Brian Austen - Secret Showman behind the Chinese State Circus and Moscow State Circus

Meet the Mr Big of British circus!

Who is the biggest player in the British circus industry? Douglas McPherson hears the sawdust to riches story of Brian Austen, promoter of The Chinese State Circus and Moscow State Circus.
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Brian Austen puts it like this: “Gerry Cottle is probably the most successful circus person of the past 25 years, in terms of people knowing who he is. Whereas if you said ‘Brian Austen’ to anybody, they wouldn’t have a clue who I was.”

In fact, as promoter of the Chinese State Circus and the Moscow State Circus, Austen is the biggest player in the British circus industry - and his rise to the top has been intertwined with Cottle’s since the two men set up their first circus together in the early 70s, when they had barely two lorries and a second-hand tent between them.

Looking back, Austen admits, “I suppose I feel hurt sometimes that Gerry always got the recognition for everything we did together and, actually, behind it all, I don’t think he was the key to it. I think he carried the credit for a lot of ideas that were mine and, financially, the money was mine. But he’s a great showman, and that’s his prerogative.”

Although he began his career in the ring, where the walked the high wire as El Briarno, Austen has never shared Cottle’s love of the limelight.

In fact, it was only thanks to the persuasion of his old pal Cottle that Austen agreed to give his first interview in decades, for my new book, Circus Mania!

Read the full story of Brian Austen and
many other circus stars and showmen
in Circus Mania
- described by the Mail on Sunday
as "A brilliant account of a
vanishing art form."

He attributes his media-shyness to the fact that, “I came from a poor background and I probably lacked confidence. I was happy for Gerry to do all the talking, to be the mouthpiece and the leader, if you want. But in me he had somebody who, whatever he wanted to do, I could back it up. As a team, we were unbeatable.”

Austen ran away with Count Lazard’s Anglo-American Circus when he was 15.

With a chuckle, he remembers, “I always said to Gerry, the one thing I learned from the Anglo-American was to do nothing they did, because it always ended in chaos!”

The first time Austen encountered the ramshackle operation it didn’t even have a tent.

“They’d had a blow down, so they circled the lorries and set up the seats in the middle.”

Brian’s accommodation was a caravan that he shared with the Count’s collection of snakes.

“I never ever got paid. But I wasn’t bothered. They used to feed me and look after me.”

Brian joined the circus as a horse groom but quickly taught himself an impressive repertoire of circus skills including wire-walking, bare-back horse-riding, lion training and knife-throwing - with his girlfriend as target girl.

“I only nicked her once,” Brian confesses, “And it was just her tights. I don’t think it even marked her.”

In particular, Austen discovered an aptitude for the technical and logistics side of circus.

That came in handy when the Anglo-American embarked on a South African tour and arrived to find the promoter had vanished, along with the money. Brian ended up building the seats for an outdoor circus, using wooden pallets discarded by a car factory.

“I used to do four acts in the ring, do the whole build-up and drive - as a 17-year-old with no licence. It was incredibly hard work, but it was a phenomenal adventure.

A selection of Cottle and Austen Circus posters
from the programme of Gerry Cottle's
50 Years of Circus and Magic

“We were the first circus ever to go into Swaziland. I remember places where they’d never seen a circus and the sight of someone on stilts was frightening to them.”

The African adventure ended when Brian ran away with the Count’s sister-in-law. To raise the fare home, “I went to work on South African railways, cleaning the coaches. I used to collect all the Coke bottles and take them to the shop to get the sixpences.”

Back in Britain, Austen joined James Brothers Circus, where his accommodation was, “A caravan with no door and absolutely nothing in it!”

It was at James Brothers that Austen teamed up with Cottle - a stockbroker’s son turned clown and stilt-walker who had big ideas about owning Britain’s biggest circus.

In 1970, the pair founded Embassy Circus, which quickly became Cottle & Austen’s Circus - with the proprietors and their wives performing nearly all the acts.

In addition to his duties in the ring, Brian recalls, “I was the tent master and the transport manager. I never went to bed two nights a week, because I moved the circus all through the night on my own.”

Was he as ambitious as Cottle?

“No, I was never ambitious. I went through life without any great plans. I just enjoyed what I did. But I suppose at the end of the day I was aggressive enough to want a little bit more all the time. I was never content to sit back with what I had.”

Cottle and Austen got their big break when they were featured on TV’s Philpott Files, and the cover of the Radio Times, as ‘The smallest greatest show on Earth.’

