Big Kid Circus presents Europe's only all-female Globe of Death

"For the first time ever, in any circus in the UK..." Those are the words you want to hear, bellowed through the air in a big top. 

The new, the original, the unique. Those are the commodities that the circus has always thrived on. That is what will get you rolling up to a big top to see: something you can't see anywhere else.

In this case, ringmaster Kevin Kevin (yep, he was so good they named him twice) was introducing this year's new season attraction to Big Kid Circus: Europe's only all-female Globe of Death riders.

The globe of death is itself nothing new. In some recent reviews, I complained of seeing too many of them, with one closing almost every circus.

But there are ways to refresh the act, with bikes leaping over the globe at Circus Extreme, Circus Zyair and Planet Circus (read my review here).

The all-female trio at Big Kid provides another welcome twist, and one likely to generate something that circuses depend on: news coverage.

My preview of the Daring Dames Festival - Europe's only all-female circus festival looked at how some circus disciplines such as clowning and strongman have traditionally been almost exclusively male preserves - and how a new generation of women is now venturing into those areas.

The Globe of Death is definitely one such male dominated arena, making Big Kid's women motorcyclists remarkable.

The troupe comprises Julia from the UK, Vanessa from Brazil and Ronica from Iraq.

You can see their death-defying display on Big Kid Circus' next stop in Brent Cross.

 

RIP Fred Van Buren and Greta

Fred Van Buren and his wife and assistant Connie Greta (pictured above) put the magic in the circus - literally.

Performing in the circus rings of Gandey's, Fossett's and Chipperfields', Van Buren developed a style of illusion that could be viewed from any angle in-the-round. There was no back to his props that the audience couldn't see.

His most famous stunt was the Vanishing Motorcycle and Rider, while completely surrounded.

Van Buren's fame led to TV appearances including the David Nixon Show and Seaside Special. He was personally chosen by Walt Disney to create magic effects for Snow White on Ice at Wembley, and was an adviser on The Muppet Show.

Since Fred and Connie's retirement from the stage in 1997, the family tradition of spectacular illusions has been continued by their son, Andrew Van Buren.

Fred Van Buren was 91 when he passed away on 6 March this year, Connie having predeceased him in 2020.