CIRCUS MANIA

A GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

Looking for last minute Christmas presents? Why not take advantage of a great special offer to buy Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson at the special offer price of just £10 postage free?

Described by the critics as “Brilliant,” “Ingenious,” “Captivating” and “The greatest show on Earth in a book,” Circus Mania is packed with behind-the-scenes backstage stories and ideal Christmas reading for anyone with fond memories of childhood trips to the circus or more recent visits to Cirque du Soleil - that’s all of us, isn’t it?

Here’s what the critics and readers have said:

“Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form... an excellent book.”

- Roger Lewis, Mail on Sunday.

“Remarkable... captivating... beguiling... a real page-turner.”

- Eastern Daily Press

“

Like a good old fashioned circus the book rollicks along at a cracking pace, delivering a cast of colourful characters, and a parade of stories of the life-is-stranger-than-fiction variety. There are thrills and spills, acts of derring-do, heart-in-mouth moments, and laughs aplenty. The circus deserves this book and, like the circus, McPherson deserves for Circus Mania to reach a very wide and appreciative audience.”

- Tina Jackson, The Writers Hub website.

“The greatest show on Earth in a book. Circus Mania serves as a panoramic peek behind the velvet curtain, covering every imaginable aspect of what goes on behind the scenes. An unmissable read.”

- World’s Fair.

“Ingenious... engaging... a powerful introduction to circus performance then and now.”

- The Call Boy, British Music Hall Society

“Full of stories and anecdotes that give readers a good sense of the thrills and dangers associated with the big top. The book should appeal to circus fans of all ages and levels of interest.”

- Booklist (USA)

“A passionate and up-to-date look at the hard work, danger and sometimes even death that world class circus performers face every day.”

-Gerry Cottle, showman.

“I really loved reading this book. Every page buzzes with memorable characters and stories, some funny, some sad, all fascinating.”

- 5-star Amazon customer review.

“Circus Mania is one of those rare non-fiction books that you end up reading as if it is a novel. It has great characters and plots and beautifully written descriptions.”

- Another 5-star Amazon customer review.

To save £5 off the recommended retail price and buy Circus Mania at the special offer price of just £10 including postage in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide) send cheques to:

Peter Owen Publishers

20 Holland Park Avenue

London W11 3QU

Credit card orders can be taken during office hours on the NEW phone number: 020 7792 1873

(Please note the NEW number for Peter Owen Publishers: 020 7792 1873)

WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012 - WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012 - WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012

CIRCUS MANIA REVIEW
“An inside view from the outside.”

My thanks to Mort Gamble for his gracious and perceptive review of Circus Mania in The White Tops - America’s most famous circus magazine! Here’s the full review:

CIRCUS MANIA by Douglas McPherson
review by Mort Gamble
(White Tops Sept/Oct)

