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Yesterday, Lis pointed out to me that a big circus tent was set up on the Topsfield Fairgrounds, right on the route to and from Lis's work. I bounced up and down and said, "Circuscircuscircuscircus!!!!"
Tonight, I went to the circus! Lis stayed home because she doesn't like circuses as much as I do, and she DOES like having the occasional evening where she can work on her computer without me annoying her and stuff.
So, let me tell you about the circus!
Okay, first, if I had it all to do over, I wouldn't have spent $2 on caramel corn, and would have spent it on upgrading from the $15 obstructed view seats to the $17 normal seats. And the clowns, on the whole, weren't that good.
I have very high expectations for clowns. I'm generally disappointed.
Anyway:
They had acrobats, and contortionist/balancers, and trapeze artists, and a magician/quick change artist (magic part was lame, quick-change stuff was NEAT -- throw a curtain around yourself for a second, and you're in a new costume! Nifty!), and TRAINED KITTY CATS (felis domestis walking on little tiny tightropes and jumping through hoops and stuff like that) and they shot a woman out of a canon, and it was just generally cool.
I like circuses.
When I was in high school, I wanted to become a clown, a professional wrestler, and/or a stuntman. I studied physical comedy and slapstick. I really wanted to be a Buster Keaton/Harold Lloyd type. My parents talked me out of it. I should have pursued it anyway.
'Cause I would have been a much better clown than most clowns out of there.
Tonight, I went to the circus! Lis stayed home because she doesn't like circuses as much as I do, and she DOES like having the occasional evening where she can work on her computer without me annoying her and stuff.
So, let me tell you about the circus!
Okay, first, if I had it all to do over, I wouldn't have spent $2 on caramel corn, and would have spent it on upgrading from the $15 obstructed view seats to the $17 normal seats. And the clowns, on the whole, weren't that good.
I have very high expectations for clowns. I'm generally disappointed.
Anyway:
They had acrobats, and contortionist/balancers, and trapeze artists, and a magician/quick change artist (magic part was lame, quick-change stuff was NEAT -- throw a curtain around yourself for a second, and you're in a new costume! Nifty!), and TRAINED KITTY CATS (felis domestis walking on little tiny tightropes and jumping through hoops and stuff like that) and they shot a woman out of a canon, and it was just generally cool.
I like circuses.
When I was in high school, I wanted to become a clown, a professional wrestler, and/or a stuntman. I studied physical comedy and slapstick. I really wanted to be a Buster Keaton/Harold Lloyd type. My parents talked me out of it. I should have pursued it anyway.
'Cause I would have been a much better clown than most clowns out of there.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:00 am (UTC)I juggle a bit (Diablo only), and I've played around with clowning, but I never was much good.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:59 am (UTC)So good to hear about you having fun and following your bliss!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 01:21 pm (UTC)Circus!
Date: 2005-06-15 02:17 pm (UTC)The next-to-last circus I attended was the last big tent circus in Texas. A Texas-sized thunder and lightning storm hit just as they brought the lions and tigers (and bears, oh my!) into the main ring. The tent nearly blew over. My sister and I ended up taking refuge in a utility shed until they canceled the show. (In hindsight, the flimsy wooden shed where all the big power cables came together probably wasn't the smartest place to be with lightning striking all around.)
The last circus I attended was a big Shriner's circus held in a cement-floored auditorium. No nets. The tightrope act's motorcycle stalled mid-tightrope; the performer barely made it back to the end of the rope. The high-wire performer hanging by her teeth slipped and just barely managed to catch the safety wire about 6 feet from the floor. Then the animal trainer, a man famous for working with multiple species simultaneously, using only his gloved hands (no chair, whip, etc.) dropped dead of cardiac arrest in the middle of his ring filled with lions, tigers, and leopards. After that, I figured the circuses and I both would be better off if I stayed away...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 03:37 pm (UTC)Don't worry, there's a method to my madness.
send in the clowns
Date: 2005-06-15 08:19 pm (UTC)First of all, he comes from a family heritage of clowning. My father (his maternal grandfather) is registered in Clown Alley, and has his own trademarked whiteface design. I am very proud of the fact that my father appeared many times on the Boston-based children's TV show "Bozo the Clown" as the Magic Dentist, using an over-sized toothbrush as a magic wand. If you need proof of this, there is a framed thank-you note from Bozo to my father hanging in the bedroom that used to be mine. (Does this mean that the thank-you note is mine, also? hmmm...)
In addition, his mother (me) was born on the 9th of Adar, just before Purim. All during his growing-up years, I tried to maintain a Purim Carnival atmosphere in our home. We wore silly hats during many a family dinner, had pie-eating contests in the kitchen, and water fights in the back yard. (I do admit that I put a stop to water fights in the house, but that was for safety reasons.) Do you remember Wednesday night "food fight" dinners (fun!), color-coded suppers (Every food had to be the same color; purple was especially difficult.), "Family A-O: the Musical", or the challenge of using every type of punctuation mark in one sentence? And just who invented the Birthday Hunts of which you speak so fondly...
Xiphius Gladius himself was born right before Adar. I tried to have him be born during Adar, but he decided to arrive several weeks ahead of time. Recognizing his clown potential early on, it was I who signed him up for dance classes, and those classes in physical comedy, slapstick, and stage combat. It was I who bought his first juggling balls and magic set. It was I who listened to hundreds of bad jokes and encouraged his terrible punning. (Side note: I don't regret the punning for one minute, as I am convinced this is one of the traits that attracted Cheshyre to him.) And it was I who introduced him to the Marx Brothers, Danny Kaye, and black-and-white screwball comedies. What more could a mother do?
Last of all, he inherited his love of circus from me. My secret ambition is to be a contortionist for Cirque du Soleil.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 11:02 pm (UTC)Duzzy