SEND BACK THE CLOWNS! The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of The Re-imagined Ringling, from REDDIT

I'd never gone to Reddit before for reviews to quote, but to my surprise,  under a thread headlined  The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly of The Re-imagined Ringling, I found a slew of even-handed comments by people who, for the most part, seemed neither aggrieved  circus fans or the PETA crowd, itself never missing a chance to spread more anti-traditional circus hate. These  voices reveal much that we have only been able to speculate about. 

So I am posting these here for a few days, and will then move the post down deeper.          

Highlight Quote:

"The robot dog Bailey was met with mixed reactions. I have never witnessed hundreds of people mass-discussing something all at once, which was bizarre."

u/Skater73 avatar
Skater73 6mo ago

I'm deeply concerned with the lack of audience showing up for these shows recently. I saw the new Ringling back in March, and the audience was quite large on a Saturday night. However, recent tour stops seem to be struggling to get people in the door, especially for evening shows.

I have seen a lot of advertising on TikTok, YouTube, and local media outlets but not much in the way of physical billb live in a mostly rural state with an older oards, fliers, etc. This is a major mistake for our area, as we population that likely won’t see much of it.                                               
    
hexualattraction
4mo ago

I was working at a stadium and Ringling came through. I didn't get to sit and watch the whole thing like a normal patron, but I did see quite a bit. I believe Equivokee - the three guys doing physical comedy are in fact clowns, like trained as clowns, but I believe since the US has such a bad association, they had them pare down the things that folks associate with clowns.

For example, even board games from Europe that feature clowns get stripped of them with localization, in order for the American market to engage/play/buy them.

All this to say, I think if Ringling performed outside of the us, clowns would be more apparent,and that it's kind of an American thing that they've been stripped out.

I did find the competing acts to be strange, it felt like so many talented people were sort of shoved off to the side, I think to try to keep peoples focus somewhere, but it felt pretty disrespectful to the performers.   

r/circus icon
Go to circus r/circus•
6 mo. ago

 The robot dog Bailey was met with mixed reactions. I have never witnessed hundreds of people mass-discussing something all at once, which was bizarre. I will personally miss the animal acts, but I am interested to see what can be done with similar technology as Feld Entertainment has used puppets and animatronics in other shows.

The Bad: For a show focused on human talent, it’s incredibly disappointing to see the removal of time honored roles such as arena clowns and ringmaster. There are several show guides and physical comedians which were entertaining in their own right, but it mostly felt like a hollow attempt to distance the new show from its past.

The stage direction is somewhat confusing. During the BMX stunts, a Chinese pole act was taking place on the opposite side of the arena. As someone else recently mentioned in this subreddit the circular overhead screens were missing, which would have been nice as I could barely see it even from the lower level.

The sound was a bit muffled, which often confused the audience resulting in lukewarm responses. I have no experience with entertaining but I imagine that can be a real confidence killer

Other notes: I attended Sunday’s performance midday and some friends attended in the evening, the arena was less than half full on both occasions. Historically our city has produced a good turnout. I am unsure if this decline in attendance is due to the retirement of traditional acts, loss of relevance, cost, or other factors. The show will be in town this weekend and the following with approximately two shows daily Friday-Sunday, so maybe the others will fair a bit better.

Our friend’s six year old daughter was attending for the first time and lost interest several acts in, they did not return after intermission.

r/circus icon
Go to circus r/circus•
6 mo. ago

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the re-imagined Ringling 

conclusion: Like many others I am left feeling a bit mixed. The performers were excellent, but the show itself needs work in several areas.

Ringling may have a difficult time living up to the expectations of longtime fans and retaining first-timers after the revival tour. I will be returning when and if it is renewed, but my friends and their daughter may not.

Needless to say, it is vital for Feld Entertainment to be receptive to feedback if they hope to remain relevant and continue turning an audience. 

ccb621
6mo ago

Aside: Why not post this after you’ve seen the show and have more to contribute to the conversation?

The animals will never come back. They are public relations and logistical nightmares.

I attended a show in Oakland, CA. The arena was not very full. The tickets were about $225 after fees for my family of three. We’ve paid more for Cirque du Soleil and far less for Monster Jam (for almost the exact same seats). 

Cirque remains the pinnacle for me. Ringlimg isn’t there. The show was too kinetic and distracting. There were screens with performers’ names and countries glaring just at the performances were beginning. This would be fine if there was one act; however, at one point there were three separate acts happening simultaneously! I had no clue who to watch.

This was barely okay for aerials. I think they had straps in the center with two folks on silks to the sides. This was downright insane when they had an aerial performance and folks jumping through hoops. 

I felt like they were trying to toss in a buinnch of acts to make folks feel they got a good value. In reality it felt cheap—quantity over quality. I recall at one point wondering why the show hadn’t ended because it just felt so long. 

I don’t think everyone needs to follow Cirque exactly, but it might help to learn a bit from their model. A story or through line connecting the performances would greatly help the flow and progression feel less frenetic.

I hope they make it work. I saw one of the last performances of the old company in Providence, RI, and it was quite good, so I know someone can help write a better show.

 No-Commission-242
4mo ago

I won't waste my money again.  I knew that there would be no animals,  but didn't know that there wouldn't be any clowns.  I've got my memories from when I was a kid and I'll have to live with that.  It's bad that I built it up to the grandkids and had to look at the disappointment on their faces.  All of the people around us felt the same.  Take them to Chuckie Cheese and everyone will be a lot happier,  plus you can get them much better souvenirs.