If the title of this exploration of Great Britain’s circus world is to be believed, the shows of that island nation are a bit on the wild and wacky side. McPherson’s book, however, comes across as a more thoughtful, restrained treatment of the British circus tradition, past and present. There’s nothing crazy about people earnestly carrying on a performing arts tradition, even if they do step out of the bounds or the normal, by outsiders’ standards, to do it. Outside observer McPherson is impressed.
Watching the Valez Brothers Wheel of Death act, McPherson realizes his fascination with circus performers “and the mysterious glue that binds them to their life of peril. They are, there is no doubt, a breed apart... they seem to exist for no other purpose than to make the impossible seem possible.” It’s easy to dismiss that statement as trite, but it’s helpful to remember that he is writing for a more general audience, not circus fans, not historians or scholars.
His book is a balancing act itself as an overview of circus history, tradition, contemporary formats and modern issues of management - including Britain’s struggles with vociferous animal rights protesters. It’s an inside view from the outside and, if anything, demonstrates the universality of the circus mind and spirit. As he quotes one circus owner, it’s about “the excitement of watching someone attempt something they may not actually be able to do.”
The British circus tradition predates America’s. Entrepreneur Philip Astley - like John Bill Ricketts in this country - built his early circus around horsemanship, adding clowns, acrobats and other acts. Well-known circus names like Smart, Chipperfield and Bertram Mills brought size, fame and fortune to the English circus tradition. Recent years have been less grand as shows abandoned their exotic animals and some took on other forms, morphing into the adult-only, the freaky, the water-worldly, the scary - circus escaping into the witness protection programme of cirque or stage production.
Some tradition big top shows have soldiered on, even daring to bring back their elephants, and McPherson gives a nod to them when he listens, at Martin Lacey’s Great British Circus, to the stirring march of Entrance of the Gladiators, breathes in the narcotic of sawdust, trampled grass and animals, and finds himself emotionally involved: “This is circus, undiluted and unashamed. It’s down, it’s marginalized, and there’s not much of it left... but it’s alive, it’s powerful and it will live on.”
Circus Mania lacks the streetwise wit of a Bill Ballantine, functioning more like the industry observations of a David Lewis Hammarstrom. As an overview of the circus in Great Britain, it has value in illustrating a diverse entertainment tradition that may be unfamiliar to Americans. McPherson clearly admires the heroics of circus performers and, equally, the grit of circus managers who find ways to keep going despite the times. He laments that animal protesters, bent on “bullying and intimidating” have missed a good show and concludes on a hopeful note about the positive role of live, physical circus in a digital age.
There is nothing fake about staying alive while training nature’s perfect killing machine - the tiger - he writes. Similarly, in the authenticity of circus life and legend, what you see is only part of what you get. He means to take us into that world for a closer look.
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!!!SPECIAL OFFER!!!SPECIAL OFFER!!!SPECIAL OFFER!!!!
Save £5 off the price of Circus Mania by ordering direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide). Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
20 Holland Park Avenue
London W11 3QU
Tel: 020 7370 6093.

!!!CIRCUS!!!CIRCUS!!!CIRCUS!!!CIRCUS!!!CIRCUS!!!CIRCUS!!!

CIRCUS MANIA REVIEW
“Ingenious... engaging... a powerful introduction to circus performance then and now.”


My thanks to Eric Midwinter for a fantastic review of Circus Mania in the Autumn issue of The Call Boy - the official journal of the British Music Hall Society. Here’s the review:

“Douglas McPherson’s approach is the ingenious one of visiting differing sorts of circus, interviewing the performers and, by way of context, drawing us into circus history. Thus a visit to the Circus of Horrors and a chat with Hannibal Helmurto, the Pain-Proof Man, leads to a scrutiny of Victorian freak shows and Tom Thumb. It is done enjoyably but not uncritically and comprises a powerful introduction to circus performance then and now. In the case of circus the backstage toughness is professional rather than social. There are few tricks. It is very dangerous. The sword swallower really swallows the sword. Tragically, the day after the author’s interview with Eva Garcia appeared in The Stage she fell to her death in the circus ring. Here the fight is between obsession with the circus dream and daily endurance against the perils.
Tom Major gets an honourable mention and it was said of his son, premier John, that he was the only person ever to run away from a circus to join a bank. But it is the flight to the circus, as this engaging book explains, that leads to the disciplined rather than the happy-go-lucky life. If bankers were half so dedicated to stringent regulation and devoted awareness of public requirement as circus performers then the world economy might be a little brighter.”

The Call Boy is a fantastic resource for fans of variety, music hall and light entertainment and is distributed free to members of the British Music Hall Society. The Society hosts bi-monthly shows, talks and other events and membership is warmly recommended. To join, write to Membership Secretary Howard Lee, Thurston Lodge, Thurston Park, Whitstable, Kent CTE 1RE.

If you’d like a copy of the “Ingenious” and “engaging” Circus Mania, meanwhile, you can save £5 off the retail price by ordering direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the Special Offer price of just £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide). Send your cheques to Peter Owen Publishers, 20 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 3QU. Tel: 020 7370 6093.

