CHRISTMAS FUNNIES

 

Cirque de Noel returns with Grand Rapids Symphony for acrobatics and Christmas music


Vitalli Buza joins Cirque de la Symphonie for an acrobatic act with a Cyr Wheel, a large metal ring, for "Cirque du Noel."
The company returns for its third holiday season with three shows featuring dancers, contortionists and strongmen, Tuesday Dec. 18 through Thursday Dec. 20, 2012, to open the Grand Rapids Symphony's 2012-13 SymphonicBoom Series.
from:  mlive.com
By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk
December 16, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Christmas is the season for Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” Handel’s “Messiah” and Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.
In Grand Rapids, it’s also the season for “Cirque de Noel.”
Grand Rapids Symphony welcomes Cirque de la Symphonie back to DeVos Performance Hall for aerial acts, juggling, magic and feats of strength all set to live music.
Last year, the troupe of cirque artists gave two performances of Cirque de Noel last year during its second Christmas visit to West Michigan.

 

Christine Van Loo, a Grand Rapids native, and Alexander Streltsov pair on silks for a romantic pas de deux in the air to Tchaikovsky's “Waltz of the Flowers."
“We’re very excited to be here again. It’s a great audience, and a great place to perform,” said Streltsov, a past gold medalist at the international Festival Mondial De Cirque De L'Avenir in Paris.
Music director David Lockington leads the Grand Rapids Symphony in seasonal music such as Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and in perennially popular classical works including Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and Tchaikovsky’s “Danse de petits cyngnes” from “Swan Lake.”
European-style cirque acts, also known as "le nouveau cirque" or contemporary circus, differ from American circuses which typically feature animal acts and clowns and slapstick entertainment, often performed under a big top tent.
Cirque artists are athletes trained to perform in theatrical settings.
read more:
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/12/cirque_de_noel_returns_with_gr.html

Five Questions for a Guinness World Record-Holding Contortionist

 

You might not guess it to watch me type, but once upon a time, I was pretty flexible. This is in large part due to a class I took (more years ago than I care to admit) at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts called Acrobatic Stretching. At the time, I didn't realize that the teacher, Professional Contortionist Leslie Tipton, was in the Guinness Book of World Records and had performed in more countries than I had been to, but I did realize that she knew what she was talking about, and that stretching hurts. When I heard recently that the former competitive gymnast and 20-year circus arts veteran was starting her own contortion school in San Francisco, I went to her studio by Ocean Beach to get the lowdown, and meet her beloved cat Bean.
from:  sfweekly.com
By Devin HoltWed.
Dec. 12 2012
1. Obviously, I have to ask about how you made it into the Guinness Book of World Records?
The Guinness people and another contortionist invited me to try and set a record for the most contortionists in a box. The other contortionists were Daniel Browning Smith and Bonnie Morgan, and that's how I set my first record. When we set that record we went to Europe and did several TV shows. A producer from a show in Spain called and invited me to set another record. I think the technical name is "Most eggs in eggcups using the feet," but I like to add "in a handstand." While I was in a handstand I arched my back, brought my feet in front of my face, and put the eggs into the cups with my feet.
For my third record I was in London in 2007 promoting the Guinness World Records book and while I was there they asked me to attempt the record for the world's fastest time to get in a suitcase and zip it. You've gotta zip it yourself, and my original time was 27 seconds, but I've broken that three times. My current time is 5 seconds. It was 7 seconds for a long time and then when I was on Regis and Kelly they asked me to break it on TV and I did it in 5 seconds.

read more:

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/12/leslie_tipton_contortionist_guinness_acrobat.php

12 people who made a living eating inedible things

Remember that kid in school who would eat anything for a quarter? Maybe he wasn't just trying get attention. He was preparing for a career in show biz

 

Comic magician Tom Mullica was famous for smoking and eating full packs of cigarettes.

from: thyeweek.com

By Danny Gallagher

December 13, 2012

Thanks to the rise of vaudeville and the circus sideshow, performers throughout history and even the modern stage have been practicing the strange art of digestion and regurgitation. They take seemingly inedible objects and choke them down before your very eyes. Here's a look at some of the world's greatest "human ostriches."