By the mid-70s, they had achieved Cottle’s ambition of being Britain’s most successful circus, thanks in part to a decision to monopolise London’s parks, where no circuses had appeared for years.

In retrospect, Austen considers, “We never had a brilliant circus, but we had an entertaining circus. We put it together well and made it gel.”

The headline says it all!
Read the full story of Brian Austen and
the Chinese State Circus in Circus Mania,
reviewed in Worlds's Fair as
"The greatest show on Earth in a book."

The partnership dissolved over Cottle’s decision to start a circus on ice, which proved a loss-maker, and Brian continued with his own Austen Brothers Circus.

Austen and Cottle would later work together on various circus ventures, most notably promoting the hugely successful Chinese and Moscow State circuses, which have now been on permanent tour in the UK for a decade.
In 2003, Austen bought out Cottle’s share and took sole control of the Chinese and Moscow.

But while Cottle’s career - and personal life - has had more highly publicised ups and downs than a trampoline act, the less conspicuous Austen has trod a steadier path.

“I’ve never been bankrupt. I’ve never been in any sort of financial trouble in my life. I’m a plodder, a careful person rather than a chancer. I set my sights lower and move on from there.”

Austen invested the profits from his circuses in a wide range of other interests, including helicopter sales, a 250-acre industrial estate, an engineering business that manufactures specialist circus vehicles, and a company that supplies grandstand seating to prestigious events such as the Trooping of the Colour.

Roll up, roll up, for a glimpse
behind the greasepaint
- Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson
profiled in
The Eastern Daily Press

Always looking for new enterprises, he says, “I’m developing houses, building nursing homes... I think I’m a real entrepreneur in that I see opportunities in all fields and I have a go at them.”

He attributes the enduring popularity of the Chinese and Moscow circuses to a policy of reinvestment, particularly in customer comfort.

“I was the first to put aluminium doors on a tent, or even doors at all. The first to have proper heating... the rest didn’t seem to care.

“In my view, the problem with circus is the people who run it. They’re not prepared to put money back into it, to make it a better circus. The old circus families, in particular, are a disgrace. You pull on the ground and see the transport with the paint hanging off...

“When Gerry and I started, we put the lorries around the front and they were always well painted. It’s first impressions, isn’t it?”

On a personal level, Austen attributes his success in business to honesty and loyalty. Many of his staff have been with him for decades.

“If I’ve shook my hand on something, I’ve shook it. I don’t need a lawyer or a contract to remind me.

“I think that’s the best way to be, because I believe there’s always another time. I’m not after a quick buck, I’m after the long haul, and I would like to have the people I deal with around for a long time.”

Claiming to be unmotivated by money, the 61-year-old adds that he has no plans to retire.

“The truth is, I’m not good at doing nothing. I have a big boat in the Med. I’ve got a helicopter. I’ve got nearly everything I want. But I still get up at half-past-six every morning and go to work.”
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(This article originally appeared in The Stage. For the latest circus reviews, visit www.thestage.co.uk)

For the full story of Brian Austen, Gerry Cottle and many other colourful circus folk, buy Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With The Circus by Douglas McPherson.

Click here to read a dozen rave reviews of Circus Mania.

Circus Talk!

Wish me luck... and if you’re in the Great Yarmouth area, come along to my first public appearance promoting Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus.

The Time and Tide Museum Of Great Yarmouth Life has invited me to give a reading from Circus Mania and tell some of the stories from the book as part of their Showtime circus exhibition (see post below for more details).

I’ll be appearing at 11.30am on Friday June 25 at the museum, which is on Blackfriars Road, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3BX. Tickets are £2.60, which includes tea or coffee. For more info, phone 01493 743930.

Hope to see you there. Just don’t be late, because the Tide and Time Museum waits for no man.

Also, if you’re in Norfolk, you can hear me talking about Circus Mania on Maggie Seker’s Radio Norfolk show on Sunday June 20 at 3pm.

Circus Mania
author
Douglas McPherson

Finally, I’ve just got back from seeing the Russian Ice Stars fantastic production of Snow White On Ice. Following their venture into circus last year with Cirque De Glace, it’s good to see that they have retained some circus tricks to enliven this more traditional display of ice dance. Some terrific aerial silk and aerial strap work, including a guy literally swinging from a chandelier, drew audible gasps from an audience clearly not expecting to see skaters take to the air in such dramatic ways.

See this show if you get the chance, and look out for their next Cirque show which is due in the autumn.

