The animal rights protest that made me love the circus

 

This is the picture and newspaper headline that started my journey into the circus. I'd been to the circus before, mainly to review shows at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome. The Hippodrome was a living piece of history: Britain's oldest purpose-built circus building, replete with the bizarre Edwardian attraction of a ring that transformed into a swimming pool for synchronised swimming. Houdini and Charlie Chaplin had performed there, and even the variety star parents of former Prime Minister John Major. It was there that I met aerialist Eva Garcia... just days before she fell and died during her act. That tragedy brought home to me the dangers of circus performance.

But my trips to the Hippodrome, to review its all-human spectaculars for The Stage were twice-yearly occasions - a small part of my work; a minor side-interest of mine.

Then, in 2009, Martin Lacey reintroduced elephants to his Great British Circus, after a 10 year absence. It sparked animal rights protests intended to keep audiences away. But the protests caught the attention of the media, sparking TV news reports, and the above headline... and the moment I saw that photo of an elephant being rehearsed, I knew it was a glimpse into circus history that the even Hippodrome couldn't give me.

There, in a big top, with sawdust underfoot, was the REAL circus - a flavour of entertainment that I thought had long disappeared.

Soon I was sitting at that ringside, muddy grass beneath my feet, watching elephants, horses, camels and snarling tigers. I interviewed Lacey, and veteran showman Gerry Cottle. Within a week, I went to my second traditional big top show with animals: Circus Mondao, run by the descendants of perhaps the oldest families still in the circus business.

Within a fortnight I'd pitched the idea for my book, Circus Mania, and almost immediately been commissioned to write it. The stars aligned and I was off on a wild journey into a wild world. All because of a protest designed to keep audiences away.

Read Circus Mania, my thrilling ringside and backstage journey through the world of sawdust and spangles, talking to acrobats, showmen, clowns, sword-swallowers and tiger trainers about their lives, culture and superstitions.

Now in its second, updated, edition, it's the ultimate Christmas present for anyone who ever dreamed of running away with the circus. And if you never dreamed of doing that... you will after reading Circus Mania!

Gerry Cottle Remembered by his Circus Friends

Gerry Cottle with his Wookey Hole
circus school students

Five years after the untimely passing of circus giant Gerry Cottle on 13 January 2021, I thought it would be good to revisit the following tribute article that I wrote in The Stage, with contributions from some of his closest associates. Their memories seem especially poignant now that John Haze and Phillip Gandey have themselves passed away, bringing to a close a particular era in big top history.

Gerry Cottle, who died on 13 January 2021 aged 75, was “Britain’s Barnum – the greatest showman”, according to the British circus impresario’s friend and former business partner John Haze. Circus of Horrors director Haze says: “When I was a kid, Billy Smart was the name you associated with circus. Gerry took over that mantle. He had these great acts from bygone times, such as a man lifting an elephant with his teeth and Miss Atlas, the World’s Strongest Woman.”

“From the 70s onwards, you’d have to put Gerry Cottle at the top,” agrees fellow showman Phillip Gandey. “He took risks that other circuses weren’t prepared to. He had a flair for showmanship and publicity, which is the lifeblood of a circus. At a time when everyone said the circus was dying, Gerry said, ‘No we’re not, we’re here, we’re bright and vibrant.’ I think we all owe him a debt for that.”

Cottle served his apprenticeship as a juggler, stilt-walker and clown on Gandey’s Circus in the 1960s. Phillip’s father Joe Gandey gave Cottle his clown name, Scats, after being stuck behind a Southern Counties Agricultural Trading Society lorry on the A303, and showed him how to run a circus.

“Gerry said in his book Confessions of a Showman that it was my father who set him on the road to being a circus owner,” says Gandey, who was a boy at the time. “Gerry shared a 10-foot caravan with my elder brother Mike. We did a gala show with James Brothers Circus and that’s where Gerry met his wife Betty (Fossett).”

In later years, Gandey and Cottle were rivals.

“We weren’t at each other’s throats exactly,” Gandey laughs. “We’d take each other’s posters down and jump into a town ahead of the other. That’s just how it was. But you could still turn up on his site and have a cup of coffee with him.

“Gerry loved circus and always tried to put on the best possible show. It was the size and success of Gerry’s shows which drove us on to become bigger and better.” 

Cottle’s rise to fame was fuelled by two TV programmes. Within two months of starting Cottle & Austen’s Circus with long term associate Brian Austen in 1970, Trevor Philpott made a documentary about the five-person outfit which was billed on the cover of Radio Times as ‘the smallest greatest show on earth’.

In 1975, Cottle’s fame spread when BBC1 variety show Seaside Special was broadcast weekly from his big top.

“It had the prime time Saturday night slot that X-Factor or Britain’s Got Talent has now,” says Haze. “They had massive people on it, like Abba. It raised the profile of Gerry and circus as well.”

