THE BALLOON MAN

Big Top Splendor: Cole Bros. Circus returns to South Jersey for family fun

The Cole Bros. Circus returns to southern New Jersey with performances Thursday, Aug. 4 and Friday,  Aug. 5, in Mays Landing, Monday, Aug. 8, and Tuesday, Aug. 9, in Seaville and Wednesday, Aug. 10, and Thursday, Aug. 11, in Rio Grande.
Posted: Thursday, August 4, 2011 12:00 am Updated: 12:09 pm, Wed Aug 3, 2011.

By VERONICA DUDO,
For At The Shore pressofAtlanticCity.com

Every night, Jose Bermudez is shot out of a cannon, flying through the air at about 65 miles per hour as the Human Cannonball. For him, it's just another day on the job.

Bermudez, you see, is among the featured performers in the Cole Brothers Circus, which will make three stops in southern New Jersey this month. And, he's a circus lifer, a third-generation performer who began when he was 7 years old.

"My dad worked for the circus for 45 years, so he taught me and my brother," Bermudez says. With Cole Brothers for 14 years, Bermudez says he first toured in South America before traveling America with the circus, and he enjoys traveling up the coast each year.

"We travel for nine months of the year around the East Coast from Florida up to New York," he says. "We see a lot of people, a lot of friends. It's great to travel with the circus; it's fun."

Residents will have the chance to watch Bermudez soar through the air during one of the circus' three South Jersey stops: Thursday, Aug. 4, and Friday, Aug. 5, in Mays Landing; Monday, Aug. 8, and Tuesday, Aug. 9, in Seaville; and Wednesday, Aug. 10 and Thursday, Aug. 11, in Rio Grande.

The performer admits that when he first became the Human Cannonball he was a little scared.

"When I started, yes of course a little bit because it's something new," Bermudez says. "But now I'm used to it; we do it every day now. I like to do that; it's fun to fly in the air, it's great."

Bermudez encourages fans to look for him before the show, when he will be at the face-painting booth. He also entertains the crowd as a clown along with his wife and brother.

"We have four more clowns. We're having a comedy car with my wife. ... It's a great show."
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