Following a fatality in the Globe of Death in Italy last month, we look at the 120-year history of motorbikes in the steel sphere.
The Globe of Death has become a ubiquitous part of the UK circus scene in recent years. So much so that I have to admit that I was beginning to find its predictable presence in nearly every big top... a tad boring.
But while the majority of performances pass without incident, this past year has surely proved that the spectacle of motorcyclists revolving in a steel cage is actually one of the most dangerous stunts in the circus.
Performers were injured in four collisions in British circus rings this summer, at Circus Extreme, Zippos, Circus Funtasia, and the Blackpool Tower Circus.
Then in November came the worst news of all: 26-year-old Christian Quezada Vasques was killed in a three-bike pile-up inside the globe during a performance at the Imperial Royal Circus in Italy.
It was the latest of at least three deaths in the globe, including that of 20-year-old Cristian Camilo Hernández Sáenz in Columbia in 2016.
In Britain in the 1950s, Arno Wickbold performed in a bottomless globe that was winched high into the air while he rode inside it. Having begun his act dressed as a clown, he took off his costume as he rode. Tragically, the garment caught in his wheel and stalled his motorcycle, sending him crashing through the open bottom of the cage to his death during a live radio broadcast.
Other incidents include a bike crashing and bursting into flames during a show in China in 2023. With another bike continuing to circle the cage, to avoid falling into the inferno, the circus ring took on the fiery hue of a scene from Rollerball.
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.
Inside the Circus Extreme Globe of Death
At the top of this post 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.
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:
But what does the future hold for the Globe of Death? Will the death of Christian Quezada Vasques and the other accidents this past year affect the popularity of the stunt?
Malin Yovov who broke three ribs at Circus Funtasia in the summer summed up the spirit of the globe riders when he said of his crash, “This is all part and parcel of live entertainment. People pay money to see the best shows in the UK with the most extreme stunts. I’m well aware of the dangers of this performance and I thrive off it. When I hear the audience go wild, I just can’t wait for the next show to do it all again.”
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