How to swallow a sword

Hannibal Helmurto - the Pain Proof Man - swallows a sword
- the back cover picture of Circus Mania

"It's a very weird sensation. It feels like you're impaled, because you can't move. There's a straight piece of metal inside you."

- Hannibal, Circus of Horrors

Learn how to swallow a sword in three not-so-easy steps... how to pick the perfect volunteer for a spot of audience participation... and how to train a tiger. Learn the secrets of the circus from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the sawdust circle, in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775


Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

How to win an audition for the Circus of Horrors (and please don't try this at home)

The Circus of Horrors wow Britain's Got Talent
But according to ringmaster Dr Haze, "Our auditions put
Britain's Got Talent to shame."

"One of them got his b*ll*cks out. Then he took a 6-inch nail and nailed them to a chair. It was like, That can't be good for you..."

- Dr Haze on auditions for

the Circus of Horrors

Read the stranger-than-fiction truth about life in the circus from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the sawdust circle, in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775



Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon as a paperback or ebook.

Circus of Horrors founder Dr Haze (right)
joins circus legend Gerry Cottle (left) and Circus Mania author
Douglas McPherson at the launch party for Circus Mania.

20 Years on: Eva Garcia's Life and death in the circus

"If I still had the wire-walking act nowadays, I would present more and wouldn't do as many hard tricks. You still have to have good tricks, but these days you don't have to kill yourself."

- Eva Garcia in her last interview, with Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson, just days before she

fell to her death during

a show at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome.

Eva Garcia
Read her final interview
in Circus Mania

Learn the inside story of the circus, it's secrets, superstitions and slang, from the stars and showmen who live - and sometimes die - in the spotlit circle. It's all in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

Children of the Circus

"Normally when they're fourteen or fifteen they'll get their own caravan and live outside. My eldest doesn't want me to kick her out. I keep saying, 'I'll buy you a nice caravan.' 'No, no, I'm fine where I am.'"

- Gracie, Circus Mondao

What's it like to grow up in the big top? Or to run away with the circus? Find out from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the sawdust circle, in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

Circus Slang and how to use it

Bippo ran away with the circus
as a child. Today he speaks fluently
the secret circus language
of the big top's oldest families.
Read his story in Circus Mania.

"Vardi is look. Vardi the chat, as you point at something, means Look at that."

- Bippo the clown

Learn the slang of the circus, the superstitions of the big top and its many other secrets from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the sawdust circle. It's all in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

The circus girl with the strongest hair in the world!

Hair raising
Anastasia IV takes to the hair
in the Circus of Horrors

Following on from my previous post about the fastest dog on a tightrope, here's another record breaker. Joanna Sawicka - better known as Circus of Horrors star Anastasia IV has entered the new 2014 edition of the Guinness Book of Records for lifting the greatest weight with her hair - 53.4 kg or 117lbs 11 oz, which is the weight of another person who was suspended from her hair while she was hanging upside down.

Originally from Poland, Anastasia IV was studying to be a bio chemist at London's City of Westminster University when she saw the Circus of Horrors and gave up her scientific ambitions to join them as the girl with the superhuman hair.

Be sure to catch her hair-raising antics in the Circus of Horrors, which will have a Monday night residency at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, in the heart of the West End from October 28 to December 16. The show will also be on tour around the country on the other days of the week. Click here for Circus of Horrors tour dates. and click here to see Anastasia in another hair-raising stunt: pulling a hearse with her hair.

Circus of Horrors star Dr Haze (R)
helps launch Circus Mania with
author Douglas McPherson (C)
and showman Gerry Cottle

For more on the Circus of Horrors, read a full chapter on the stomach-churning tricks of its macabre cast, including undead ringmaster Dr Haze, sword-swallower Hannibal Helmurto and Captain Dan the Demon Dwarf in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus.

Click here to buy Circus Mania.

Fastest dog on a tightrope!

Ozzy the tightrope-walking hound

Does a circus career await Ozzy, the border collie from Norwich, who has just won a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the Fastest Crossing of a Tightrope by a Dog?

Move over Nick Wallenda and forget the Grand Canyon, here's a pooch who can hot foot it across a 3.5 metre rope in just 18.22 seconds.

The Cruel Circus?

"I've seen a lot of cruelty in my time, but it comes from the old families, not the new ones. The Germans were very hard on their animals. But you can have cruel farmers, cruel horse people, cruel dog-handlers. It doesn't mean you have to be cruel to do it, because you don't..."

- Brian Austen, circus owner and former animal trainer, 

interviewed exclusively in Circus Mania.

Learn the truth about how tigers are trained, the superstitions of the big top, the slang of the sawdust circle and its many other secrets from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the circus ring. It's all in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

The headline says it all!
How World's Fair reviewed Circus Mania
Click on the links in the column on the right to
read full reviews of Circus Mania.

Circus superstitions

"Some people won't wear green costumes in the ring and others don't mind. Some say, 'Oh, I don't mind wearing green,' then something happens and they say, 'I'm not wearing green anymore!'"
This is said with a pointed look at Kristine, the dancer seating nearby, who immediately begins laughing.
"Kristine used to say, 'I'm not bothered about wearing green.' Then she wore a green costume and fell over and broke her arm. So she won't be wearing green anymore!
"My Aunty Jane wasn't bothered. Then the horse she was riding fell over and broke her leg. So she won't wear green any more!"

- Gracie Timmis, Circus Mondao

Learn the superstitions of the big top, the slang of the circus and its many other secrets from the stars and showmen who live their lives in the sawdust circle. It's all in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - The Mail on Sunday.

Buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 including postage.

Peter Owen Publishers

81 Ridge Road

London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

It's Circus Sunday in Exeter

Extraordinary Bodies, with Dave Toole foreground,
who will be presenting the finale to
Circus Sunday in Exeter

If you're in striking distance of the West Country this weekend, don't miss Circus Sunday (Sept 22) the closing day of Exeter's Unexpected Festival which brings six hours of circus entertainment to the city.

Kicking off at noon, Princeshay Square will be host to six hours of FREE circus, including a new show by Bicycle Ballet called Everyday Hero and a performance by Mattress Circus.

In Exeter Shopping Centre the afternoon's entertainment will include acrobatics by the Black Eagles.

Circus in the streets
as part of  Exeter's
Unexpected Festival

If you have young kids, head for the RAMM/Rougemont Gardens where there will be a pop-up Circus Museum for the under-5s.

If you're feeling acrobatic yourself, head for Southerhay Gardens where Circomedia circus school will be hosting have-a-go sessions on the flying trapeze!

Finally, conclude your day's activities at 5pm at Cathedral Green where new company Extraordinary Bodies will be presenting a FREE show, Weighting, that mixes aerial performances, dance and live music with a cast that includes Dave Toole, who famously flew on a line across the stadium in the opening ceremony of last year's Paralympics.

For details, go to www.unexpectedexeter.co.uk

And if the day makes you wonder what it might be like to run away and join the circus, read about many who did in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus by Douglas McPherson.

Order Circus Mania direct from Peter Owen Publishers for the special offer price of £10 including postage. Send cheques to:

Peter Owen Publishing
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775

And may all your days... be Circus Days!