KEN "TURTLE" BENSON

Fair tops magic number

A record crowd packs the midway during the final day of the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh on Sunday, October 24, 2010. Attendance for the fair topped one million on Sunday.RAY BLACK III - newsobserver.com
BY J. ANDREW CURLISS - Staff writer

Good-bye, Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers.
So long, deep-fried Honey Buns.
Farewell, fair.
Sunday was The End for a record-breaking N.C. State Fair, with attendance eclipsing the 1 million mark for the first time thanks mainly to 11 days of mostly glorious weather.
For some of the people who help stage the fair, it was also the end of a grueling schedule that had kept them on the road for months: North Carolina's fair is one of the last major events in the fair industry's year.
That means magician Brad Matchett is headed home to Virginia for the first time since June 9 after crisscrossing a swath of the U.S. to perform at fairs in Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and then North Carolina. He blew out five tires along the way.

Vicki Ketcham tries to lure players to her racing game.
"Usually, my voice is gone by now," said Matchett, whose raspy throat held up Sunday for a packed crowd at his Agricadabra Magic Show.
Michelle Harrell and her team of performing poodles were headed home to Pensacola, Fla., after Sunday. On her current road trip, she has been to fairs in Georgia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico, Indiana, Connecticut and North Carolina.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/25/759073/fair-tops-magic-number.html?tab=gallery&gallery=/2010/10/24/759240/fairs-finale-102410.html&gid_index=1#ixzz13Mlk2NFO

Circus Wraps After 4 Day Run

10/24/10

Panama City Beach, Fla: The marketing team for this year’s Cole Brothers Circus is counting cash tonight. Somewhere between 12 and 14 thousand people from all over the panhandle turned out for the big top this year at Frank Brown Park.
This was the first year Frank Brown Park served as the venue and the marketing team was pleased.Many acts fit the classic mold of the circus experience, including trained tigers and other exotic animals and the classic clowns and the human cannon ball.
The ringmaster says performers enjoy entertaining the crowd and working with the Shaddai Shriners to bring the circus to Bay County “…we’re in a new spot this year. It used to be at the mall. Last year we were at the fairgrounds. This is a beautiful location and it’s slowly building up. I think if we come back next year it’ll be fantastic here.”
The circus played nine shows over the past 4 days.
The Cole Brothers Circus plays to crowds from the panhandle to West Palm Beach.
Read more: http://www.panhandleparade.com/index.php/mbb/article/circus_wraps_after_4_day_run/mbb7726355/#ixzz13Mmp05wX

FROM AUSTRAILIA

Circus mourns a feathered friend in Noble Park

Circus mourns a feathered friend in Noble Park Magician Simon Tait with one of the returned doves, Baldie. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Local News 25 Oct 10
SILVERS Circus in Noble Park is mourning the loss of a feathered performer.
Donald, one of three white doves stolen from the backstage area, was found dead near the Corrigan Rd big top.
Donald’s partner, Daisy, was found badly injured last Wednesday, possibly from a run-in with a cat or dog.
Magician Simon Tait said he was somewhat relieved to have two of his little mates back.
His most experienced dove, Baldie, was handed in to a Mount Waverley pet hospital earlier in the week.
The magician said Donald may have died from shock.
He believes the theft, last Saturday week, was probably a prank that went wrong.
“I hope (people involved) are feeling a little bit responsible,” he said. “They should hang their heads and think about how they carry on a little bit - think of the repercussions.”
Mr Tait said the circus was inundated with people calling with potential sightings and information about his “little mates, and work colleagues”.
“The local community has been fabulous,” he said. “We had people ringing all week. We even have a couple of extra doves now.” http://dandenong-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/circus-mourns-a-feathered-friend-in-noble-park/

SUNDAY FUNNIES

Lufuno the white lion has a bubble bath with his buddy Brian McMillian

Just clownin' around - daughter of Big Apple Circus clown says dad just wants people to laugh

BY Christina Merrill DAILY NEWS WRITER
Sunday, October 24th 2010,
Danielle Lubin's father has always been the family clown, and she couldn't be happier.
"I think my dad is hilarious," she said.
Lubin, 25, grew up watching her dad pull on wigs and costumes and lots of makeup. Barry Lubin has been clowning around the circus for three decades.
While he may play the fool with long yellow socks, a red dress, a curly wig and fake pearls as "Grandma" in the Big Apple Circus, Lubin is just dad at home.
"He really is the same person, no matter what he's wearing," said Danielle, who lives in Cranford, N.J.
Some clowns can be loud and obnoxious, but Lubin takes a more relaxed approach in the tent. "He's very laid-back as a person - and as a clown," Danielle said.
The 58-year-old funnyman came to clowning when he auditioned "on a lark" for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College while he was taking a break from Emerson College in Boston.
"I absolutely fell in love with the art form," said the 5-foot-2 jester.
Being a clown didn't come easy. He bombed in his first performance.
"When I teach, I talk about failure being the best possible thing that could happen to an artist," he said. "If you risk wildly, the chances are you'll fail wildly. But eventually you'll give yourself the opportunity to succeed wildly."
Having a clown as a father wasn't all fun and games for Danielle, especially when her family moved into a new neighborhood in New Jersey when she was 7.
"It was hard to be the new kid who came from the circus," she said. "You're that much weirder because you come from a place that no one would expect."
Still, Danielle's circus life has been normal. It is where she and her younger sister, Emily, grew up. During summers, they traveled all over with their dad.
The circus, she said, is like a tiny community. Everyone has meals together at the circus cookhouse, and the shows are only about four hours long, which leaves plenty of time for family. And everyone knows everyone.
"There's always somebody there," she said.
These days, instead of getting teased by peers, Danielle gets text messages from her friends when they see her dad's posters.
"I think he just wants everyone to laugh," she said.
The Big Apple Circus, which kicked off its 33rd season at Lincoln Center on Thursday night, will also be featured in a PBS documentary premiering Nov. 3.Share 1diggdigg .
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/24/2010-10-24_dads_a_real_clown.html#ixzz13H6zHjzo

Yes, You’re Smart, but Can You Make Money?