Of course, you can read the full story of the making of Cirque de Glace in Circus Mania. It’s in all good bookshops - or you can save a fiver by buying it direct from Peter Owen Publishers for the special offer price of just £10 postage-free. Just send a cheque to Peter Owen Publishers, 81 Ridge Road, London N8 9NP

Circus Exhibition at Great Yarmouth's Time and Tide Museum

It wasn’t so much a case of bringing the house down as bringing the bridge down when Cooke’s Equestrian Circus became the first circus to visit Great Yarmouth, in 1845. To drum up publicity, Nelson the Clown sailed down the River Bure in a bathtub pulled by four geese. So many people crammed onto the suspension bridge to see him that the bridge collapsed and 79 people were drowned.

A painting depicting the disaster is one of the exhibits of Showtime, an exhibition celebrating 165 years of circus in the seaside resort, at the Time and Tide Museum Of Great Yarmouth Life.

Naturally, much of the exhibition focuses on Yarmouth’s very own piece of circus history, Britain’s oldest circus building, the Hippodrome. Owner Peter Jay has loaned a wealth of items such as posters, paintings, and props from his backstage collection. These include a chimp bicycle used by the Billy Russell chimps in the 1950s, a swan float from the water-shows and an elephant razor. This razor was used by an elephant for pretending to shave a member of the audience, before dousing them in water!

The exhibition also includes a massive collection of memorabilia amassed by circus historian Don Stacey. He has loaned props and costumes such as a big cat pedestal, trapeze and a white-faced clown costume made by Vicaire. Vicaire was a Parisian maker who specialised in creating heavily sequinned costumes to contrast with the well-known style of baggy tartan trousers and red nose favoured by Jacko Fossett, Britain’s best loved clown. A leotard once worn by Miguel Vazquez, the first trapeze artist to successfully complete the quadruple somersault is also amongst Don’s loans as well as paintings, prints, and posters.

The Great Yarmouth Hippodrome as it was
- a picture from the Showtime souvenir programme

Other attractions include film footage of the circus past and present and a display of paintings by Katherine Hamilton during her residency at the Hippodrome.

There will also be a series of talks each Friday morning, including A History Of Clowning by Don Stacy and The Roman Circus by Adrian Marsden.

If you want to get more involved, Rollo the clown will be hosting a drop-in circus skills workshop every Monday from July 26 to August 30.
Showtime is open from 10am - 5pm until October 31, which makes it the perfect taster for a visit to the Hippodrome’s summer season.

Oh, and finally, don’t forget to pick up a copy of Circus Mania in the museum bookshop - there’s plenty in it about the Hippodrome and every other aspect of the circus life, past and present.

If you’re unable to attend the Showtime exhibition, though, don’t forget you can order Circus Mania direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special discount price of just £10 postage-free. Simply send a cheque or postal order to:
Peter Owen (Sales)
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.
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COMING SOON on the Circus Mania blog: Meet the Mr Big of British circus!

How to choose a UK circus school, from Zippos academy to the National Centre for Circus Arts

Juggling at Circus Space
- The UK's only training facility to offer
a degree in circus arts.

Want a degree in circus arts? Or fancy hooking up your caravan and joining Zippos academy for a summer’s intensive training in the big top? Theatrical bible The Stage recently ran a special circus issue to which I contributed the following article on training opportunities in the UK.

Circus Space
in Hoxton, London

In the sawdust ring of the Circus Mondao big top, 9-year-old Cinzia Timmis and her 12-year-old sister Madalane are putting a troupe of pygmy goats through their paces. Elsewhere in the twice daily show, they ride horses, perform a magic routine and don sequins and fishnets to join in with dancers a decade their senior.

Out of the spotlight, they work in the stables, help put up the circus tent and, presumably, find time to go to school as well

The girls are following in the footsteps of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents who have travelled with tent and caravan for 200 years.

At one time, it was only people like Cinzia and Madalane, who were ever considered true circus people.

Those who ran away with a travelling show to become an apprentice were always jossers or flatties - outsiders - in the old circus parlance, and had to prove their commitment by doing the dirtiest jobs, such as mucking out the elephants, before they were considered worthy of being schooled in the arts of the circus ring.

In today’s circus world, however, there are fewer elephants to attend to. The old circus families, and their traditions, have largely given way to contemporary companies like Canada’s international success story Cirque du Soleil.

Training at Circus Space

Circus skills have spilled out of the big top into theatres, arts festivals, pop concerts, cruise ships and corporate entertainment... and along with the increased employment opportunities for acrobats and fire-eaters, there are more formal routes into the industry.

At the National Centre for Circus Arts, formerly Circus Space, in London, you can even get a degree.

