HOW LIKE AN ANGEL

NEW CIRCA SHOW TAKES FLIGHT

Australian circus girl
Chelsea McGuffin
in an earlier production by
Circa that you can read
about in
Circus Mania

(Photo by Raphael Helle,
courtesy Norfolk and Norwich
Festival)

One of the most visually unusual circus shows this summer is likely to be How Like An Angel, a mixture of acrobatics and 16th and 17th century choral music that has been specially created to tour four of England’s most striking cathedrals: Norwich, Ely, Gloucester and Ripon.

The show is the brainchild of Yaron Lifschitz, artistic director of Australian company Circa, who has teamed up with Robert Hollingworth, musical director of I Fagiolini to create a show that will see aerial artists flying through the high empty spaces of the four magnificent medieval buildings.

The tour kicks off in Norwich Cathedral June 26 - 28, before moving to Ely (July 2-3), Gloucester (July 16- 17) and Ripon (July 19 - 20). Tickets for Norwich cost £20 by phone on 01603 766400 or in person from the box office of the Norwich Theatre Royal.

In the meantime, you can catch up with the story of Yaron Lifschitz and Circa in Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson.

Circus Mania includes a chapter on Circa’s previous visit to Norwich when the company performed in the atmospheric setting of a traditional European Spiegeltent, or ‘mirror tent.’ A dramatic description of the show’s Chelsea McGuffin being suspended by her front teeth is followed by a next-morning interview with Lifschitz in which the director explains with a chuckle that in circus “Some things just hurt.”

Circus Mania, which also includes some eye-popping pictures of Circa in action, retails at £14.99 but you can save £5 by buying it direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage rest of world). Send cheques to:

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

www.peterowen.com

Also read my interview with Chelsea McGuffin.

World Circus Day, April 19 2014

The fifth World Circus Day will be celebrated on Saturday April 19, 2014.


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... Saturday April 19, 2014, is World Circus Day!

Organised by the International Circus Federation under the patronage of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, World Circus Day is a global celebration of the glamour, excitement, tradition and spectacle of the sawdust circle - and it’s something EVERYONE can get involved in.

Here is the recipe for a perfect World Circus Day:


1/ Google ‘Circus’ and the name of your town or county. Find the circus appearing nearest to you and go along! If you haven’t been for years, you’re guaranteed to enjoy it!


2/ Buy some paper plates and a can of shaving foam. Spray the shaving foam on the plates to make some nice big custard pies, then go into the garden and have a good old custard pie fight! (Rinsing off with water pistols is optional!)


3/ Get out your face paints and paint clown faces on your kids... and yourself!


4/ If you’ve got any circus skills take your stilts, unicycle or juggling balls out onto the streets and share your passion. If anyone asks you what you’re doing, tell them it’s World Circus Day!


5/ Buy a copy of Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus by Douglas McPherson and read all about the unique lifestyle, traditions, culture, history, superstitions and secrets of the world’s greatest circus entertainers as told in their own words. 
Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

Certificate from Princess Stephanie of Monaco
marking Douglas McPherson's
participation in the 1st World Circus Day
with the launch of Circus Mania

The Mail on Sunday called Circus Mania “A brilliant account of a vanishing art form.” The Eastern Daily Press called it “Remarkable... captivating... beguiling... a real page turner.” The fairground newspaper World’s Fair called it “The greatest show on earth in a book!”

Circus Mania retails at £14.99, but to celebrate World Circus Day you can SAVE £5 by buying it direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage-free in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide).
Send cheques to:

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP


Or click here to buy the paperback or ebook from Amazon.

May all your days be World Circus Days!