1. Todd Robbins

This renowned illusionist, trickster, and sideshow aficionado has carved an interesting career out of shocking his audiences. He's perhaps best known for a trick that few people know how to do because it is very dangerous: lightbulb eating. He learned the trick from an old Coney Island sideshow performer when he was a teenager and since then he's eaten over 4,000 lightbulbs. The only major injury he suffered while performing the trick is a broken tooth that exposed a raw nerve. The trick became the centerpiece of a very successful, very bloody, and very scary off-Broadway spook show called Play Dead that he co-wrote with Teller of Penn & Teller.

read about the eleven others at:

http://theweek.com/article/index/237810/12-people-who-made-a-living-eating-inedible-things

Coconut Grove Candy Cane Village: A Skating Rink, Snowfalls, and Santa


Courtesy of Coconut Grove Candy Cane Village
from: miaminewtimes.com
By Hannah Sentenac
Dec. 13 2012
Miami--It's 80 degrees out, there's no break in humidity, and the ladies of Miami haven't had a single chance to break out their assortment of Uggs. This winter's been a bit of a bummer in the seasonal spirit department thus far.
But no worries. Even if the unseasonably warm temperatures and perpetual sunshine continue through Christmas, we can get our holiday jollies at the Coconut Grove Candy Cane Village going up the weekend before.

 

Courtesy of Coconut Grove Candy Cane Village
The festive event will offer carnival rides like teacups, bumper cars, a ferris wheel and a giant fun slide (plus others), as well as giant holiday-themed balloons hovering above. Think nutcrackers, candy canes and gingerbread men (sadly, inedible).
"I'm born and raised in South Florida. The Grove growing up for me was always the "it" place, but people have kind of lost sight of that lately with Wynwood and the Design District taking over in popularity. The Grove has a phenomenal central, beautiful location that's perfect for events; we wanted to bring a little bit of magic to Coconut Grove," said Vanessa Goodis of Promo Moxie, the organizers of the event along with the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District.
read more:
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2012/12/coconut_grove_candy_cane.php

Peace On Earth. Classic Christmas cartoon. MGM 1939.

Uploaded on Dec 1, 2009

Peace on Earth is a one-reel 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon short directed by Hugh Harman, about a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals.

Miniature Wonderland: advent, advent, the Christmas tree Burns! -

Published on Dec 15, 2012

English subtitles available.(Just Click on CC)

Today, there is a Christmas video again much their this time with the title "which burns the fir-tree",

 

New Year’s Eve with The Big Apple Circus: Legendarium

December 31, 2012
Damrosch Park
West 62nd Street bet. Columbus and Amsterdam Aves.
Manhattan, NY 10023
phone: 212-875-5456|
Welcome in 2013 the circus way at this 35th annual extravaganza. Take in the show—featuring acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, cyclists and, of course, the Big Apple Circus Band—and then count down the remaining moments of the year with John Kennedy Kane, ringmaster of The Big Apple Circus. Guests are invited to enjoy Champagne or sparkling cider, and join the cast of performers in the ring for dancing. For more information, visit bigapplecircus.org.

 

Homegrown circus performs

by Kerry Lengel - Dec. 15, 2012

The Republic | azcentral.com

Dec. 15, 2012

In the age of Cirque du Soleil, the international entertainment juggernaut and countless "nouveau circus" copycats, the Valley's own Taylor Circus Stars are a throwback to the days when traveling troupes of clowns and acrobats were often family affairs, bringing intimate entertainment to towns across America.

Headed up by matriarch Barbara Taylor, a onetime clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the Chandler-based performance company has been in business for dozens of years. Its biggest show yet, dubbed "Circus Americana," is currently playing at the Herberger Theater Center.

"It's an exciting plunge for us," Taylor says. "We have 24 circus performers in this. We have been able to find some amazing talent here in Arizona."

The show features traditional circus stunts including acrobatics, tightwire and stilt-walking. No lions or elephants, but the Doggies of the Wild West are on board.

"It's a very vintage-feeling circus, something that's good for the entire family," Taylor says. "Kind of a bit of vaudeville and a touch of the magical."

At the heart of the show is the Taylor family -- Barbara, husband Martin and their four children, Elia, 17; Aubrey, 15; Ian, 15; and Liam, 6. All have their own specialties. Dad is a juggler and fire-eater, and ballet-trained Elia is a contortionist and walks the tightwire -- en pointe. Aubrey is a magician, and acrobat Ian will star in the "Pirate Trampolines" act. And little Liam has already mastered several circus skills, including scarf juggling.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/2012/12/12/20121212homegrown-circus-performs.html?nclick_check=1#ixzz2FDgPe9lS

Maine Observer: Circus's approach as lively as its performance
Watching wild animals, clowns and elephants make their way from the train station to the Big Top left a young boy rapt.
from:  The Maine Sunday Telegram
posted on:  pressherald.com (Bradenton)
By TED DAVIS
December 16, 2012
Before the days of superhighways and 18-wheelers, the railroads were king. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus unloaded its train at Union Station. The wild animals, elephants and clowns formed up and paraded the length of Congress Street.