“The TV people liked Gerry’s can-do attitude,” says Cottle’s former ringmaster and general manager, Chris Barltrop. “He was very inventive when it came to getting around problems. He was never deterred.

“Gerry was very organised,” Barltrop goes on. “He had an exercise book and each day was a new page with things that needed doing under headings like ‘transport’ or ‘costumes’, and he’d just work his way through the list.

“He was admiring of other people and curious about other ways to do things. From Circus Roncalli in Germany he got the idea of putting a dab of makeup on people’s nose or cheeks as they came in. On their way home people would ask where they got it, which got them talking about the circus.”

Not everything Cottle touched turned to gold, including an ahead of its time non-animal student show in the early 80s that was critically praised but a box office disappointment. But he always bounced back.

“Gerry was a juggler when he was a kid,” says Haze, “and when you think about it: throw enough balls in the air and you’re going to catch a few. And that’s what he did. He tried a circus on ice which didn’t last long, but a day or two later he got an offer to take a circus to Hong Kong which was really lucrative.”

Cottle’s successes in the 1990s and 2000s included the Moscow State Circus, Chinese State Circus and Circus of Horrors, now in its 26th year.

“Gerry was the only one with the balls to do it,” says Horrors founder Haze, who teamed up with Cottle to stage the show at Glastonbury in 1995. “Then off we went around the world with it.”

In 2004, Cottle sold his circuses to buy the Somerset tourist attraction Wookey Hole, an ancient cave system. He expanded the site to include a circus school and a 58 bedroom hotel.

“Wookey Hole was turning over a reasonable amount of money when he bought it and I thought he was going to go there and take it easy,” says Haze. “But Gerry couldn’t take it easy. I went back within a year and, wow, had it changed! He’d put in a theatre and a dinosaur park. I thought: plastic dinosaurs in this place of natural beauty? But it worked.”

Cottle wasn’t ready to wave goodbye to the circus, however.

“Gerry’s various addictions have been well documented in the national press,” says Gandey, “but his biggest addiction was circus. I remember sitting in his office where he had a huge collection of circus books. He said, ‘I’ve read that when successful circus directors retire, they always take this last show out which loses a fortune, and I’m not going to do that.’ But of course he did! He told me what he lost on Zambezi Express and it was getting into seven figures.”

Undaunted, Cottle continued to produce touring shows including Gerry Cottle’s 50 Years of Circus and Magic and Gerry Cottle’s Turbo Circus.

“Even last year, during a pandemic,” says Haze, “he rang me up and said ‘I fancy putting a tent up on the prom in Weston-super-Mare.’ I thought, bloody hell, Gerry, is this the right time to risk something like that? If he’d lived, I’d have put money on him doing a summer season this year.”

Olympia Posirca performed in Cottle’s Wow! Show in 2012, although her connection to him goes back much further.

“My mum and dad met and fell in love on Gerry Cottle’s Circus. Their wedding reception was at his headquarters. When I was three or four months old, Gerry’s circus was the first one I was taken to.”

Although Cottle was in his mid-60s at the time of Wow!, his enthusiasm was undimmed, Posirca says.

“I was like a schoolgirl because I learned so much from him. The one thing I’ll never forget him saying was, ‘Remember there’s an audience and remember to smile. As long as you’re smiling the audience will smile.’ Even now, as soon as that curtain opens, I’m smiling.

“He wasn’t scared to push the boundaries of circus,” Posirca adds. “In my case, I wondered if people would want to see someone singing in a circus, but he brought those things together. I’ll always owe him for that, because my current boss saw me in Wow! and now I get to do singing and ringmistressing at Big Kid Circus.”

What motivated Cottle in later life?

“His family,” says Posirca. “He said he was doing Wow! to show his grandkids that you can do everything you want to, so don’t ever stop wanting and wishing for things.”

Asked if anyone will ever fill Cottle’s shoes, Posirca answers without hesitation, “Not a chance! He was one in a million and there will never be another Gerry Cottle.”

Gerry Cottle (L), Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson
and John Haze from Circus of Horrors.

Gerry Cottle was a major help when I was writing Circus Mania. As the top man in the business, he introduced me to people who would never otherwise have talked to me, including his longterm business partner Brian Austen, who ended up telling me things Gerry himself was surprised to learn!

Gerry also travelled half way across the country from Wookey Hole to attend the Circus Mania book launch at the then Circus Space in London. There was nothing in it for him, he simply supported anything to do with circus.

For more on Gerry Cottle, read Circus Mania. His name runs through it like the letters in a stick of rock because there wasn't a corner of the British circus industry in which he didn't have an influence.