Cirque du Ciel Review

ShangHi

The Chinese circus tradition is more than 2000 years old, but all the old routines like hand balancing and contortionism, double Chinese poles and hat juggling come up like new again in ShangHi, the exciting new theatre show from Cirque du Ciel.
Directed by Zhang Wan who worked with Cirque du Soleil’s Guy Caron on an earlier version of the show called Magical Musical Box, ShangHi has a slender storyline: a sleeping girl dreams of watching and joining in with acrobats. But the stunts come thick and fast against a projected backdrop of swirling colours and a loud, westernised soundtrack given extra energy by a tireless onstage drummer.
Two highlights both feature foot juggling. The men juggle with each other in hip-hop clothes in the first scene that really gets the crowd excited. The women juggle with drums which they also play.
The skill level is high, the large cast routines are slickly choreographed and the glittering costumes are attractive in this high energy show which is touring the UK until August 25.
But what is the history of the Chinese circus and its influence on western circus? The answers can be found in Circus Mania, by Douglas McPherson, which goes behind the scenes of the Chinese State Circus as well as cutting edge cirque shows such as Cirque du Soleil and Cirque de Glace, traditional big top circuses and hybrids like the Circus of Horrors to discover the traditions, superstitions and secrets of the circus breed.

...........................................................................................................
!!!CIRCUS MANIA SPECIAL OFFER!!!
Described by the Mail on Sunday as “A brilliant account of a vanishing art form,“ Circus Mania retails at £14.99, To save £5 off the recommended retail price and buy Circus Mania at the special offer price of just £10 postage-free, send cheques to:Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP
Or telephone 020 8350 1775 to buy what World’s Fair called “The Greatest Show On Earth In A Book!”

Peter Owen New Address

Circus Mania book launch
as reported in The Stage
(L-R: Gerry Cottle,
author Douglas McPherson,
Dr Haze)

If you’d like to buy Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson at the special offer price of just £10 postage free, please note the new address and telephone number for Peter Owen Publishers:

Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

T. 020 8350 1775

“Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form... an excellent book.”
- 4-star review, Mail on Sunday

Peter Owen OBE
Publisher of Circus Mania

2014 Update: Circus Mania publisher Peter Owen received an OBE for services to literature in the New Year's honours list. Click here for details.

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

Circus Mania reviews

Circus Mania
in the headlines

CIRCUS MANIA

The Greatest Show on Earth in a book!


Looking for last minute Christmas presents? Why not take advantage of a great special offer to buy Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson at the special offer price of just £10 postage free?

Described by the critics as “Brilliant,” “Ingenious,” “Captivating” and “The greatest show on Earth in a book,” Circus Mania is packed with behind-the-scenes backstage stories and ideal Christmas reading for anyone with fond memories of childhood trips to the circus or more recent visits to Cirque du Soleil - that’s all of us, isn’t it?

Here’s what the critics and readers have said:

“Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form... an excellent book.”

- Roger Lewis, Mail on Sunday.

“Remarkable... captivating... beguiling... a real page-turner.”

- Eastern Daily Press

“
Like a good old fashioned circus the book rollicks along at a cracking pace, delivering a cast of colourful characters, and a parade of stories of the life-is-stranger-than-fiction variety. There are thrills and spills, acts of derring-do, heart-in-mouth moments, and laughs aplenty. The circus deserves this book and, like the circus, McPherson deserves for Circus Mania to reach a very wide and appreciative audience.”

- Tina Jackson, The Writers Hub website.

The headline says it all!
Circus Mania reviewed in World's Fair

“The greatest show on Earth in a book. Circus Mania serves as a panoramic peek behind the velvet curtain, covering every imaginable aspect of what goes on behind the scenes. An unmissable read.”

- World’s Fair.

“Ingenious... engaging... a powerful introduction to circus performance then and now.”

- The Call Boy, British Music Hall Society

Circus Mania reviewed in The Call Boy

“Full of stories and anecdotes that give readers a good sense of the thrills and dangers associated with the big top. The book should appeal to circus fans of all ages and levels of interest.”

- Booklist (USA)
“A passionate and up-to-date look at the hard work, danger and sometimes even death that world class circus performers face every day.”