Founded in 1989 by a group of new circus performers who wanted a place to train and teach outside the traditional circus environment, the newly 'National' circus school is a state of the art facility in a former power station in Hoxton. The cavernous rooms where the furnaces and generators once stood provide the perfect space for trapeze.

On the three-year BA (Hons) degree course, students are given a one-year grounding in a variety of skills - juggling, trampoline, aerial work and acrobalance - before choosing a speciality.

There are no previous qualifications required for entry, which is by audition, and according to Head of Aerial Disciplines, Juliette Hardy-Donaldson, the students have a variety of aspirations.

“Some want to be in companies they already know. Others want to start their own companies or freelance. The events industry is the bread and butter in this country, because it’s good money.”

Typical graduates are Kaveh Rahnama and Lauren Hardy, who co-founded their own company, So And So Circus, as well as returning to Circus Space to teach on the youth and recreational courses that the school also provides.

“Circus Space changed my life,” says Kaveh. “As performance arts courses go, I’d say one of the

Inside Circus Space

biggest strengths of Circus Space is that they tell you very realistically how to make a living from circus. You do a whole module on a business plan. A lot of my friends went to RADA or LAMDA, and they never had that.”

Kaveh adds that the degree course is no cinch, however. Of the 22 students in his year, only 16 graduated.

“Some people think it’s going to be a bit of fun, but actually it’s incredibly hard work. As well as circus skills, you do a lot of conditioning: circuit training, press ups, sit-ups, as well as theatre and movement.”

A possibly even tougher introduction to life in the circus is offered by the Academy of Circus Arts.

Martin Burton of Zippos circus founded the Academy after hiring a trapeze act trained in a conventional circus school. He asked them to hang their swing in his big top, and was told they didn’t know how to.

“They’d trained in a building where the trapeze was already hanging each day. So although they’d developed a really great act, they hadn’t learned one of the key things, which is how to hang a piece of kit that is going to save your life.”

The trapeze artists then proved unable to adapt to living in a caravan and travelling from town to town each week.

Burton’s solution was a circus school that roams the country in its own tent - the one where the BBC1 sitcom Big Top was filmed. The 2010 course runs from May 1 to October 2, and in addition to the £2,800 fee, students are encouraged to bring their own caravan, although bunk wagon accommodation is available to rent.

The result of living the circus lifestyle 24/7, says Burton, is that “Circus directors from around the world queue up to employ my graduates because they know they will be used to sitting in the box office, putting up posters, building up the big top and taking it down, driving trucks from town to town... and all the many, many things that go with life in the circus besides just doing your act.

“The other part of the ethos is that they put on a show each week. So the students know they’d better pay attention to what we teach them on Monday because they’re going to be doing it in front of an audience on Friday.”

Gerry Cottle with students of his
Wookey Hole Circus School

An emphasis on rehearsal for regular public performances is also at the heart of the Wookey Hole Circus, a new training facility founded by veteran showman Gerry Cottle at the Wookey Hole caves tourist attraction in Somerset.

Cottle began the school as an evening class for local 9 to 16-year-olds.

“We’re getting a good name,” says Cottle. “If you ask most people if they want to see a youth circus, they’d think it’s not going to be very good. But when they come and see all these little smiling faces... then the kids start doing forward somersaults and riding unicycles standing on each other’s shoulders, then they really do like the show.”

Thanks to the success of Cirque du Soleil and circus-themed pop shows by Britney Spears and Take That, David Davies, Chairman of the Circus Friends Association, says “There’s a big interest in circus throughout the country at youth level. There are a lot of circus skills being taught in youth clubs, circus clubs and universities.”

Despite the efforts of Cottle, Circus Space, the Academy of Circus Arts and a very small number of other circus schools, however, the opportunities for professional circus training in the UK remain limited and of an uneven standard compared with other performing arts - and compared with countries such as China, which has state-run full-time circus schools in every province, taking pupils from the age of six.

It’s no coincidence that Britain’s two most successful touring shows of the past decade have been the Chinese State Circus and the Moscow State Circus, or that performers from China and Russia (another country with a tradition of state-funded circus schools) dominate the cast of Cirque du Soleil.

Gerry Cottle
in his younger days

Jane Rice-Bowen, CEO of Circus Space, feels that increased public funding for training and development is the main requirement if home-grown talent is to compete on the world stage.

“We want people to think about circus in the way they think about opera - as a very expensive endeavour. I think we have to talk about circus on that kind of grand scale in order to produce something as successful as Cirque du Soleil.”

