now we’ve got the X Games and America’s Got Talent and a million TikTokkers in our faces all day every day. Is there still wonder in seeing it live? I hope so.

Anyway, I’m glad we shelled out for the good seats and wish them well in whatever town is next. And good on them for keeping the traditions alive!