Alexis Gruss, 1944 - 2024 - Farewell to a Knight of the French Circus

Alexis Gruss and wife Gipsy in one of his final visits to the ring

The death of French showman Alexis Gruss on 6 April highlights the difference in how circus is viewed on the other side of the Channel.

No English showman has ever been knighted. The Victorian impresarios Sir Robert Fossett and Lord George Sanger adopted those titles themselves.

France, by contrast, made Gruss a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters and a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

When he died, his contribution to the arts was praised by French minister of culture Rachida Dati.

I don't recall any member of the British government marking the recent passing of English showmen Phillip Gandey and Gerry Cottle, despite their huge contribution to entertainment worldwide.

British circuses, meanwhile, have all but completely removed animals, including horses, from their rings - Giffords Circus being a rare exception in preserving the equine spirit of Philip Astley's first circus, 250 years ago.

Gruss, by contrast, built his fame on horseback.

In 1974, he founded Cirque à l’ancienne – ‘the Old Fashioned Circus’ – to mark the bicentenary of Astley’s first circus in Paris.

Eschewing the wild animal acts that had come to dominate circuses elsewhere, he returned the circus to its roots, with a focus on horsemanship, clowning and acrobatics.

The latest edition of his family's show, les Folies Gruss, is titled 50 Years in Paris, and is as dominated by horse acts as it ever was, with no less than 50 horses passing through the ring.

Among the artists are Gruss's grandsons, Charles and Alexandre, who won a Gold Clown at this year's Monte Carlo Circus Festival with their juggling on horseback.

Astley, who was buried in Paris, would be proud.

Horses and sawdust at les Folies Gruss in 2024

 

Who will fill their circus shoes? RIP Phillip Gandey, John Haze, Gerry Cottle and Nell Gifford

It was a shock this week to hear of the death of Phillip Gandey (pictured above with the cast of Gandeys Circus) at the tragically young age of 67.

When I interviewed Gandey for The Stage in 2020, he was a man full of life. Having just reopened three big tops in Butlins holiday centres, after lockdown restrictions were lifted, his one regret was that he didn't have his usual "five or six" shows simultaneously running in locations from the Edinburgh Festival to the Far and Middle East.

Gandey was born into the circus world. A clown aged three, and a knife-thrower at 11, he inherited his father's circus and became the world's youngest circus director at 17.

With his wife, Carol, he established Gandey World Class Productions as the UK's premier exporter of circus shows. When Gandeys Circus stopped using animals in the early 1990s, Gandey became one of the industry's great innovators, seeking fresh ideas to fill the gap left by big cats and elephants.

He brought a Chinese troupe of acrobats to the UK and created the Chinese State Circus, which became one of the country's most successful touring shows. He also created the cabaret-style Lady Boys of Bangkok, Cirque Surreal, Spirit of the Horse and the fundraising Circus Starr (which you can read about here).

One of his newest creations, the circus-on-ice show Snow Storm 3 is currently delighting audiences at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. His Great Circus of Europe, meanwhile, has toured Hong Kong, Singapore, and is currently in the Arab Emirates.

Gandey's passing leaves a huge hole in the circus world, and follows the loss of another great British showman, John Haze, who died in April this year at almost exactly the same young age.

Haze, like Gandey, was both artistic director and businessman, creating the long-running success story the Circus of Horrors and currently the UK's biggest big top show, Circus Extreme (read my review here).

Sadly, it was only a couple of years ago that both Haze and Gandey were paying tribute to another great showman, and a collaborator with both of them, Gerry Cottle, probably the best-known name in UK circus since the 1970s, who died in January 2021, aged 75.

Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson
with Gerry Cottle (left) and John Haze.

It was not long before that, that the circus world was shocked by the loss to cancer of Nell Gifford, aged just 46. (Read her story here)

Nell Gifford

In the space of four years, Britain has lost four of the most important circus impresarios of modern times. Each was an innovator and energiser, breathing new life into a world of big top and circus ring that was created in London by Philip Astley more than 250 years ago. 

They formed a generation of circus-producing talent fit to be remembered alongside their predecessors in earlier eras: Billy Smart, the Chipperfields, Bertram Mills, Lord Sanger and Astley himself. 

Like four king poles, Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford lifted the tent of British circus high. But with their departure, the big top will not fall.

Although all four were driving forces and figureheads, they were not one-person companies. Each left behind a creative team and/or family members to carry on their legacy. Giffords Circus, the Circus of Horrors and Circus Extreme continue to tour without their creators and the many shows of Phillip Gandey will doubtless do likewise, capably overseen by Carol Gandey and their daughters.

We still have another of our greatest showmen, Martin 'Zippo' Burton, whose twin shows in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland this Christmas reveal the Zippos brand to be at the top of its game.