Clearly, structured training to a recognised standard is the foundation of any profession. But, in the colourful world of the sawdust ring, there will always be room for those who simply want to run away with the circus.

Helyne Edmonds did just that. From school, she got a job in a circus box office then filled a vacancy when an animal groom left the show. Today, at 32, she’s a director of the Great British Circus, and in 2010 was the UK’s only lady tiger trainer. Read her story in Circus Mania, along with the full stories of Circus Space, Gerry Cottle's Wookey Circus School and Zippos Academy of Circus Arts.

CIRCUS MANIA FOR A TENNER!

(Postage-free!)
But what’s life really like in the circus? To find that out you’ll have to read my new book, Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus.

You’ll find it in all good bookshops price £14.99. But the good news is you can save a jumbo-size £5 by ordering direct from Peter Owen Publishers for just £10 postage free.

To buy Circus Mania for a tenner, simply call 020 8350 1775 or send a cheque or postal order to:
Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Or click here to get Circus Mania on your Kindle!

Circus Mania Launch Party and Special Offer

This launch of Circus Mania
graced the
social pages of The Stage
(L-R: Gerry Cottle,
author Douglas McPherson,
Dr Haze)

CIRCUS MANIA! OUT NOW!
Special offer price £10 post-free


It’s here! After a year of writing, researching and waiting for it to roll off the printers, it was wonderful to walk into the launch at Circus Space on World Circus Day and see piles of freshly minted Circus Mania! books laid out on the table!

My hat is off to Peter Owen Publishers for the fantastic job they’ve done with Circus Mania! The cover looks superb, the colour photos have printed beautifully and the opening pages (including the traditional welcome “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...”) perfectly capture the atmosphere of going to the circus.

Circus Space, the UK’s leading circus school, also proved magnificent hosts for the book launch. The

Circus Space hosted
the Circus Mania
launch party 

building itself, a former Victorian power station, is hugely atmospheric and the room we were in had doors and windows opening directly into two enormous training spaces, so we had a backdrop of people swinging on the trapeze, walking the tight-wire and climbing ropes - as well as plenty of students casually strolling about juggling.

It was the first really hot day of the year and doors opened onto a sunny terrace, adding to the relaxed and happy time had by all.
Circus grandee Gerry Cottle came along and made a nice speech saying how he thought Circus Mania! would be a good boost to the circus industry. Dr Haze, the undead ringmaster from the Circus of Horrors was there, too, and graciously signed books for the fans.

Finally, I must thank everyone who came along to buy the very first books off the press. As I inscribed the books for them, “May all your days be Circus Days!”

"Media Circus"
A feature on the launch of
Circus Mania
in Writers' Forum

If you weren’t there, the good news is that you can buy Circus Mania! direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of £10, postage-free within the UK (£2.50 postage the rest of the world) and save a massive £4.99 off the recommended retail price. Just call Peter Owen Publishers (Sales) on 0207 8350 1775 or email sales@peterowen.com

Click here to read the behind-the-scenes juggling that went into the Circus Mania launch party.

A certificate from
Princess Stephanie of Monaco
for participating in the first
World Circus Day
with the launch of
Circus Mania

CIRCUS MANIA!

CIRCUS MANIA!
- THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... it’s certainly been CIRCUS MANIA over the last couple of weeks as proof pages, corrections, pictures and indexes fly back and forth like trapeze artists between myself and the publishers in the final countdown to getting the Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus off to the printers.

All I can say is that the folks at Peter Owen Ltd have pulled out all the stops on this one. From the page lay-out to the cover, the book is going to look amazing. As for the content... modesty forbids me reaching for the superlatives... but if you want to know what life in the circus is REALLY like, be ready to have your mind blown!

Circus Mania will be launched on - well, when else, but World Circus Day! That’s April 17. Between 5pm - 7pm we’ll be at Circus Space, Coronet Street, N1.

Circus Space is Britain’s Number One circus training facility. It’s the only place you can get a degree in circus skills and it’s the place the stars go to keep fit. It’s also located in a hugely atmospheric Victorian power station in the heart of hip and happening Hoxton.

The launch party will be in the foyer, with windows opening onto the training areas, so expect a backdrop of trapeze and wire walking. Gerry Cottle will be there, along with other circus stars, so it’s a unique opportunity to get Circus Mania signed not only by yours truly but by some of the people in the book.

