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| Martin 'Zippo' Burton addresses Britain's largest gathering of circus bosses, with Clive Webb of Cirque du Hilarious in front row. |
What is the collective noun for circus directors? How about a glittering of showmen?
The above picture (kindly supplied by Paulos Circus) is from last month's Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain meeting, which saw what has been claimed to be the largest gathering of big top owners ever assembled in the UK, and perhaps the world.
The attendance at the Leonardo Hotel in Hinckley Island, Leicestershire, included both ACP members and non-members, friends and rivals.
They came together as part of an effort by the industry to have circus made part of the government's Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory and recognised as a cultural tradition worthy of safeguarding.
The Intangible Cultural Heritage convention was established by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 2003 to preserve living traditions around the globe in areas such as performing arts, social practices, and traditional craftsmanship that are passed down through generations.
The UK signed up to the convention in 2024, and the ACP believes ICH status "Will put circus on a par with other art forms – a situation that exists in most of continental Europe."
"It will also provide Circus with a right to be consulted as an equal partner and stakeholder when government policy for the Arts and other associated matters is under consideration," the ACP states.
So far, more than 10,000 people have signed a government petition, which surpassed the threshold where the government has to consider the application.
You can sign the petition by clicking here.
In theory, ICH status could enhance the standing of circuses when approaching local authorities to book showgrounds or apply for funding. However, it was apparent from Facebook discussions after the event that some show runners remain unclear what the benefits will be.
Kenny Darnell Jr of Paulos Circus was at the meeting, and has kindly given us his insider's view of the proceedings:
“My position on the proposed ICH status still remains somewhat reserved. Although I support it in principle, I do not yet feel sufficiently informed to form a definitive view on it, I'm afraid. I am aware that Ireland has already secured ICH recognition for circus, yet it appears to have brought about little tangible change in practice or protection there. That in itself invites further scrutiny as to what meaningful impact such status would deliver here.
“The meeting itself offered very limited clarity. It lacked the depth & detail one might have expected for a matter of such cultural significance, even the anticipated contribution from the DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) did not happen, as their representative failed to appear via video link, which rather undermined the gravity of the discussion, or answered all the questions being raised.
“That being said, the conversation surrounding the preservation & recognition of circus as a living tradition is an important one. Our industry has endured, adapted & evolved for generations. Whatever course is taken, it must genuinely serve & safeguard the future of the circus in all its forms. Circus has been around for generations before us, & all in the room want to work to ensure its survival for generations to come.
“Long live the circus”
Kenny Darnell Jr's family has been in the circus business for seven generations and traded under the Paulo’s brand for more than 120 years. Click here to visit the Paulo's Facebook page.
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| Singing show guide Lauren Irving introduces the Greatest Show on Earth |
The big news of 2023 was the return of the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show On Earth, revived and reinvented after a six year break. And I have to say I loved it. You can read my review here.
This year sees a revamped iteration of the arena-sized spectacular. Is it bigger and better? Would it wow me just as much?
Well.
Hmm.
Notwithstanding a couple of standout moments that we will come to in a moment, I found it harder to get engaged with, let alone excited by, the show this time around.
Part of that might just be my familiarity with the format. You only once get the excitement of seeing something for the first time, and I seldom enjoy things as much the second time around.
Because this is not in any way a new show. It's the 2023 edition with a few tweaks of the kind that any circus makes to its programme from season to season.
The colourful set, resembling a child's building blocks, is largely the same, and many of the same (excellent) acts are back, including the Navas Troupe's double wheel of death, and the criss-crossing flying trapeze of the Flying Caceras.
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| Criss-crossing trapeze flyers |
Do I detect, though, a slight dialling back of the budget?
The cast seems to have been reduced from 75 to 65, which may not be particularly noticeable.
But I definitely noticed the absence of the raised, illuminated revolving stage that formed a colourful centrepiece to the original show.
That central island, which continually changed colour, added a touch of real pizzazz. It's been replaced by a flat swirling pattern on the floor, which just isn't the same.
In fact, that flat central floor emphasises the fact that we are in a big impersonal sports hall, and magnifies one of my problems with the original production. Ringling may have a hundred year tradition of producing three ring circuses in giant tents, and may have moved into arenas of this type in the 1950s... but for me circus isn't suited to such big spaces.
I prefer the intimacy of a single ring in a cosy big top where everything is up close. Where you can see the sweat on a performer's brow and feel the perilous height of aerialists who are almost directly overhead.
In a cavernous arena, by contrast, all the empty space above and around acrobats reduced by distance to the size of stick men seems to drain any sense of connection to their performances.