. This interview with Kenneth Feld, chairman and C.E.O. of Feld Entertainment, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. Feld Entertainment’s operations include Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus and Disney on Ice.
Kenneth Feld is chairman and C.E.O. of Feld Entertainment, which produces Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice and other shows. He asks potential hires how their ideas have turned into profit at their companies.
Q. How did you get started in your family’s business?
A. In the summers I always worked with my father, and I think my motivation for getting in the business was to work with my dad, because we had an extraordinary relationship. I was fortunate that he was in a business that I loved and had a passion for.
He acquired Ringling Brothers in November 1967. I was in college, so my summer jobs for the summer of ’68 and the summer of ’69 were going all over the world, primarily Eastern Europe, hiring circus talent.
That was an extraordinary education because, at the time, there were still communist countries, and I spent most of three months in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, East Germany. I would deal with the ministries in those countries because the circus was sort of their art form for the masses. So that was my first exposure to something pretty exotic and unusual.
READ MORE AT:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/business/24corner.html?src=busln

GREATER GULF COAST STATE FAIR OPENS

From left, Preston Mason, 5, Christian Mason, 10, and Ahmani Graham,11, take a ride on Free Fall during the opening day of the Greater Gulf State Fair.

When the Greater Gulf State Fair opened at 4 o’clock Friday afternoon, Tiffany Watson, 24, was one of the first in the gate. With her younger cousins Cortez Watson, 12, and Amaya Gonzalez, 11, Watson strolled the midway, past the corn dog stands and whirling rides. "We love the fair," she said.
Watson and her family had purchased Midnight Madness tickets — $20 in advance, $25 at the gate — allowing them unlimited rides until the fair shut down at 2 a.m.
Watson said they planned to enjoy themselves on the midway the entire ten hours.
Under blue skies and a rising full moon, Watson and thousands of others enjoyed opening day at the fair. The temperature was balmy, and fairgoers in shirtsleeves sat on benches eating Polish sausages, jambalaya, candy apples and funnel cakes as evening descended. READ MORE AT:
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/greater_gulf_state_fair_featur.html

Greater Gulf State Fair features fun, food and furry farm animals

Scenes from the 2010 Greater Gulf State Fair

PBS Explores the Circus in new Documentary

Big Apple Circus Founder Paul Binder, PBS president Paula Kerger, CIRCUS producers Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre, and WNET president Neal Shapiro.

By Chris Ariens on October 22
FishbowlNY headed uptown last night for the big top event celebrating the new 6-hour PBS documentary “Circus.” Debuting Wednesday, Nov. 3 and running the subsequent two Wednesdays, “Circus” tells the story of the Big Apple Circus, going behind behind the scenes exploring a distinctive world with its own rules and lingo.
Last night’s party, at Big Apple’s Lincoln Center home, included typical circus fare: hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and Grandma the clown who roamed the room greeting guests before he/she put on his/her own show for the crowd. After performances from several Big Apple acts, the audience, including some big-time PBS and WNET donors, were treated to a sneak peek.
“Circus” gives an intimate look at several members of the Big Apple team: including juggling brothers, one who’s ready to leave the circus; the “oldest newbie” who’s a real clown; to members of the tent crew, one who goes off his meds one too many times.
Five weeks of training, 10 months on the road, a half-dozen languages spoken, and a 150-person team. Chaos, drama, intrigue all at the “Circus.” Who knew?

PETA offers alternative for old circus arena

Mayor calls "Elephant Empathy Center" idea not serious

PETA suggests an arena that “used to force sad, lonely, beaten animals to perform” be “transformed into a tribute” to them.
By TERRY O'CONNOR Correspondent

Saturday, October 23, 2010
VENICE - PETA believes it has a better idea for the city's old circus arena than remaking it into a museum.
Officials from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have asked Venice Mayor Ed Martin to allow them to convert the building into an “Elephant Empathy Center” to evoke public sympathy for pachyderms. But Martin said PETA's proposal did not appear to have any real substance.
“I actually did not give that any serious thought,” Martin said. “I didn't see that as a serious offer, no.”
The Venice Circus Arts Foundation has been working for the past six months on plans to revamp the decrepit circus arena into a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus museum. It will continue its fundraising this weekend at a “Save the Venice Circus Arena” event Sunday at Centennial Park.
As an alternative to the foundation's plans, said Tracy Reiman, PETA executive vice president, a center should be built featuring interactive, educational displays, including one where visitors could volunteer to be chained and confined to a replica of a cramped, poorly ventilated box car to simulate how circus elephants often spend days at a time standing in their own waste while traveling between performances.
“With the Elephant Empathy Center, an arena that was once used to force sad, lonely, beaten elephants to perform will be transformed into a tribute to their intelligence, sensitivity and family values,” said Reiman in a letter to Martin. “Elephants are loving animals who never deserve to be beaten, shocked or shackled.”
Martin said he takes animal rights seriously, contributing to wildlife and nature groups.
“Not that I'm unsympathetic, but what would we have in addition, a chicken museum? A cow museum?” he said.
The Venice City Council agreed earlier this month to support the Venice Circus Arts Foundation's efforts to try to save the arena from demolition.
The foundation has outlined a business plan and is seeking contributions toward a $10 million renovation of the 5,100-seat arena.read more at:http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101023/ARTICLE/101029900/2076/NEWS?Title=PETA-offers-alternative-for-old-circus-arena