The launch promises to be unlike any other book launch, so if you want to come along, just roll up, roll up on the day. If you can’t make the launch, just click on the Buy Circus Mania button up there on the right, or order it from Amazon or any high street bookshop.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Also on the Circus Mania front, thanks to Lynne Hackles and Writing Magazine for running a very flattering interview with me in the April issue, which is just out.

And grab a copy of The Stage in the week beginning Thursday April 8. It’s a special magazine format edition and includes a couple of articles penned by yours truly - one on Brian Austen, the man behind the Chinese and Moscow State Circuses, and another on circus training in the UK, which includes details of Zippos travelling Academy of Circus Arts, Gerry Cottle’s new full-time adult circus skills courses which he’s launching at Wookey Hole this year, and of course, Circus Space. But, of course, you can find out all about Circus Space when you come to the launch of CIRCUS MANIA!

Circus Mania Launch

ROLL UP, ROLL UP!
For Circus Mania Launch Party

Douglas McPherson (centre) with Gerry Cottle (L)
and Dr Haze from the Circus of Horrors
at the launch party for Circus Mania

Peter Owen Publishers have announced that Circus Mania! - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus will be launched to press and public at Circus Space in London on World Circus Day, April 17.

Circus Space is, of course, the UK’s foremost circus training and rehearsal space and is situated in an amazingly atmospheric former Victorian electricity generating station in hip and happening Hoxton.

The launch party will be in the foyer, which has huge windows opening onto the towering Combustion Chamber and Generating Chamber training spaces, so expect to be surrounded by people on the trapeze and tightrope. We‘re also expecting a big turnout of circus folk from some of Britain‘s best known circuses.

The event is free to the public, so just roll up, roll up on the day if you’d like to buy a copy of Circus Mania! and have it signed by yours truly, the author, or any number of the people in the book who are likely to be in attendance.

Certificate from Princess Stephanie
for participating in the first World Circus Day
with the launch of Circus Mania

The party will be late afternoon and early evening on April 17, which is a Saturday. The exact time will be announced shortly, so check this space for details nearer the time.

With six weeks of circus events, films and talks running concurrently at the Roundhouse Circus Fest in April and May, London will be buzzing with circus stars and fans, so the launch couldn’t come at a more timely juncture.

I hope to see you there (Clown shoes, red noses, stilts and custard pies strictly optional!)

2014 Update: Click here to read the behind-the-scenes juggling that went into the Circus Mania launch party.

The Gerry Cottle Story

A selection of Gerry Cottle's Circus posters
from the programme for his 2012
50th anniversary show - 50 Years of
Circus and Magic

First of all a big thank you to Gerry Cottle for taking a sneak preview of Circus Mania! and providing some great quotes for the cover ("A passionate and up-to-date look at the circus and its people."). Cottle was a great help to me while writing Circus Mania!, not least in setting up for me a great, exclusive, in-depth interview with his former business partner, Brian Austen, the man behind the Chinese State Circus and Moscow State Circus.

Austen is a shy giant of the circus scene. He’s seldom given a press interview in 30 years and admitted, “I probably wouldn’t have done it if Gerry hadn’t called me.” The fact that Cottle did call him, when there was of course nothing in it for him personally, is typical of the man’s attitude towards not just his own circus but circus generally: what American troupers call being ‘with it and for it.’

Cottle is, of course, the best known showman of the past 40 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 him for 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.

That he has decided to launch a new all-human travelling big top show, commencing March 18 (2010) is undoubtedly the biggest news to hit the circus world in many years. Setting out in the West Country, before travelling to London and the rest of the country, Cottle says the show will travel in an 800-seat tent, feature magic and Las Vegas-style dancers and appeal to all the family.

“The circus scene has been in the doldrums a bit, lately,” Gerry told me at Christmas. If anyone can shake it up, that person is undoubtedly the unstoppable Gerry Cottle.

See also my interview with Brian Austen and interview with Zippos owner Martin Burton.

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 Circus Mania from Amazon.

MY DALEK DAYS! (Short story)

MY DALEK DAYS

A Dr Who-dunnit set in the swinging 60s

by Douglas McPherson




Everyone wondered how the Daleks moved around. Some people thought they were remote controlled. But it was a lot less complicated than that.

Someone like me had to sit inside on a little bench, with my feet sticking through the bottom, and push the thing around on casters - all the while remembering to wiggle the eye stalk and the arm with the sink plunger on the end.

It was very cramped and dark inside, and could get pretty claustrophobic during a long day’s filming. Especially as you knew you couldn’t get out. It took two men to lift the top half into place, so once you were in, you were trapped.

