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Thrills and hopefully no spills
on the Wheel of Death
in Gerry Cottle's new show
Wow! |
The big news for London’s circus fans is that the biggest name in the big top is back in town. Celebrating his 50 years in the circus with a fast-moving show that crams 50 acts into 100 minutes,
Gerry Cottle is bringing his
Wow! show to a series of London parks, following a successful run in the South West last year.
It was in London, a city that no circus had played for years, that Cottle made his name by drawing huge crowds in the 70s. He went on to national fame with
Seaside Special, a prime time variety show broadcast each Saturday evening from his big top.
Later, Cottle was the guiding force behind the enormous UK success of the
Chinese State Circus,
Moscow State Circus and
Circus of Horrors. A decade ago, he retired from the road to revive the
Wookey Hole Caves as one of the south west’s most colourful tourist attractions.
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| Bippo and friends wow the crowd |
But, to steal a line from
Cecil B. DeMille’s film
The Greatest Show on Earth, you can shake the sawdust off your shoes but you can’t shake it out of your heart. Before long, Gerry had established a thriving circus school at
Wookey Hole.
Some of its graduates are among the cast of
Wow!, performing on roller skates and unicycles, alongside colourful Kenyan acrobatics, high-altitude thrills on the Wheel of Death and the comedy and magic of
Bippo the Clown.
Catch a video trailer for the show at www.wowshow.co.uk, and book your ticket to be wowed.
Currently at
Hackney Downs, Sept 19 - 22
Gerry Cottle’s Wow! Show will be moving on to:
Alexandra Palace, Sept 26 - Oct 6
Harpenden Common, Oct 8 - 13
Clapham Common, Oct 23 - Nov 3
For times and bookings, go to
www.wowshow.co.uk
!!!CIRCUS MANIA SPECIAL OFFER!!!
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Gerry Cottle (L) joins
author Douglas McPherson
and Dr Haze
from the Circus of Horrors
at the launch of
Circus Mania |
For the full story of
Gerry Cottle’s life in the circus, not to mention the story of
Bippo the clown, the
Circus of Horrors, the
Chinese State Circus and a whole host of circus performers from trapeze flyers to tiger trainers, read
Circus Mania by
Douglas McPherson, a book which
Gerry Cottle himself called “A passionate and up-to-date look at the circus and its people,” and which the
Mail on Sunday described as “A brilliant account of a vanishing art form.”
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 in the UK.
Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP
Tel. 020 8350 1775
