What is the most dangerous act in the circus? The Globe of Death must be a contender. Performers were injured in three accidents in the steel sphere this summer, at Circus Extreme, Zippos and Circus Funtasia.
With three or four riders barely missing each other as they loop vertically and horizontally inside the 16-foot diameter ball, disaster is only ever a moment's loss of control away.
The Globe has become a ubiquitous part of the UK circus scene in recent years, with almost every big top show bringing out the caged motorcyclists, usually as the show's finale.
But what I hadn't realised is that the Globe of Death is not a new act. Nor was it derived from the Wall of Death, as the Globe seems to have come a decade earlier.
Above is a patent for a globe, designed by stunt rider Arthur Rosenthal, that looks very similar to the ones used today. It's dated 1904. And it describes "certain new and useful improvements". So they existed even before that.
It's described as a Bicyclist's Globe, because they rode pedal bikes in the early days, although motorbikes were swiftly adopted.
The first performer was probably bicyclist Thomas Eck in 1903.
Rosenthal and his partner Frank Lemon - performing as Rose and Lemon - used both bicycles and motorbikes.
The first woman rider was Agnes Theodore who performed as CeDora around 1905 if not earlier. Originally riding a bicycle in frilly shorts, she had changed to a motorcyle - a 1903 Motosacoche - by 1906 and later adopted a single-cylinder Indian motorbike as her signature machine.
Posters described her as "The most daring girl on Earth," and as "Flirting with death at a mile a minute."
Agnes rode in the globe until her retirement in 1929 when she passed the name CeDora to 16-year old Eleanore Seufert who carried on the act through the 1930s.
The 100-year-old 3-ton globe used by both CeDoras is still used by the Jordan Family today.
Early globes went by different names. Italian daredevil Guido Consi called it the Sphere of Fear in 1913. Brazil's Cedero called it his Golden Globe, when he performed in New York in 1915. Australia's Mendoza family called it the Globe of Fate.
Originally a carnival attraction rather than a circus act, the Globe of Death reached a peak of popularity at stunt shows in the 1960s and 70s.
The Infernal Varanne team set a world record for the most people inside a globe - six riders and a person standing in the middle - in 2011.
Over the years various efforts have been made to make the globe even more exciting, such as hydraulic lifts that raise the globe and split it into two sections while the riders are revolving inside.
Shows with a big enough big top, such as Circus Extreme, have had stunt riders jumping over the globe.
In 2015, the world's largest globe was was built in Vilnius, Lithuania. It stood 39-feet-tall... and a CAR repeatedly looped the loop inside it! Take a look at this:
It's a shame no circus has a tent big enough to accommodate that!
But what does the future hold for the Globe of Death?
Personally, I think it would be a nice novelty if a circus dropped the motorbikes and went back to using bicycles.
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