And a new generation of circus blood is rising, inspired by the generation that came before. People like Tracy Jones who ran away with the circus when she was 15 and learned her craft having knives thrown at her by Phillip Gandey himself. Jones travelled the world with Gandeys Circus, an apprenticeship that stood her in good stead to start her own show, Circus Funtasia, which is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Also on the ascent are Paul and Irina Archer who spent many years working with Haze in behind-the-scenes roles on the Moscow State Circus and Circus Extreme before launching their own colourful and contemporary-styled big top show Circus Cortex two years ago. The show is currently starring at the indoor Kingdom of Winter attraction at ExCel London. 

Around the country, Planet Circus, Circus Zyair and Big Kid Circus are providing top drawer circus entertainment to big audiences in what feels like a thriving scene.

It's easy to see the passing of giants like Phillip Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford as the end of an era. But in the circus, there are no ends. The show will always go on. And as much as they will be missed, I'm sure that Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford would want it no other way.

 

Death of a Strongman, Khalil Oghab, Father of the Iranian Circus

When Gerry Cottle passed away in 2021, I naturally called his long time associate 'Doktor' John Haze, founder of the Circus of Horrors, for some insights into Cottle's career.

Haze attributed Cottle's success to some of the unique acts that featured in Gerry Cottle's Circus. In particular, he singled out strongman Khalil Oghaby, who would stand on a platform and lift a baby elephant - a feat for which he is still in the Guinness World of Records today.

Ironically, just a week after Haze left this world (more info here), Oghaby has passed away at the age of 98.

Known as the Hercules of Persia, Oghab (whose name was spelt Oghaby in the UK) came to fame by staging Iran's first strongman shows. As many as 50,000 people would pay to watch him toss weights over his head with his teeth and allow buses and trucks to drive over him.

In the 1970s, Oghab starred in Duffy's Circus in Ireland and then Gerry Cottle's Circus in the UK, where he also appeared in the Saturday evening TV show Seaside Special, broadcast from Cottle's big top.

Cottle called him, "Probably the best act I ever had."

In 1991, Oghab returned to his homeland where he founded the country's first circus and became known as the Father of the Iranian Circus.

For more on this story, read the Gerry Cottle Story, here.

 

RIP Doktor John Haze of the Circus of Horrors

The late Doktor John Haze (right) with Gerry Cottle (left)

and Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson

I received the sad news this morning of the death of Doktor John Haze, founder of the Circus of Horrors and director of Britain's biggest big top show, Circus Extreme.

Haze had a storybook life. Abandoned on a circus as a baby, he was brought up as a fire-eater in the big top. He later left the sawdust circle to form a band, then combined rock music and circus tricks to create the Circus of Horrors in partnership with Gerry Cottle.

As well as performing as singing ringmaster in the Horrors, Haze handled publicity for the Chinese State Circus and Moscow State Circus. Following the retirement of circus mogul Brian Austen, Haze became director of Circus Extreme and Continental Circus Berlin.

Like Cottle, Haze was a master of the publicity stunt and frequently got the Horrors into the national news or on the front page of the Sun with far-fetched stories. He achieved several Guinness World Records and took the Horrors onto TV on Britain's Got Talent.

On stage in white face makeup, he played a demonic character, but off stage he was a gentle person. 

An example of his generosity was attending the launch party of my book Circus Mania at the then Circus Space (Now National Centre for Circus Arts) where he and Cottle signed books for circus fans. 

Read my review of Circus Extreme here.

Read my exclusive interview with Brian Austen, the 'secret showman' here.

And read the story of the Circus Mania launch party here.

 

Gerry Cottle's Circus on Magpie in 1975

A lovely little look behind the scenes of Gerry Cottle's Circus

on children's TV show Magpie in the 1970s.

 

GERRY COTTLE'S CIRCUS 1976

A strongman who lifts an elephant, the world's oldest lion trainer, acrobats, clowns, wire walkers and a sign-writing fakir... it's all in this wonderful documentary, transporting us back to the heyday of Gerry Cottle's Circus in 1976, 'World Within A Ring.'

"I did what every boy wants to do. I ran away and joined the circus."

                - Gerry Cottle (1945 - 2021) RIP

GERRY COTTLE 1945 - 2021

Gerry Cottle, Douglas McPherson, Dr Haze

It was sad to hear of the passing yesterday, January 13, of the great British circus showman Gerry Cottle.

Gerry, who ran away with the circus at the age of 15, and established his eponymous show in the 1970s and 80s, was probably the most widely known name in the UK circus industry for the past 40 years.

A life-long circus enthusiast, Gerry was immensely helpful to me when I was writing my book Circus Mania. He introduced me to interviewees including his former business partner Brian Austen, provided a quote for the cover and graced the book launch with his starry presence.

He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.

Gerry Cottle at the Circus Mania
book launch
as reported in The Stage.

 For the story of Gerry Cottle's remarkable life in the circus, click here.