JUMBO
- The Greatest Elephant in the World!

I’ve just had a fantastic time reading Jumbo - The Greatest Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers. Jumbo was a literally huge celebrity in the Victorian era, both in England, as the main attraction at London Zoo, and in America, where the 11-foot-tall African elephant became the star of PT Barnum’s Greatest Show On Earth. In fact, so well known was the four-legged colossus that ‘jumbo’ entered the English language as a new word for anything big.

Chambers’ biography of Jumbo is deceptively compact, but it tells a big and compelling story in thrilling detail. The impeccably researched narrative traces Jumbo’s story back as far as Taher Sheriff, the African ‘Aggageer,’ or elephant hunter, who captured Jumbo as a young calf in the Sudan, and includes a bloody first hand description by explorer Samuel White Baker of how Sheriff and his fellow horsemen captured (and killed) their prey.

From there, Chambers offers fascinating insights into Jumbo’s relationship with his life-long keeper Matthew Scott and the many behind-the-scenes shenanigans involving Scott, London Zoo superintendent Abraham Bartlett and the great circus showman PT Barnum. The detailed descriptions of dramatic events, such as the protracted difficulties in removing Jumbo from the zoo, read like a novel and will have you on the edge of your seat as you read.

Sadly, Jumbo came to a tragic end, beneath the wheels of a steam train. But he surely left a bigger mark on the world than any other animal, as evidenced by the way his name lives on in our daily conversation more than a century later. As Chambers says, the next time you see a jumbo jet or eat a jumbo sausage, remember the original Jumbo - the greatest elephant in the world - after which it’s named.

Jumbo (published by Andre Deutsch) is a highly recommended read. But what of today’s circus elephants? Should the big top still have them, or are they cruelly treated? Before you make up your mind, read both sides of the argument in my book Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus. Oh, and there’s even an original ink drawing of Jumbo in Circus Mania by author Douglas McPherson.

Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson retails for £14.99, but you can save £5 by ordering it direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of £10 including postage in the UK (add £2.75 postage for postage worldwide).
Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
20 Holland Park Avenue
London W11 3QU
Credit card orders can be taken during office hours on 020 7370 6093.

CIRCUS MANIA a GOOD READ!

My thanks to Circus Mania reader Shana Kennedy for posting the following review on www.goodread.com :

‘A decent circus book for us groupies... a quote I particularly connected with: "I realize...the rows of seats behind me are going to remain empty... But as the lights go down it ceases to matter. In a theatre you would feel the emptiness of a poorly attended house sapping the atmosphere. The big top, by contrast, seems to close snugly around us, emphasizing only our proximity to the ring and the impending action."’

If you’re tempted to read some more, save £5 off the retail price by ordering Circus Mania direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of £10 postage free in the UK (£2.75 postage rest of world). Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
20 Holland Park Avenue
London W11 3QU
Credit card orders during office hours: 020 7370 6093

MEET THE WOOKEY HOLE WITCH!

THE CIRCUS STAR WHO’LL PUT A SPELL ON YOU!

As the nights draw in and Halloween looms, you may be wondering where to celebrate the time of ghosties, ghoulies, pumpkins, broomsticks, black cats... and witches. Where better than the 50,000-year-old tourist attraction Wookey Hole, where the caves boast their own breed of creepy cave spider... and a real live resident witch?

Luckily, witch in residence Sunny van der Pas is a witch of the friendly, rather than scary variety, and Terrance the spider who hangs from her pointed hat looks like a fake to me - although she assures me the spiders in the caves are real enough.

“I’m not certain, but I’m told they’re the only venomous spiders in England,” says Sunny, who looks pretty fit for her claimed age of 227, “But they’re absolutely beautiful.”

So are the caves, themselves, says Sunny: “Some of the chambers are 100-feet tall. They’re beautifully lit and look like cathedrals. There’s one shaped like a dome, which was created by a whirlpool and could never have been carved by man.”

