Sunday Morning Turnabout -- Tragedy to Trophies

Sunday morning not so serene. Had something different in mind. Shouldn't have surfed the blogs, full of mud, mayhem and sad sad tragecy ... Let's start out easy: A young kid named Logan Jacot enters the big top, gets bumped on the head and decides to bear the blood without a Doc. A young trouper to the core, Logan blogs of “death and destruction at Lewis & Clark.“ "Death" marks the passing of a baby goat, "destruction" the trauma to Logan's head. Still, this determined kid, all of about 21 or so, has found a home under canvas. Ironically, he calls it "the only consistent thing in my life. I’ve always been able to count on it to take care of me both physically and emotionally, I hope it’ll always be around to take care of me.”

Then there’s a slightly older chap, Ben Trumble, currently free lancing on the Kelly-Miller lot, chatting on his mud show blog about difficult lots and mixed turnouts, about an operation (now run by John Ringling North II) that is maybe too too nice for some ongoing issues to be resolved ... Heck, who needs the old Billboard or the new Circus Report when we have these on-the-lot troupers willing to tell all (okay, maybe not ALL -- but we're waiting for that, too)... It’s a different world toady ... A keen discovery is circus aficionado Crash Moreau (his blog, Circus Review, is linked to the right), who sees a lot of circuses, writes ‘em up and gives you neat facts about biz and logistics and vital trivia. So far this season Crash has crashed 16 shows – hold that stat for the end, right here coming up...

Surfing the insiders, Buckles pays tribute to the Besalou Baby Elephants as being “the finest elephant act ever trained in this country.” Gosh and “ WOOT WOOT,” as Logan might say, I saw ‘em on Polack in their heyday, and I LOVED baby Opal’s epic tricks ... Wade Burck, the Cage Man, has lots of photos of gorgeous tigers and wonders about some — who are they and who trained ‘em? ... Our King Clown of the Blogs, Pat Cashin, chirpfully quotes Steve Smith on his favorite subject: “Clowning really is snow on Christmas and all day suckers and Never-Never Land.” After the Xmas part, the sentence lost me ...

Now to the Sad Sad Story: Between recalling his leftist youth and talking up the need for humanist imagery in circus animal acts, Trumble (as do others) addresses the horrible murder this last week of Carson & Barnes road office manager, Mauricio Droguett, in a local mall by his estranged wife, Debi. “One family was permanently torn apart. A dozen other families are left to grieve and wonder why?” The circus can’t escape life, nor life the circus....My heart goes out ...

Okay, all this makes me sort of long for a copy of the White Tops. Maybe you, too, need a little tinsel and fresh pink sawdust? Back to the subject of an annual awards for circus performance art. Wade Burck wonders if my earlier proposed titles “the Johnnys” or “The Alberts” (both Ringlings) are a bit dated. Burck suggests "The Irvins" (nice sound) or “The Cliffs” (would the latter be for the most erratically run operation of the year?) And Baraboo’s Bob Dewell wonders aloud if they might not be simple called the RBBB Awards. Hummm, Doc, that sounds like a prescription.

Thus my latest proposal: THE CIRCUS RING AWARDS. What say ye, all three of you out there?

This I believe: If we can find ten or twenty Crash Moreaus who actually go out and see, let’s say, all of about the ten regularly touring shows (not to slight the fringe affairs, but who sees em all?), those people should automatically qualify to receive ballots and vote. It would be an honor system, remember honor before Steroids? We would trust these people, fans or ex-circus employees pledging no current financial or volunteer conflicts of interest whatsoever, to complete a simple form, sign and return. It’s a start, no?

Away from mud and misfortune, back to the front end: Circus Vargas is showing real class in tv ads it's running in the Bay Area. What a surprise! This should be one to watch. Meanwhile, Logan, I’d suggest a hard hat, all except for your ring time. The circus might take care of you -- as long as you are around to be taken care of...


[photos, from top: Logan Jacot, from his blog, Sawdust Nights; Opal, presented by Peggy MacDonald, from Buckles Blog; last photo from Circus Vargas website]