Visibility through the wire mesh grill was very poor and communication was difficult. You could hear what the actors and director were saying, but nobody could make out what you were saying unless they put their ear right up against the grille.

We didn’t do the voices, you see. All those shouts of “Ex-ter-min-ate!” were done by an actor by the side of the set, with a funny little gadget to change his voice. We just had to remember to press a button that made the lights on the top our heads flash while he was talking.

It was a fantastic break for me, straight out of drama school in 1966. The Daleks were almost as big as The Beatles. Dalekmania they called it, and everyone was saying the metal monsters’ second big screen adventure was going to be the biggest film of the year.

Peter Cushing as Dr Who

Peter Cushing was playing Dr Who with Bernard Cribbins as his sidekick, and it was a wonderful opportunity to work with such great actors - even if no one was ever going to see my face!
On the posters, the Daleks were given a bigger billing than Dr Who. But on set, it was a very different story. Us humble operators were at the bottom of the pecking order.

Not only did we seldom get to socialise with the stars, once we were inside our Daleks everyone seemed to forget we were there at all.

At lunchtime the cast and crew would wander off to the canteen and I’d be trundling after them, waving my plunger and desperately trying to make them hear my muffled cries of, “Hey, let me out of here!”

During the breaks between scenes, people would stand around chatting right next to me as if I wasn’t there. Sometimes they’d even lean on my casing as if it were just another piece of scenery.

At first I thought it was a bit rude. But after a couple of days, I realised I was overhearing more studio gossip than I would as an ordinary extra.

Most of it was spread by Ruby, a mother hen of a wardrobe mistress, with a huge beehive hairdo, who had worked in the studio for years. Whenever you heard her click-clacking across the studio floor in her high heels and skirt that was far too short for her age, you knew you were about to hear some piece of salacious news.

Even when Ruby was on her knees adjusting an actor’s costume between takes, a mouthful of dressmaker’s pins didn’t stop her expressing her opinions.

Most of Ruby’s news bulletins during the first few days’ filming concerned a young make-up assistant called Tina.

The Daleks invade the big screen

Tina was a shy little thing with a Cilla Black haircut - one of those girls who don’t seem to know how pretty they are. But I’d noticed her right away. Well, you couldn’t miss her, really. She came right onto the middle of the set, between shots, and stood on a little stool in her mini-skirt so she could reach Peter Cushing’s head and make sure his shock of white hair was properly teased up for the mad scientist look.

She didn’t notice me, of course. I was inside my Dalek and by the time the day’s filming was over, she was gone.

Generally, Tina tended to stay in the make-up room. And, unfortunately, us Daleks didn‘t need make-up.

In any case, Tina had a boyfriend, a bit-part actor called Steve, who was playing one of the Daleks’ semi-human accomplices, the Robomen - although, if Ruby was to be believed, their relationship was far from happy.

“That poor girl!” Ruby said in a particularly shocked voice one morning.

Twisting around inside my Dalek, I saw through the grill that she was talking to Alf, the burly foreman in charge of building the sets.

Glancing over her shoulder to check no one else could hear her - and clearly assuming my Dalek was empty - Ruby added in a lower voice, “She told him she was expecting, and you know what he did? He laughed in her face and said he wanted nothing more to do with her!”

Alf made an angry noise and put his fist on top of my dome with a heavy thud.

“It’s time somebody took that young man to one side and told him a few home truths,” Alf said forthrightly.
..........................

"Daleks are the supreme beings in the circus!"

During the second week, we filmed on location around some abandoned warehouses. It made a change to be working outside but created some problems.

On rough pavements, the Daleks wobbled and shook like shopping trolleys, and in cobbled alleys we couldn‘t move them at all. Alf had to lay plywood tracks for us to roll smoothly along.

While we waited for Alf to complete the task, I watched Steve clowning about as if he were the star, rather than a bit part. He took particular delight in flirting with a slinky-looking continuity girl right in front of poor Tina.

I noticed that Alf was watching him, too, and seemed to hammer in his nails a little more forcefully.
.............................

When I arrived for work the following morning, a real-life drama was in full swing. As well as the usual trucks full of lights and cameras, the road to the warehouses was blocked with police cars and an ambulance.

One of my fellow Dalek operators spotted me and said, “I don’t think we’ll be needed today. One of the Robomen was found dead in an alley. It looks like he fell out of a loading bay - from two floors up.”

At the catering van, Ruby had a different theory.

As I stood behind her and asked for a mug of tea, she told Alf, “I reckon Tina arranged to meet him up there - then gave him a push. I certainly wouldn’t blame her.”