As well as the caves, Wookey Hole boasts a dinosaur park, a paper museum on the site of Britain’s oldest paper mill, a Victorian penny arcade, a fairy garden and a Mirror Maze. There’s also a circus museum stuffed with showman’s wagons, circus freaks, costumes and memorabilia and, at weekends and during the school holidays, thrice daily circus shows in the Big Top Theatre. The shows are presented by Sunny who, being a witch, naturally casts a lot of spells to make things disappear and appear; and Bippo the clown, who is one of Britain’s most talented up-and-coming performers.

The rest of the cast are drawn from the students of the Wookey Circus School who perform all kinds or gymnastics and aerial feats.

The circus connection isn’t surprising, though, as Wookey Hole is owned by Britain’s most famous living circus man, Gerry Cottle, who bought the attraction after selling his share of the Chinese and Moscow State Circuses. Cottle’s idea at the time was to retire from circus. But, as they said in Cecil B DeMille’s film The Greatest Show On Earth, you can shake the sawdust off your shoes, but you can never shake it out of your heart.

For details of Wookey Hole opening times and bookings at the on-site 58-bedroom hotel, call 01749 672243 or visit www.wookey.co.uk.

If you want the full story of Gerry Cottle’s circus career and how he came to set up the Wookey Circus School... plus the story of how Bippo ran away with the circus as a 9-year-old... buy my book:

CIRCUS MANIA - THE ULTIMATE BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO DREAMED OF RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS!

Circus Mania retails at £14.99, but you can save £5 by ordering direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage free.

Send cheques to:

20 Holland Park Avenue

London W11 3QU

For credit card orders phone 020 7373 5628 during office hours.

CIRCO
A Fantastico DVD!


In Mexico they have a saying: “Through good and bad - the circus forever!” Circo, a fantastic documentary shot and directed by Aaron Schock, shows both the good times and the bad times, while leaving no doubt that the circus will indeed endure forever.
The film, which comes out on DVD on September 12, follows the fortunes of the Gran Circo Mexico, a small family circus touring impoverished rural Mexico. Tino Ponce, the mainstay of the show, was born into the circus tradition and is determined that his young kids will carry on the life of his parents and grandparents. The school age kids, who have never been to school, provide most of his acts, from lion training to aerial silk and contortionism.
But all is not well in the big top. Tino’s wife, a town girl, is unhappy with her children being driven so hard: “You are supposed to give your children everything, but our children give us everything.” Ivonne also resent all the profits from her their hard labour being passed to Tino’s aging parents, who own the circus.
“The circus always comes first, before anything else,” Ivonne moans, while Tino admits “I’m walking a tightrope,” between responsibility to his parents and responsibility to his wife and children.
While the marital tension builds, Schock’s unhurried film shows the harsh reality of circus life: the gritty, debris strewn circus sites “behind the gas station” in villages with the feel of a third world country; the endless travel and constant practise; the mud, dirt, Gypsy camp conditions and lack of basic amenities: at one point, one of Tino’s sons scales a wall and uses a long stick with a hook of copper wire on the end to rig a makeshift electrical supply from a nearby overhead line.
“We’re trapped in our circus world - caged,” comments Ivonne. But, despite the deprivations, those who leave the circus - even Ivonne, in the end - always come back. As Tino states, “My hope is to die here in the circus.”
With an atmospheric soundtrack by alt.country band Calexico, this fantastico film is released on DVD by Network Releasing, price £12.99, and is warmly recommended.
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CIRCUS MANIA SPECIAL OFFER!
And don’t forget, if you want to see what goes on behind the scenes of Britain’s circuses, check out my book, Circus Mania! at the special offer price of just £10 including postage. To read about the lives, culture, history, superstitions and secrets of sword swallowers, trapeze stars and tiger trainers, send cheques to:


Peter Owen Publishers
20 Holland Park Avenue
London W11 3QU
And, as we say in the UK, “May all your days be circus days!”