-Gerry Cottle, showman.
“I really loved reading this book. Every page buzzes with memorable characters and stories, some funny, some sad, all fascinating.”

- 5-star Amazon customer review.
“Circus Mania is one of those rare non-fiction books that you end up reading as if it is a novel. It has great characters and plots and beautifully written descriptions.”

- Another 5-star Amazon customer review.

To save £5 off the recommended retail price and buy Circus Mania at the special offer price of just £10 including postage in the UK (£2.75 postage worldwide) send cheques to:

Peter Owen Publishers

81 Ridge Road

London N8 9NP

Or click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.


WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012 - WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012 - WORLD CIRCUS DAY APRIL 21, 2012

Circus Mania Review in The White Tops

“An inside view from the outside.”

Chelsea McGuffin in Circa
- Read about her
daredevilry and the
behind-the-scenes lives
of many other performers in
Circus Mania

My thanks to Mort Gamble for his gracious and perceptive review of Circus Mania in The White Tops - America’s most famous circus magazine! Here’s the full review:


CIRCUS MANIA by Douglas McPherson
review by Mort Gamble
(White Tops Sept/Oct)

If the title of this exploration of Great Britain’s circus world is to be believed, the shows of that island nation are a bit on the wild and wacky side. McPherson’s book, however, comes across as a more thoughtful, restrained treatment of the British circus tradition, past and present. There’s nothing crazy about people earnestly carrying on a performing arts tradition, even if they do step out of the bounds or the normal, by outsiders’ standards, to do it. Outside observer McPherson is impressed.
Watching the Valez Brothers Wheel of Death act, McPherson realizes his fascination with circus performers “and the mysterious glue that binds them to their life of peril. They are, there is no doubt, a breed apart... they seem to exist for no other purpose than to make the impossible seem possible.” It’s easy to dismiss that statement as trite, but it’s helpful to remember that he is writing for a more general audience, not circus fans, not historians or scholars.
His book is a balancing act itself as an overview of circus history, tradition, contemporary formats and modern issues of management - including Britain’s struggles with vociferous animal rights protesters. It’s an inside view from the outside and, if anything, demonstrates the universality of the circus mind and spirit. As he quotes one circus owner, it’s about “the excitement of watching someone attempt something they may not actually be able to do.”
The British circus tradition predates America’s. Entrepreneur Philip Astley - like John Bill Ricketts in this country - built his early circus around horsemanship, adding clowns, acrobats and other acts. Well-known circus names like Smart, Chipperfield and Bertram Mills brought size, fame and fortune to the English circus tradition. Recent years have been less grand as shows abandoned their exotic animals and some took on other forms, morphing into the adult-only, the freaky, the water-worldly, the scary - circus escaping into the witness protection programme of cirque or stage production.
Some tradition big top shows have soldiered on, even daring to bring back their elephants, and

Martin Lacey's
Great British Circus
"Circus undiluted and unashamed."

McPherson gives a nod to them when he listens, at Martin Lacey’s Great British Circus, to the stirring march of Entrance of the Gladiators, breathes in the narcotic of sawdust, trampled grass and animals, and finds himself emotionally involved: “This is circus, undiluted and unashamed. It’s down, it’s marginalized, and there’s not much of it left... but it’s alive, it’s powerful and it will live on.”
Circus Mania lacks the streetwise wit of a Bill Ballantine, functioning more like the industry observations of a David Lewis Hammarstrom. As an overview of the circus in Great Britain, it has value in illustrating a diverse entertainment tradition that may be unfamiliar to Americans. McPherson clearly admires the heroics of circus performers and, equally, the grit of circus managers who find ways to keep going despite the times. He laments that animal protesters, bent on “bullying and intimidating” have missed a good show and concludes on a hopeful note about the positive role of live, physical circus in a digital age.
There is nothing fake about staying alive while training nature’s perfect killing machine - the tiger - he writes. Similarly, in the authenticity of circus life and legend, what you see is only part of what you get. He means to take us into that world for a closer look.

