THE BALLOON MAN

The Wonder Circus arrives in Stafford

By Andrew Watt

Mr Fips’ Wonder Circus has rolled into town and pitched their big top on The Common, just off Stone Road.

Published on Jun 12, 2012 by StaffsNews

Mr Fips welcomes you to his Wonder Circus and introduces you to some of the acts you can expect to see at the show.

The star of the show is Mr Fips, a creation of professional clown Jan Erik Brenner, who began performing at an early age by copying the antics of his circus clown father. In a career spanning over 35 years, he has entertained circus goers worldwide as well as working alongside the likes of Robbie Williams and Madonna. Recently he appeared on the CBBC show ‘The Slammer’ along with some of the other members of his Wonder Circus.

The show itself promises to be a traditional circus experience designed to bring back fond childhood memories for the grown-ups while introducing a whole new generation to the joys of the circus through pantomime style performances, audience participation and traditional slapstick routines for the whole family to enjoy.

Family is certainly at the heart of this show with Jan’s 73 year old father, also a professional clown, appearing alongside him in the circus ring, his mother running the box office and his wife and cousins also having roles to play in the running of the show.

Published on Jun 12, 2012 by StaffsNews

The Wonder Circus performers preview some of their routines.

There is also an awareness that some children may find clowns scary and to ensure this is not the case here, the character of Mr Fips is created during the first few minutes of the show. This means the children can participate in the birth of the clown, as the make-up is added and the traditional red nose attached. This approach has proved to be successful and one which children especially have appreciated and enjoyed

Alongside Jan and his family is an eclectic cast collected from around the world, including France’s Alexandre Frenea, described as a ‘hand-balancer and juggler extraordinaire’, Denmark’s Miss Christina who performs a contortionist routine, and Matt Ryan Day – Silks who appears as The Amazing Spiderman. His fellow clown and father is German, and the circus madness and mayhem is marshalled by Ringmaster Senor Josiah Rose who before being seduced by the lure of the big top could be found jousting as a black knight.

The circus opens on Wednesday 13th June and runs until Sun 17th June.

On Wednesday, there are two performances with one at 5pm and a second at 7:30pm which are charged at a special preview price of £5.99 for any seat in the big top

Thursday also has shows at 5pm and 7:30pm with just the one 7:30pm show on Friday.

There are two shows on Saturday at 2pm and 5pm and the final day sees performances at 11am and 2pm

Prices from the second day are priced around £7-£8.To book, you can either go in person to the box office situated on The Common just off Stone Road or by phone on 07719877422 and if you can’t make any of the dates in Stafford, from the 20th – 24th of June, the circus is only a short distance away in Central Forest, Stoke On Trent.