 And for the story of Gerry Cottle and Brian Austen click here

...and in the updated edition of Circus Mania
marking 250 years of the circus.

Gerry Cottle's Wow Circus, Paighton Green Seafront until August 30

Like music? Love circus? Roll up, roll up for Gerry Cottle's Wow Circus on the seafront at Paignton Green this month.

The latest venture from Britain's best-loved circus impresario promises hit songs from the past 60 years with an array of big top treats including trapeze, juggling on quad bikes and a trio of female magicians.


Cottle is, of course, the best known showman of the past 45 years - the Billy Smart, PT Barnum, John Ringling or Lord Sanger of his generation. His enduring influence became clear while writing Circus Mania! in that there is hardly anybody in the industry who either hasn’t worked with him or is related to him.

It’s 50 years since Gerry turned his back on suburban life as a stockbroker’s son growing up in Cheam and, at the age of 15, ran away with Robert Brothers circus. From humble beginnings as an apprentice, he taught himself to clown, stilt-walk and, most importantly, the tricks of running a circus.

Cottle and Austen's Circus posters

By 1970, he and his business partner Brian Austen had started the first Cottle and Austen Circus. With no cash to buy animals, the owners and their wives performed nearly all the acts themselves. From the beginning, however, Cottle proved a natural publicity magnet. The circus was featured in a BBC documentary, The Philpott Files, and on the cover of the Radio Times as ‘The smallest greatest show on earth’.

By the end of the decade, Cottle and Austen’s Circus had become Britain’s biggest circus, thanks in part to a policy of monopolising London’s parks, and providing the big top venue for Saturday night TV variety show Seaside Special.

Cottle and Austen went on to promote the Chinese State Circus and Moscow State Circus, which were soon established as the UK’s most successful shows, and Cottle became a founding partner in the Circus of Horrors, which has been another of the biggest circus success stories of the past decade.

In 2003, Cottle sold Austen his share in the Chinese and Moscow circuses so that he could buy the tourist attraction Wookey Hole. Proving that old adage that you can shake the sawdust off your shoes but you can’t shake it out of your heart, however, Cottle never gave up his love of the circus. At Wookey, he swiftly established a circus museum and a circus school for local kids.

Gerry Cottle (Left) with Circus Mania author
Douglas McPherson (Centre) and Dr Haze from
Circus of Horrors at the launch of Circus Mania 

When I interviewed Gerry for my book Circus Mania! he said his love of circus was greater than it has ever been. He sees every circus that comes within range and will talk knowledgeably and passionately about any show you mention.

As for his latest venture under the big top, Cottle says: “It’s got my name on it and I promise you a great show LIKE NO OTHER. A whole world of LIVE entertainment for all the family – we think you’ll have the time of your life!”

Gerry Cottle's Wow Circus is at Paignton Green until August 30, before moving on to Plymouth, September 2 - 18.

For times and tickets call: 0845 835 50 50


And for the full story of Gerry Cottle and many other circus stars, from trapeze artists to animal trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

Click here to buy from Amazon!

A Pictorial History of Gerry Cottle's Circus and The Posters of Billy Smart's Circus

The Wells, Somerset postmark meant the sturdy package could only have come from one man: Britain's most legendary living showman, Gerry Cottle. And what a treat it was to open the jiffy bag and pull out A World of Circus - A Pictorial History of Gerry Cottle's Circus by ace photographer Andrew Payne.

This is Volume 2 and takes us from 1991 to 2015. The A4-size hardback is stuffed with glorious colour photographs from in the ring, to backstage, the transport and shots of the big top being built up and pulled down; plus hundreds of fabulous circus posters.

All Gerry's ventures from the past 25 years are here: the Moscow State Circus, Circus of Horrors, Cottle and Austin, Wookey Hole caves and theme park, the recent Wow! and Turbo shows - forming a fantastic visual journey with a year-by-year written account of the shows.

It's a book every circus fan will enjoy, although the Cottle story is far from over.

Slipped into the cover of my copy was a photocopied list of dates for Gerry's latest venture, Gerry Cottle's Electric Circus, which begins its 2016 tour on Southsea Common, July 2.

For more on Gerry Cottle, click here.

And if you like the new Gerry Cottle book, you'll also enjoy The Posters of Billy Smart's Circus by Steven B Richley. Before Cottle, Billy Smart was the showman who's name came to mind in Britain whenever the word circus was mentioned, and the Smart name is still synonymous with the big top.

2016 is the 70th anniversary of Smart's first circus, and this is another A4 hardback, beautifully printed and positively overflowing with amazing circus art that traces Smart's history through the years.

The Smart name lives on, and it was recently my pleasure to interview the Guv'nor's granddaughter, Yasmine Smart for this piece in the Daily Telegraph in which she recalled growing up in Britain's most famous circus. I hope you can download the image and blow it up large enough to read.