CIRCUS GIRL NELL GIFFORD
IN PICTURE OF THE YEAR!

If there were an award for the best circus photograph of the year it would definitely go to the shot of Nell Gifford sitting side-saddle on a rearing horse in the May 21 edition of the Daily Telegraph. Circus has never looked more cool!
Take a look at this fantastic shot and Patricia Carswell’s excellent feature on Gifford’s Circus production of War & Peace at the Hay Literary Festival at this link: "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8523546/Giffords-Circus-Smart-way-to-give-us-a-ring.html".
My thanks, too, to Patricia for quoting me and mentioning Circus Mania! within the piece.
If the magic of Gifford’s Circus fires your imagination, check out Circus Mania! to discover the reality of life, death and danger that faces those who run away with the circus. Buy it on Amazon or direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special price of £10 postage-free (a saving of £5 off the recommended retail price).
Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
20 Holland Park Avenue
London
W11 3QU

And may all your days be circus days!

MORE GREAT REVIEWS! “CIRCUS MANIA READS LIKE A NOVEL!” My thanks to writer Lynne Hackles for marking World Circus day by posting a glowing review of Circus Mania on her excellent blog I Should Be Writing. Among other compliments, Lynne said, “Circus Mania is one of those rare non-fiction books that you end up reading as if it were a novel. Great characters and plot and beautifully written descriptions.” You can read Lynne’s full review at www.lynnehackles.blogspot.com My thanks are also due to my local regional daily paper, the Eastern Daily Press for running a fabulous 2-page feature on Circus Mania in the run up to World Circus day last week. Among the EDP’s descriptions of Circus Mania: “Remarkable... captivating... beguiling... a real page-turner of a book that shines a bright light on a hidden world inhabited by an extraordinary cast of colourful characters.” Finally, thanks to David Whitely for inviting me onto his BBC Radio Norfolk breakfast show to talk about Circus Mania on Saturday 16, and, through the wonders of pre-recording, to BBC Radio Essex who had me giving a completely different interview about Circus Mania at exactly the same time. You may be able to listen to both on the BBC iPlayer (if you know how to work it...). Don’t forget, you can buy Circus Mania direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide). Send cheques to: Peter Owen Publishers 20 Holland Park Avenue London W11 3GU Or phone 020 7373 5628.

World Circus Day

WORLD CIRCUS DAY! World Circus Day Saturday April 16, 2011 Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Saturday April 16 is World Circus Day! Organised by the International Circus Federation under the patronage of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, World Circus Day is a global celebration of the glamour, excitement, tradition and spectacle of the sawdust circle - and it’s something EVERYONE can get involved in. Here is the recipe for a perfect World Circus Day: 1/ Google ‘Circus’ and the name of your town or county. Find the circus appearing nearest to you and go along! If you haven’t been for years, you’re guaranteed to enjoy it! / Buy some paper plates and a can of shaving foam. Spray the shaving foam on the plates to make some nice big custard pies, then go into the garden and have a good old custard pie fight! 3/ Get out your face paints and paint clown faces on your kids... and yourself! 4/ If you’ve got any circus skills take your stilts, unicycle or juggling balls out onto the streets and share your passion. If anyone asks you what you’re doing, tell them it’s World Circus Day! 5/ Buy a copy of Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus by Douglas McPherson and read all about the unique lifestyle, traditions, culture, history, superstitions and secrets of the world’s greatest circus entertainers as told in their own words. The Mail on Sunday called Circus Mania “A brilliant account of a vanishing art form.” The Eastern Daily Press called it “Remarkable... captivating... beguiling... a real page turner.” Circus Mania retails at £14.99, but to celebrate World Circus Day you can SAVE £5 by buying it direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide). Send cheques to: Peter Owen Publishers 20 Holland Park Avenue London W11 3QU May all your days be World Circus Days! World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011 World Circus Day April 16, 2011