Unless you go equipped with binoculars, it would be hard to appreciate the flexibility of contortionist Jordan McKnight when you can barely see her.
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| Jordan McKnight |
As for Ringling's robot dog... Paulos Circus in the UK has one (in their case it's dressed as a lion) and it works as a fun gimmick trotting around in a traditional size ring. But in the centre of a huge arena... it's just a speck from most seats, and makes no impact at all.
The only Ringling acts that really need such a big space are the criss-crossing flying trapeze, the 34-foot-tall unicycle of Wesley Williams, and Skyler Miser's climatic Ringling Rocket - a human cannonball act that sees her flying 40 feet in the air over a 110 foot distance that spans the entire arena.
All the other acts, I am sure, would have far more impact in a one-ring big top.
Ringling does its best to fight the lack of atmosphere with a lot of music and ensemble dancing, but it often comes off as padding.
Despite these criticisms, however, there are strong acts on display. The truly large-scale acts of Williams and Miser are definite highlights.
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| Henan Acrobatic Group |
The standout moment for me comes during a display of trick bicycle riding by the Henan Acrobatic Group. The finale of their act sees nine cyclists race across the arena in a straight line towards a tenth performer standing in front of them.
At the last moment, he leaps over the head of the first cyclist. Then he runs along the shoulders of the following eight cyclists, using them like stepping stones rushing beneath him, until he lands again on the floor.
I've never seen that before. And it's for those 'never seen that before' moments that you buy a ticket to the Greatest Show on Earth.
One of the great things about circus is that no matter how many shows you have seen, and how many times you have been wowed, you will always, on any visit to any show, probably see at least one thing you have never seen before and be wowed all over again.
In Circus Extreme's 2025 offering, Rock It Out, my 'never seen that before' moments started with the opening number which saw a live rock band, fronted by a female singer, being lowered from the roof of the big top to the ring on a couple of platforms as they played, while dancers on motorbikes were lowered on ropes alongside them (See pic above)
It has to be said that the loud rock soundtrack to Rock It Out won't be to everyone's taste. But rock is in Circus Extreme's DNA. The show's late founder, John Haze previously founded and starred in the long-running Circus of Horrors, a cult show that grew out of a rock band, and the desire to blend rock music and circus was always his driving force.
So the big bombastic opening number, visually and musically, was very much a nod to Haze's legacy. It was also the perfect curtain raiser for a big, bold, bombastic show.
From there, we were straight into my next 'never seen that before' moment: Lucky Hell swallowing swords while spinning high in the air on a pair of aerial straps (see pic below). The danger in that stunt definitely justifies the word 'extreme' in Circus Extreme.
In one of her ground-based moves, Lucky swallowed an impressive amount of two very long swords... then, unexpectedly gulped them down another several inches - a moment guaranteed to give any audience a jolt and make them wince.
I last checked in on Circus Extreme in 2022. You can read my review here. There were some returning acts in 2025 including Laura Miller who performs on an aerial hoop while periodically being dunked in a tank of water, then lifted aloft with water falling from her while she twirls. It's a visually impressive and highly original act that is no less entertaining for being seen more than once.
Getting back to my 'never seen before' moments, though, a highlight of Rock It On was Skywalker Marlon's high altitude aerial act. As well as an upside down walk, hanging from his feet as he stepped along a line of looped straps, he also jumped from a swinging trapeze bar to a static trapeze bar, landing upside down to hang from his feet.
It's a feat that Jules Leotard, who invented the flying trapeze in 1859 would have been proud of.
The standout of the show for me were the Catwall Acrobats (below). Their apparatus consisted of a scaffolding-like tower positioned between two trampolines. The four men and one woman then repeatedly threw themselves from the central wall onto the trampolines, bouncing back to the spot where they had been standing.
It sounds simple - and it was - but with all the performers simultaneously in motion, with one falling and another bouncing on either side of the wall, the criss-crossing array of bodies was an amazing, mesmerising thing to watch, and surely one of the most spectacular circus tricks currently being performed anywhere in the world. It would definitely be a good one for Britain's Got Talent.
Elsewhere in the show were rollerskating, juggling, clowning, a double wheel of death, and a dynamic Russian Swing act.
As in 2022, the show ended with a globe of death. As you will see in my report here, 2025 was a bad year for globe riders. Performers were seriously injured in crashes at Zippos, Circus Funtasia, Blackpool Tower Circus and Circus Extreme itself. A rider actually died in a collision in the globe in Italy in November.