UPDATE September 2016: Just heard that The Posters of Billy Smart's Circus is SOLD OUT - although a reprint is scheduled for 2018, to mark the 250th anniversary of Philip Astley's first circus. In the meantime, Steven B Richley's next book, Sir Robert Fossetts Circus - The Definitive Visual History, will be out in November. More details here. 

Gerry Cottle, left, with Circus Mania
author Douglas McPherson
as pictured in The Stage.

Happy 70th Birthday Gerry Cottle!

Here's wishing Britain's best-known circus man, Gerry Cottle a happy 70th birthday. His real birthday's April 7, but to avoid the Easter break, he's having his official birthday party this Saturday March 7 at the famous Wookey Hole in Somerset.

Gerry Cottle (left) with author Douglas McPherson
and Dr Haze from the Circus of Horrors
at the launch of Circus Mania

Click here to read the Gerry Cottle Story.

Dick Whittington screened live from Bristol Hippodrome to your local cinema

Ashleigh and Pudsey
Panto stars coming to cinema screens
December 7

Earlier this month, America's Big Apple Circus made history - or rather, missed its chance to make history - by broadcasting its show live from New York to cinemas across America.

Sadly, as reported on the Showbiz David blog, hardly anyone showed up in the movie houses to see the show. In the cinemas attended by Showbiz, his family and friends, ticket-buyers were outnumbered by the usherettes. And there were plenty of empty seats up on the big screen. The BAC couldn't even fill its tent before putting it on display for the world.

Presumably, it will be a while before another circus repeats the experiment, although it's not entirely without precedent.

As chronicled in my book Circus Mania, Gerry Cottle's fame in the 1980s rests in no small part on the fact that the BBC televised a Saturday night variety show from his big top every week, mixing circus acts with the singing stars of the era. Other more established circuses had apparently been offered the gig but turned it down. They didn't want to surrender their tent on the most profitable night of the week in exchange for the fee the Beeb offered.

What the old circus families couldn't see, but the young and hungry Cottle could, is that the fee was immaterial compared with the publicity. The TV exposure helped Cottle become the most famous and successful showman of his era - and what was to stop him taking a second tent out on the road on Saturdays?

Jump back to the present and, although not a circus, it's interesting to learn that the Bristol Hippodrome is following in the Big Apple's clown shoes by broadcasting it's pantomime, Dick Whittington, to cinemas across Britain on December 7. The cast includes Ashleigh and Pudsey, the dancing dog act that came to fame on Britain's Got Talent and Mr Bloom from children's TV programme CBeebies.

Clive and Danny
Clowns and panto
stars

One thing's for sure: I doubt there will be any empty seats on screen. While I've often been in a circus tent more empty than full I've never attended press night at a pantomime and found it anything but sold out. And they don't fill the theatres with comped seats, either. In many regional theatres panto is so popular the annual show pays for the venue to stay open the rest of the year.

Could the circus learn something there, such as casting bankable names famous from TV? Maybe, maybe not. At the Theatre Royal in Newcastle they stopped casting minor celebs when they realised that for the past ten years the big draw was father and son clowns Clive Webb and Danny Adams - perhaps the only true stars on the British circus scene.

If you've never seen them, take a look at this YouTube clip to see just how funny they are.

But, given that panto relies even more than circus on audience participation and the experience of "being there" in an excitable crowd, will Dick Whittington be able to break through a cinema screen and work up a multiplex crowd into shouting "He's behind you!"

Did you know clowns are nicknamed Joeys after Victorian funny-man Joseph Grimaldi? And that although joeys are synonymous with the circus, Grimaldi never performed in a circus - he was a pantomime star.
For a full chapter on Britain's funniest clowns, Clive Webb and Danny Adams, plus much on the history and dynamics of clowning, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus.

Gerry Cottle says opera is the new circus

The Independent has a new opera critic... in the unlikely form of Gerry Cottle. The irrepressible circus showman had an epiphany after attending the English National Opera's new production of Cosi Fan Tutte, which has a fairground theme. But it was the sheer spectacle of the show that reminded him of being taken to Bertram Mills circus as a child, where he discovered a love of circus that has endured in him to this day.

Circus meets opera in Cosi Fan Tutte

In a glowing review, Cottle writes:

"Cosi Fan Tutte was spectacle, pure and simple: the kind of spectacle that made me join the circus and the kind of spectacle I have been chasing ever since...

"This was a three-ring circus taking place right in front of me and it stirred up so many emotions, with the sets, the scale and the stage-craft making me realise what I have been missing."

Will the ENO inspire Cottle to create his own mixture of opera and circus? With Gerry you just never know!

To read the full review click here.

