Finding Circus on TV, In Small Towns, at Auctions ... Bow Wow, Big Top Simon! You Are the Spirit of Circus Past

     "'MORE THRILLING ACTS to come!” Yes, bring them on!  This from America’s Got Vaudeville (excuse me, Talent). This sly manipulator knows how to exploit thrilling aspects of authentic circus to its scheming advantage. If only they would axe that idiotically annoying on-stage host who mugs it up while acts are on, what, telling us how to react? Snippet watching, I caught a fellow juggling what looked like pancakes!  Three strong men in an incredible  balancing act worthy of high Monte Carlo recognition.  A rabbit that failed to do most of its tricks, and still fooled three foolish judges, but not the critically correct Simon Cowell.  I’m watching and wanting this unpredictable jamboree more.  But  it you ask me, most of the singers are all the same ... Booooring!  Bring on more Barnum & Bailey! ...

Simon loves dogs ... Simon, wait! -- A full fledged Brit, might he be the spirit of circus past helping to keep it alive in a form over here that plays to the millions?

   ON THE DARK SIDE of AGT, they dared to present a vulgar spectacle that should be outlawed: young woman against a target on wall, her mother shooting arrows at the edges of her face. The judges cringed, and so did I.  The judges swooned, and so did I not.  But, but ... Yes, you could argue the roots of gutsy circus in that too.  Okay, Simon, yeah, show us the beef. AGT hasn’t a second to waste on Cirque su Soleil tripe.  Bravo! 
  

     UK, YOU'RE ON:   From Simon to Boris the Great (the government), who is leaving things open to circuses and their patrons to more or less, between themselves decide on the proper protocol for masking and distancing. And I say that’s the right way to keep on living   But not so easy to bring off. This from my London source, Douglas McPherson, reporting in general that the same shows are still on the road as of this posting. But with customers polled by the big tops and split down the center on the issues of mask and distance, wonders Douglas “Which half of their audience will they please?”   It does not suggest an easy road when customers are at odds with each other.  “Time will tell, but it looks to me that the government's mixed message is handing all the problems and potential confrontations to businesses and the public.”    

   LITTLE TOPS on precarious parade.  I hold my breath when I try goggling up on their current status.  The shows are pitching to smaller population pools.  VENARDOS -- "the little circus that could" -- and ZOPPE planning dates in Colorado hamlets.  VARGAS on the west coast playing to mid-sized places like Santa Barbara and Downey, with Temecula on through August 23 .... UNIVERSOUL into National Harbor, MD, CULPPER &MERRIWEATER onto Princeton, same state.   HANNEFORD slates an August run in Cobleskill NY.  We’re not seeing big cities at the moment, and might not for a spell ...  CIRCO CABALERRO'S  last date shown in June 28 in Vegas, with no futures in sight.... The past haunts BIG APPLE CIRCUS.  Last item I can find about them alludes to an auction of assets ... Surprised Gotham is not covering this ... Well, that's right, it's only circus, hardly able to compete with hysterical media exploitation of Covid, Racism, and DC politics. 

 

 

At Zoppe & Zippos Circus!  Okay, NO, it's a Zoppe kid above, but I could not help merging these two zippy names into one. I am absolutely gaga over the name ZIPPOS.  Zip! Zip! Zip! Hip, hip, zip zip, and ain't that a pip!

   MEDIA, SHUT UP! And I watch you less!   It shamefully distorts numbers to lend catastrophic impressions.  New covid infections, yes but 99.5% of those infected have NOT been vaccinated.  99.5%. Source: Fauci and the Surgeon General. The un-vaccinated  will continue to prolong the economic hardships for everybody, and I fear tops big  will disproportionately suffer with their profit margins are so thin.

      AND THAT'S  not a cheery wrap.  No, it isn’t.  So, did I unmake your day?   Paging Kenneth Feld! ... Kenneth Feld to the rescue! ... 

Remembering:

Yes, cry clown, cry ...