Click here to buy the new, updated 2nd Edition of Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

Circus Mania
in the papers

Click here to read a dozen reviews of Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With the Circus.

Circus Mania review in the Call Boy - official journal of the British Music Hall Society

My thanks to Eric Midwinter for a fantastic review of Circus Mania in the Autumn issue of The Call Boy - the official journal of the British

Circus Mania review in The Call Boy
- journal of the British Music Hall Society

Music Hall Society. Here’s the review:

“Douglas McPherson’s approach is the ingenious one of visiting differing sorts of circus, interviewing the performers and, by way of context, drawing us into circus history. Thus a visit to the Circus of Horrors and a chat with Hannibal Helmurto, the Pain-Proof Man, leads to a scrutiny of Victorian freak shows and Tom Thumb. It is done enjoyably but not uncritically and comprises a powerful introduction to circus performance then and now. In the case of circus the backstage toughness is professional rather than social. There are few tricks. It is very dangerous. The sword swallower really swallows the sword. Tragically, the day after the author’s interview with Eva Garcia appeared in The Stage she fell to her death in the circus ring. Here the fight is between obsession with the circus dream and daily endurance against the perils.

Tom Major gets an honourable mention and it was said of his son, premier John, that he was the only person ever to run away from a circus to join a bank. But it is the flight to the circus, as this engaging book explains, that leads to the disciplined rather than the happy-go-lucky life. If bankers were half so dedicated to stringent regulation and devoted awareness of public requirement as circus performers then the world economy might be a little brighter.”

If you’d like a copy of the “Ingenious” and “engaging” Circus Mania, click here to buy the new, updated 2nd Edition direct from Amazon.

The Call Boy is a fantastic resource for fans of variety, music hall and light entertainment and is distributed free to members of the British Music Hall Society. The Society hosts bi-monthly shows, talks and other events and membership is warmly recommended. To join, write to Membership Secretary Howard Lee, Thurston Lodge, Thurston Park, Whitstable, Kent CTE 1RE.

Jumbo - The Greatest Elephant in the World! Book review

I’ve just had a fantastic time reading Jumbo - The Greatest Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers. Jumbo was a literally huge celebrity in the Victorian era, both in England, as the main attraction at London Zoo, and in America, where the 11-foot-tall African elephant became the star of PT Barnum’s Greatest Show On Earth. In fact, so well known was the four-legged colossus that ‘jumbo’ entered the English language as a new word for anything big.

Chambers’ biography of Jumbo is deceptively compact, but it tells a big and compelling story in thrilling detail. The impeccably researched narrative traces Jumbo’s story back as far as Taher Sheriff, the African ‘Aggageer,’ or elephant hunter, who captured Jumbo as a young calf in the Sudan, and includes a bloody first hand description by explorer Samuel White Baker of how Sheriff and his fellow horsemen captured (and killed) their prey.

My drawing of
Jumbo
in Circus Mania

From there, Chambers offers fascinating insights into Jumbo’s relationship with his life-long keeper Matthew Scott and the many behind-the-scenes shenanigans involving Scott, London Zoo superintendent Abraham Bartlett and the great circus showman PT Barnum. The detailed descriptions of dramatic events, such as the protracted difficulties in removing Jumbo from the zoo, read like a novel and will have you on the edge of your seat as you read.

Sadly, Jumbo came to a tragic end, beneath the wheels of a steam train. But he surely left a bigger mark on the world than any other animal, as evidenced by the way his name lives on in our daily conversation more than a century later. As Chambers says, the next time you see a jumbo jet or eat a jumbo sausage, remember the original Jumbo - the greatest elephant in the world - after which it’s named.

Jumbo (published by Andre Deutsch) is a highly recommended read. But what of today’s circus elephants? Should the big top still have them, or are they cruelly treated? Before you make up your mind, read both sides of the argument in my book Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With The Circus. Oh, and there’s even an original ink drawing of Jumbo in Circus Mania by author Douglas McPherson (That's it, above on the right!).

Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson can be ordered direct from:
Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP
Credit card orders can be taken during office hours on 020 8350 1775.

Or click here to order from Amazon.

Circus Mania a Good Read!

My thanks to Circus Mania reader Shana Kennedy for posting the following review on www.goodread.com :

Australian circus girl
Chelsea McGuffin
- Read the
behind-the-scenes
story of her
wince-inducing
performance with
 Circa
in Circus Mania
(Photo by
Sandrine Penda,
 courtesy
Norfolk and Norwich
Festival)

‘A decent circus book for us groupies... a quote I particularly connected with: "I realize...the rows of seats behind me are going to remain empty... But as the lights go down it ceases to matter. In a theatre you would feel the emptiness of a poorly attended house sapping the atmosphere. The big top, by contrast, seems to close snugly around us, emphasizing only our proximity to the ring and the impending action."’

If you’re tempted to read some more, save £5 off the retail price by ordering Circus Mania direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of £10 postage free in the UK (£2.75 postage rest of world). Send cheques to:
Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP
Credit card orders during office hours: 020 8350 1775

MEET THE WOOKEY HOLE WITCH!

THE CIRCUS STAR WHO’LL PUT A SPELL ON YOU!


As the nights draw in and Halloween looms, you may be wondering where to celebrate the time of ghosties, ghoulies, pumpkins, broomsticks, black cats... and witches. Where better than the 50,000-year-old tourist attraction Wookey Hole, where the caves boast their own breed of creepy cave spider... and a real live resident witch?

Luckily, witch in residence Sunny van der Pas is a witch of the friendly, rather than scary variety, and Terrance the spider who hangs from her pointed hat looks like a fake to me - although she assures me the spiders in the caves are real enough.

“I’m not certain, but I’m told they’re the only venomous spiders in England,” says Sunny, who looks pretty fit for her claimed age of 227, “But they’re absolutely beautiful.”

So are the caves, themselves, says Sunny: “Some of the chambers are 100-feet tall. They’re beautifully lit and look like cathedrals. There’s one shaped like a dome, which was created by a whirlpool and could never have been carved by man.”

As well as the caves, Wookey Hole boasts a dinosaur park, a paper museum on the site of Britain’s oldest paper mill, a Victorian penny arcade, a fairy garden and a Mirror Maze. There’s also a circus museum stuffed with showman’s wagons, circus freaks, costumes and memorabilia and, at weekends and during the school holidays, thrice daily circus shows in the Big Top Theatre. The shows are presented by Sunny who, being a witch, naturally casts a lot of spells to make things disappear and appear; and Bippo the clown, who is one of Britain’s most talented up-and-coming performers.

The rest of the cast are drawn from the students of the Wookey Circus School who perform all kinds or gymnastics and aerial feats.

The circus connection isn’t surprising, though, as Wookey Hole is owned by Britain’s most famous living circus man, Gerry Cottle, who bought the attraction after selling his share of the Chinese and Moscow State Circuses. Cottle’s idea at the time was to retire from circus. But, as they said in Cecil B DeMille’s film The Greatest Show On Earth, you can shake the sawdust off your shoes, but you can never shake it out of your heart.

For details of Wookey Hole opening times and bookings at the on-site 58-bedroom hotel, call 01749 672243 or visit www.wookey.co.uk.

If you want the full story of Gerry Cottle’s circus career and how he came to set up the Wookey Circus School... plus the story of how Bippo ran away with the circus as a 9-year-old... buy my book:

CIRCUS MANIA - THE ULTIMATE BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO DREAMED OF RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS!

Circus Mania retails at £14.99, but you can save £5 by ordering direct from Peter Owen Publishers at the special offer price of just £10 postage free.

Send cheques to:

81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP

Tel: 020 8350 1775