Gerry Cottle, left, with Circus Mania author
Douglas McPherson, centre, and
Dr Haze from the Circus of Horrors
at the launch of Circus Mania

For the story of how Gerry Cottle ran away with the circus and went on to become Britain's best known circus showman, along with the stories of many more showmen, clowns, trapeze artists and tiger trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With The Circus.

Click here to order Circus Mania from Amazon.

Circus Stamps

Step right up to get a new set of US postage stamps celebrating the art of the great American circus poster. A set of eight stamps each featuring the 19th century posters of Ringling Bros, Sells-Floto, Al C. Barnes and more was launched on May 5 at where else but the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. 

Of course, it's not the first time the circus has graced a stamp. Here are a couple of British first day covers celebrating Chipperfields Circus in 1983 and Gerry Cottle's Circus in 2002. Oh, and naturally enough, Monaco, home of the International Circus Festival, has produced a circus stamp or two over the years.

For more fabulous circus art and circus posters, click here.

Marilyn Monroe in the circus ring

What a beautiful creature!
Oh, and that's Marilyn Monroe riding it...

Following my recent post about Elton John and Rod Stewart visiting Billy Smart Jr in the 70s (click here to read it), I couldn't resist borrowing this picture of Marilyn Monroe on a Ringling Brothers elephant in 1955 from America's most penetrating circus blog Showbiz David.

Princess Margaret escorted to Gerry Cottle's Circus
by big cat trainer Martin Lacey
in the days when circus animals had royal approval.

Showbiz mourns the days when celebrities endorsed the circus with their presence and speculates on the boost the big top would be given if Prince William and Kate took the future King George to a circus. The eyes of the world would be upon them, as it was in the days when Princess Margaret visited Gerry Cottle's circus, right.

But have any of today's showmen had the savvy to invite Wills and Kate to an opening night?

Gerry Cottle was perhaps the last British showman to use celebrities to put his circus in the media spotlight. As well as providing the big top for Saturday evening TV show Seaside Special in the 80s, he employed celebrity ringmasters such as then TV favourite Jeremy Beadle.

Cirque du Soleil hardly need the publicity, but their final UK performances of Dralion this summer would surely be a safe, politically correct bet for the young royal couple to attend. But wouldn't it be great to see Wills and Kate posing with the horses at Zippos or the big cats of Peter Jolly's Circus?

Princess Kate has been applauded by the media for supporting British fashion designers. So why not a great British tradition like the circus, which began here nearly 250 years ago and which grew to spread across the globe as one of our most enduring cultural exports?

Circus bosses - send out those royal invites! Maybe you could follow in the  sawdust footsteps of Pinders Circus, which became Pinders Royal Circus after performing three times before Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle.

Princes Stephanie
Royal patron

Failing that, perhaps circus patron Princess Stephanie could invite the the royal couple to the next Monte Carlo Circus Festival in January 2015.

How to organise a book launch and create a media circus

The story of a launch party
in Writers' Forum.

In this article that first appeared in Writer’s Forum, CIRCUS MANIA author Douglas McPherson reveals the behind-the-scenes juggling for the book’s launch party at Circus Space. 


I planned the launch party before I wrote a word of Circus Mania.

In my proposal to Peter Owen Publishers I said, “Just picture the launch party, in a big top, with horses, clowns and acrobats...”

I sent an author photo with myself and an elephant and made up a cover quote: “A jumbo read!” - Sonja the Elephant, who promises to be at the launch.

That may sound forward, but I believe enthusiasm is contagious. Circus is a colourful, larger-than-life world. I wanted to get that spirit across to the publishers, reviewers, retailers and book-buyers - and I wanted a launch that would set the tone.

Circus Space
- the circus school where
Circus Mania
was launched

Circus Space
Although we discussed launching in a big top, we eventually opted for Circus Space, the UK’s foremost circus school (and now the National Centre for Circus Arts), which is located in a former power station in the trendy, media-friendly London borough of Hoxton.

One reason was accessibility. A big top show would have meant a trip out of town and as Michael O’Connell, the marketing manager, pointed out: “It’s hard enough getting literary editors to a bar in soho.”

Just as pertinently, Circus Space’s publicity man, John Dix, was excited by Circus Mania (which has a chapter on the school). He suggested we hold the launch as part of their open day on World Circus Day and promised to publicise it to Circus Space’s huge database of past students and circus folk.

This created possibilities for advance publicity. Theatrical newspaper The Stage ran a special circus issue and included a half-page article on the launch. I was also able to write an opinion piece on whether circuses should have animals for the Daily Telegraph’s website. They ran it on the day of the launch, giving Circus Mania! a huge plug.

Star attraction

How The Stage
reported the Circus Mania launch
with Gerry Cottle (L)
author Douglas McPherson (C)
and Dr Haze from the
Circus of Horrors

I wanted a celebrity on hand for photo opportunities and because getting the book signed by a circus star would be an added draw to circus fans.

