THE BALLOON MAN

The circus is coming to town!

Just in time for Spring Break, the Carson & Barnes Circus will be in Tehachapi on Tuesday, April 19. The show is a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club of Tehachapi.

By: Tina Forde, Staff Writer, Tehachapi News

Friday, April 15, 2011 What could be better than hanging out with your kids on Tuesday, April 19 (it’s public school Spring Break), watching Carson & Barnes Circus erect its new Big Top tent, and then coming back in the afternoon or evening to see the show? Although it’s a new world of mechanization, and the elephants no longer do the heavy lifting to erect the tent, the public is welcome to watch the Big Top go up and to look at the animals in the traveling petting zoo. Carson & Barnes, a four-generation family-owned operation, is proud of its animals, which are on display 24 hours a day and people can see the care they are given. The circus will be coming in a convoy of trucks to Tehachapi from a performance in Ridgecrest. According to Sasha Fry at the circus headquarters in Hugo, Okla., the setup begins “as soon as they hit the lot.” Observers will see teamwork and the hard work it takes to get the Big Top ready. It takes two to three hours to set up the tent, Fry said, depending on the weather. The public may watch from outside the tent. The tent holds an audience of 2,500 and is built to give everyone a close-up view of the acts. The April 19 location is at the east end of Tehachapi Blvd. at Highway. 58, next to Love’s Travel Center, which was built on the site where the circus last set up several years ago. Fry said the activity would begin as early as 9 a.m. She recommended coming at 10:30 or 11 a.m. Star clown The 2011 Carson & Barnes acts include trapeze artists, aerial acts, Motorcycle Madness, jugglers, contortionists, elephants, dog acts and more. There are no lions or tigers, Fry said. The star of the show is clown Freddy Alex Acero (“He’s in and out during the whole performance,” Fry said), known as the King of Circus Comedy for his high-bounding feats on the trampoline. The son of South American circus performers, Acero says that his friends and his love of soccer inspired his athletic clown character. Acero first received recognition on Clown Alley on the Ringling Brothers Show. He is articulate in Spanish, Portuguese and Spanish.