“It could have been anyone who shoved him off,” said Alf, between bites of a bacon sandwich. “I heard he owed a lot of money - some of it to some pretty nasty people.”

Looking around, I saw Tina on the other side of the road, a check coat hugged tightly over her mini-dress. She looked distraught, and utterly alone, as if nobody knew what to say to her.

There wasn’t much I could say myself. But my heart went out to her.

On impulse, I took my untouched tea over and held it out to her.

As her pale blue eyes flicked up to meet mine, Tina looked surprised, but then grateful as she accepted the steaming mug.

As it turned out, there was no time to say anything because two men in trilby hats and dark coats had arrived meaningfully by Tina’s side.

“Morning, Miss,” said one of them, “My name’s Inspector Jewel. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you a few questions.”
..............................

The next day, I was back in my Dalek. Steve’s part in the film was too small for his death to threaten the picture and, having already lost a lot of time, the director wanted to press on.

The atmosphere on set was tense, though - and the rumour mill was working overtime.

“They kept her at the police station all night,” Ruby told Alf, as he dusted down my Dalek shell. “But they had to let her go because she had a watertight alibi.”

“Well I never believed it was Tina,” Alf said gruffly. “But I’ll tell you this much, Ruby, whoever did it, did her a favour. She’s better off without that wrong ‘un.”

“You’re right there,” said Ruby. Then, more distantly, she said, “I wonder if she’ll keep the baby?”
........................................

Don't worry readers
- it's only a toy!

Well, she did, and now he’s in his forties with two lovely children of his own.

They’re both mad about Dr Who, of course, and they could hardly believe it when they found out their granddad used to be a Dalek.

“Did you exterminate loads of people?” they asked enthusiastically.

“Loads!” I laughed.

Well, one, actually.

But even Tina doesn’t know that.

Douglas McPherson is the author of Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus.

Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

"Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form."
- Mail on Sunday

And you can read more fiction by Douglas McPherson in comedy crime book The Blue Rinse Brigade. Click here to download the ebook from Amazon.

Big Flop?

You’d think so, from the custard pies the newspapers have hurled at the Beeb’s new circus sitcom? But is Big Top as bad as the critics would have us believe?

The first thing to say about Big Top is that it looks fantastic. The BBC borrowed Zippos’ number two tent, the smaller one which houses his Circus Academy, for the location filming, and the red, blue and yellow ‘top’ looks fabulous re-branded as Circus Maestro in the establishing shots between scenes.

Everything else in the series is immensely colourful, from the clowns’ costumes to the background detail in the backstage area where most of the action takes place. The caravan interiors are lovingly detailed and convincing, while Amanda Holden, naturally, looks great as ring-mistress, Lizzie.

Get past the eye candy, and it has to be said that the script is pretty silly. The characters are more pantomime than sitcom, the storylines are contrived, and too many of the jokes are thrown in for the sake of it, rather than arising naturally from the characters and situations.

Also, if Boyco the acrobat had been black or Asian instead of Eastern European, his portrayal would have achieved the cheapest ‘race’ laughs since It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
Given such a starry cast and the comic potential of the setting, it’s a pity the producers didn’t make Big Top a more realistic comedy-drama; something like those old classics Lovejoy or Minder, or even Only Fools & Horses, where the laughs came out of broadly drawn but broadly believable characters doing broadly believable things.

(And, I’m sorry Big Top, but having Ruth Madoc’s character fake the kidnapping of her own dog to claim a reward didn’t strike me as something anyone would be likely to do in real life. To put such a story in the first episode set the believability bar worryingly low.)

Given the things that go on in the real life circus world, a more grown-up version of Big Top could have been brilliant.

Zippos circus vehicles and tent gave Big Top
an authentic look

But, having said all that, Big Top goes out at 7.30 when it will catch the kids audience. Kids won’t mind the cartoonish humour and, if it‘s their first taste of what a circus looks like, they may even ask their parents to take them along to the real thing.

That’s the best thing about Big Top. True to director Marcus Mortimer’s promise when I interviewed him earlier in the year (see first entry on this blog) the show may portray circus people as a bunch of clowns, but it doesn’t knock circus.

In the first episode, a member of the public actually tells the Circus Maestro crew that he’s just had the best evening’s entertainment he’s had for years. Given how easy it would have been for Big Top to have tipped a bucket of water down the clown trousers of the real big top, could the Beeb have given circus a better plug?

MEANWHILE.... what’s life like in the real big top? You’ll find out in Circus Mania of course (Order now, from the button up there on the right... etc, etc).