As in 2022, however, the highlight was not the four motorcyclists circling inside the globe, but a second troupe of five stunt motorcyclists jumping over it.
With the four parked-up riders in the cage rhythmically revving their engines to stoke the crowd's excitement, the act climaxed with the five Evel Knievels turning somersaults as they flew overhead in the vast dome of Britain's biggest big top.
The bikes followed each other in such close succession that at least two were in the air simultaneously at any moment. If one had landed badly, there would have been a serious pile up.
But that's what puts the 'extreme' in Circus Extreme - possibly the most extreme circus show on Earth.
It wouldn't be Christmas without Zippos in Hyde Park. And once again, showman Martin Burton has served up a cracker.
Don't be fooled by the 45 minute runtime (performed three times a day). Zippos annual Christmas show is no mere sideshow to the wider Winter Wonderland funfair that it is part of. It is in fact one of the best circus shows you will see all year.
If anything, the short interval-free format works in its favour. You get everything you would see in a two hour show condensed into a fast-flowing parade of world class circus acts without a moment of padding.
This year's show is especially focused on the acts, without any dance routines or costumed snowman or polar bear characters to interrupt the acrobatics, clowning and illusions.
Introduced by a traditionally dressed ringmaster, the show begins with a brief opening parade, in which all the artists appear, brandishing presents. During this, a male and female performer shin up a rope into the lofty heights of the big top.
Then we're straight into a daring high altitude cradle act. There are gasps and cheers from the crowd as the male catcher throws his female partner into a series of rapid somersaults, spinning her over and over.
The act's finale draws gasps as she appears to fall... only to continue to swing from her partner's hands on a pair of long ropes that then lower her to the stage.
Without pause for breath, an skilled diabolist takes to the spotlight, deftly flipping a stick about between two others. The only downside is that he performs in the entrance aisle, which presumably restricts his visibility from other parts of the large tent.
Then the big guns come out in the form of a Super Swing troupe. The Super Swing is more traditionally known as a Russian Swing, but I guess no one wants to be associated with the Russians at the moment!
Whatever you wish to call it, the place to watch this act from is the entrance aisle seats of the front couple of rows. The big swing swings right out into the aisle, bringing the nearest punters as close as they will ever get to such a big dynamic act. Viewed up close, this really is circus at its most physically impressive.
The audience duly cheers as performers fly off the swing into a big sheet positioned in front of the ring doors.
Curiously, though, the high point of the act isn't the somersaulting flyers. It's when the last man on the swing swings it upside down over the bar, turning a full 360 degrees several times. Simple as it may sound on paper, this is circus guaranteed to put a big grin on the face of the most jaded circus goer.
Speaking of grins, one of the show's three big highlights is provided by clown duo Los Revelinos - one of them sporting a topical Trump wig.
Clowns can be a hit and miss affair. We've probably all sat through interminable clown interludes that just weren't funny, and sighed while we waited for the daredevilry to recommence.
But these two larger-than-life characters really are funny. The first part of their routine is a musical number that proves they can play their instruments as well as clown around.
The highlight comes when 'Trump' throws a bomb into his partner's tuba. With a bang and a puff of smoke, the end of the tuba is blown into the air and lands on Trump's head like a hat.
The second part of their act is a slapstick boxing match in which the slaps really resound. Even the ringmaster gets a clout. He says afterwards that that one wasn't in the rehearsal. He may say that at every performance, but he looks shaken enough for us to believe that the anarchic funnymen really did take him by surprise.
The third of my favourite acts is a magic segment featuring the boldly costumed Joseph Popey and two assistants, one male and one female.
Performed wordlessly, with no patter to slow things down, it's a fast moving routine with a couple of impressive disappearing/appearing illusions, including vanishing from a cage suspended high in the air.
He also does a very funny mangle gag in which he is squashed into a paper cut-out.
Interestingly, one of Popey's assistants is Neli from the Duo Stefaneli. Her partner Stefan has a couple of run-ons as a nerd clown throughout the show. But he and Neli seem underused carrying props on and off for other acts when they have a top class aerial act and quick change act of their own, either of which would have been nice to see included here. Maybe they fancied light duties over Christmas.
Elsewhere in the show, a Mexican man does an impressive fabrics display that includes a hang from the back of his neck at high altitude. Another man gives us both contortionism and hand balancing. And a female silk act closes the show with an elegant and dramatic routine that left the audience audibly wowed.
At that point it was time for everyone to return to the ring to wave the audience off with an inevitable blast of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas.
All I want for next Christmas is another Zippos show as good as this one.
Zippos Christmas Circus is at Winter Wonderland until 1 January.
