THE BALLOON MAN

Take me to the circus

Where’s Bubbles?: No animals at Great American Circus, but lots of Michael Jackson tunes.

THE X-PAT FILES By Scott R. Garceau (The Philippine Star) January 02, 2011

Do kids still dream about joining the circus? That notion seems as quaint as carnies and funhouses. But somebody’s got to join the circus, damn it; they still exist, and even in the days of iPads and DSI devices, people still sit and watch, jaws agape, as daredevils race around spinning Wheels of Death and fire breathers make like Gene Simmons.
All this is on view at the Great American Circus, a traveling troupe that recently set up tent at SMX Convention Center (until Jan. 4, after which it heads to Cebu).

Lucy in the sky: Aerialist works the trapeze at The Great American Circus.
As you might guess, this is an American group of performers who bring back some of the old-fashioned spectacle of the one-ring circus. One ring? What happened to three? According to ringmaster Tuffy Nicholas — he of the wavy amber hair and booming voice — the one-ring circus is meant to keep audiences focused on a single spectacle instead of dividing their attention (it has nothing to do with budget constraints; no, no, nothing like that). As Nicholas likes to say, again and again, during the show: “It’s a wow!”

Top of the world: Great American Circus offers old-fashioned thrills, but thrills nonetheless.

Family fun: You can’t fool kids; they either enjoy a circus, or else it’s no good.
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