To this young boy, it made quite an impression. Brightly colored horse-drawn wagons with caged tigers roaring behind steel bars moved to the clacking of hoofs. Elephants one after the other held on to the tails of the one in front of them. The marching band played loud and lively martial music as the wild apes pulled and tugged on the bars of their rolling wagons.
When the parade reached Washington Avenue, it turned left and made its way down to Marginal Way, an empty field at that time.

To facilitate the setting up of the Big Top, local youths were hired at 5 in the morning the following day. I was at the right age: old enough to do the work but not experienced enough to recognize that it was slave labor.

A gang of us unloaded a wagon of stakes and placed them in position where directed for raising the Big Top. We held the stakes while two men pounded them into the ground with rhythmic sledgehammers.

The work went on all morning: hauling water for the elephants, lugging bales of straw and cleaning up mess after mess, or "mucking out," as the English would say. It was an exhausting eight hours of labor.

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, it was payoff time. Each worker received a ticket for the afternoon show, which started at (you guessed it) 1 o'clock. Dirty, hot and hungry, I headed back up the hill to wash up, eat and run back down the hill to catch the show I worked so hard to see. I must admit it was well worth the effort.

On either side of the fairway leading to the main entrance of the Big Top were the sideshows, or, as we called them, "the freak shows." Large pictures painted on canvas hung as backdrop for the barker on the stage. It was the barker's job to persuade potential customers that his show was well worth the price of admission.

Inside the various tents were the fat lady, the thing man, the tattooed lady and other assortments of unusual people. Today I can go to the beach and see a fat tattooed lady for free -- my, how times have changed.

Ted Davis is a resident of Bath.



Clowns on Call: Healing with humor

from: ksdk.com

by Mike Bush

Dec 13, 2012

CREVE COEUR, Mo. (KSDK) - If they've learned one thing over the years at Mercy Hospital, it's that nothing is more infectious than a smile. They've been few and far between lately for 12-year-old Garrison Gosling.

"He was in rough shape yesterday and last night. A lot of pain," said his dad, Darren Gosling.

When you've had corrective back surgery, you'd expect they'd send in a doctor or send in a nurse, you don't expect that they'd send in the clowns.

Claire Wedemeyer is making her rounds for a program called Clowns on Call.

read more:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/352156/3/Clowns-on-Call-Healing-with-Humor

 

Meanwhile, Two Drunk Elephants Went Jogging in Siberia

 

from: jezabel.com
By Anna Breslaw
Dec 15, 2012
Although vodka's metaphorically saved my life many a time, Ruski firewater literally rescued two Indian circus elephants from frostbite after the truck in which they were being transported caught fire. Stranded on a highway in freezing Siberia, Russia, the handlers did the only thing they could think of, which was (naturally) giving the pachyderms crunk juice. More specifically, two cases of vodka mixed with water.

As one local official colorfully described, "They roared like it was the jungle. Must have been happy."

After the elephants were sufficiently warmed up, the handlers (trying not to freeze to death themselves) made them jog until they were rescued and taken to a heated garage. They incurred only minimal frostbite to their ears and legs and were still able to perform in their act at the Omsk, Poland city circus. The show must go on!

Above, see one of the elephants' selfies from the incident.

 



Hadji Ali

Uploaded on May 10, 2008

Hadji Ali, water spouter extraordinaire.

He was one of the vaudeville headliners in both the emispheres in the 20s.

This is the recording af his full act, as included in the Laurel and Hardy movie "Politiquerias", 1927 (being theSpanish extended version of the short "Chicken comes Home").

French president urged to show some jumbo love
 A French circus owner Friday urged President Francois Hollande to save the lives of two zoo elephants that city officials want to put down because they have tuberculosis.
from:  phys.org
 December 14, 2012
Gilbert Edelstein, the head of the Pinder circus who donated the two pachyderms Nepal and Baby to the Parc de la Tete d'Or in Lyon, sought the "supreme intervention" of Hollande in a letter.
 The mayor's office had ordered euthanasia, citing public health concerns, and said it should be carried out before December 20. "I appeal to your wisdom as this terrible decision is not justified," Edelstein wrote. He claimed the diagnosis of TB was disputed. City authorities had said the pair pose a threat to other animals at the zoo, located in the heart of Lyon, as well as human visitors since the disease is highly contagious. "We are sad for the animals but we cannot take the risk of the infection spreading to citizens," said Jean-Louis Touraine from the mayor's office.
"When I gave them my elephants they were perfectly healthy. If they have contracted tuberculosis, it's from the other animals," Edelstein said. "I want them to be treated and returned to me," he added. Both elephants are in their forties and could live for another two decades. (c) 2012 AFP

 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-12-french-urged-jumbo.html#jCp