Here I must pay tribute to the best known circus man of the past 30 years, Gerry Cottle. Knowing Cottle would be the most meaningful name to provide a cover quote, I emailed him some chapters and he sent a fantastic quote the next day: “Circus Mania is a passionate, up-to-date look at the circus and its people.”

Having already helped me so much, I didn’t expect him to travel to London from his Somerset home, but within five minutes of inviting him to the launch, he phoned and said, “I’ll be there and give you all the help I can.”

At that point it didn’t matter if any other circus ‘names’ turned up. We could tell the press and fans we had the big one.

Roll up, roll up!
While Michael concentrated on inviting literary editors and critics, I emailed an invitation to everyone in my address book. Some were editors and journalists I hoped would give the launch advance publicity, even if they didn’t attend. And I got a plug in some surprising places, such as a quarter page in car magazine Classic American, which has nothing to do with circuses or books, proving that editors tend to support their writers.

I also invited contacts in PR firms, people I’d interviewed, general acquaintances and people I barely knew. After all, who knows if some of them might be circus fans, or spread the word to a friend who was?

Proving the ‘you never know’ theory was a PR whose most recent communication had been to berate me for writing “the nastiest article I’ve ever read” about her client. Not only did she promise to come but she added, “You probably didn’t know I used to be a clown...” I wondered if she was going to bring a custard pie.

Inside Circus Space

It was heart-warming to get good luck messages from people I wouldn’t have expected to care less about my book - and to reconnect with old friends, such as Roger Foss, my former editor at What’s On.

“I’ll be the one in the sparkly tights!” Roger emailed.

“As long as they don’t clash with mine!” I replied.

What I didn’t realise was that Roger had a guest spot on LBC Talk Radio. A few days later I got an email from a friend: “I’ve just heard them talking about your book on the breakfast show...”

Timing

Hoxton hipsters chilling on the terrace
(including marketing man Michael O'Connell, centre)
at the Circus Mania launch party.
The launch party pictures were taken by
Anita Makri
www.photography.anitamakri.com

We announced the launch on the day I received the page proofs. They came with a schedule arranged with military precision: Proofreader’s Qs to author 25 Feb; Queries answered by 1 Mar; Second proof for indexing 10 Mar; Index by 17th; Final Qs by 23rd; To print 25th; Delivery 9 April - a week before the launch, so not much margin for error.

“It’s always a nail-biting race to the finish,” said overseas rights manager Simon Smith. Michael said he’d attended launches  where they didn’t have the book ready. He assured me we’d be OK, but his words came back to me as I waited for the proofreader’s queries and realised we were already a week behind.

Showtime!
Two days before the launch, with no sign of the book, I asked Michael if it was back from the printers. “I know we’re cutting it fine,” he replied, but assured me the printer would deliver copies direct to Circus Space in time.

Gerry Cottle to Dr Haze: "It's not a
rock'n'roll show!"

And so on the big day  found myself driving from Norwich to London with no idea if the books would be waiting for me. What a relief, then, to walk inside and see piles of freshly minted Circus Mania paperbacks laid out like a feast on a crisp white tablecloth.

Having spent a year writing, researching and publicising the book it was wonderful and quite moving to finally hold one in my hand. Flipping through the pages, I felt another wave of relief, as editorial director Antonia Owen had told me she’d known launches where the printer had put the wrong book in the cover.

Our hosts at Circus Space did us proud, with uniformed waitresses serving drinks against a backdrop of people swinging on the trapeze and walking the tight-wire. On the sunny terrace outside, students strolled about, juggling with balls and clubs.

I didn’t perform myself - the relaxed mood was more suited to mingling than a formal reading. But Gerry Cottle made a nice speech and said he thought Circus Mania would give a good boost to the circus industry. Dr Haze, the charismatic ringmaster from the Circus of Horrors, graciously signed books for the fans, as well as posing for publicity pictures with me.

Publisher Peter Owen
who was this year
awarded the OBE for
services to literature

With plenty of people from Peter Owen manning the book stall, I was free to meet and greet, shake hands and sign books. The three hours passed in what felt like a third of that time, and as the tables were cleared away I felt it had been a huge success.

I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to meet and thank all the people from Peter Owen - and to discuss future strategy with them, such as which were the most circus-orientated countries to target for foreign rights.

The most rewarding part of the day was, of course, seeing the readers who’d come along to buy a copy. I’ll never forget the beaming face of the young American lady who bought the very first book. She looked so excited I thought she was going to faint. She made me feel like the biggest star in the world as I inscribed her copy with the traditional big top salutation: May all your days be circus days!

Circus Mania
- Loved by clowns!

Click here to buy your copy of Circus Mania in paperback or ebook format from Amazon - and may all your days be circus days!

And click here to see a history of Circus Space in pictures!