Great, Just Great

It was a beautiful, sunny day. So naturally, the tent flooded.

Wait, what?

It would appear that the lot we're currently occupying is not only covered in elephant poop, but also has incredibly poor drainage. It would seem that every so often the ground just can't take it anymore and regurgitates whatever water it managed to absorb.

The best part is that it wasn't the area around the tent that flooded, not the area around the caravans or any of the trucks. Nope. Just the inside of the tent, right around the backstage and performance area. A week later and it is still soaking wet backstage. There are puddles right next to the extension of the stage. Sure, they put down more sawdust, more carpets, even the plastic tiles they use in particularly muddy places. But it's made no difference. It is a million degrees and sunny and we have a soaking wet steam bath inside the tent. It ain't pretty.

I try not to think about what build down is going to be like. Normally the bottom layer is tarps, then sawdust (if needed) and then carpets. We take away the carpets and then shift all the sawdust onto one tarp for easy clean up. But this place saw sawdust go directly on the ground, then tarps, then more sawdust, then carpets, then flooding, so more sawdust, new carpets and then tiles and lord knows what else... It's going to be a mess. Let's just hope nothing else goes wrong in the remaining week on this site!

Stern Words

The tale of Y's ankle injury goes on and the bulk of the burden appears to be falling (unfairly, in my opinion) on the trio as a whole. When Y finally did get back from the doctor's office he announced that he was still unable to jump or do any lifting for another two weeks. Naturally, trio member M took that to mean that Y wouldn't be doing the act and that the trio would continue to operate as a duo until Y was healed.

The circus did not agree. They'd had about enough of Y's bullshit, and rightly so. He may not have been able to do the group acro number, or the trio for which he was hired, but there are other group scenes, other moments. It was time he was back in the show doing at least something warrant the salary he was still earning.

At dinner the night of his return he was flat out told he would be doing the show that night, that the medical visits were arranged so that the trio would have time to rehearse and make the necessary changes to their act, and that nothing short of a trio would be tolerated. He made many excuses, shifted a lot of the blame onto his partners, and only shut up when told that if the director of the circus had to be brought into this, he would be very angry.

Eventually, the trio was brought in for a meeting with both the director of the circus and the director of artists. All I can say for certain is that it was extremely upsetting for the other two members of the trio who have been busting their asses to fulfill the terms of their contract and keep the trio in good light.

So far, tensions seem to have been eased. But seeing as this has been a roller coaster of a journey for the last two months or more, I don't see the issue as having been put to bed. I guess we'll have some more news in two weeks...

Juggling Chic

Do you like juggling but feel that your wardrobe is frustratingly ill equipped to reflect that fact? If so, then do I ever have good news for you! The fine folks at Juggling Fashion have some seriously sweet tees that are just waiting for some fine young juggler to sport them.

The one pictured above is my favourite, but there are others, as well as trapeze, unicycle, clown, and magician options.

Get 'em while they're hot!

You Could Say These Artists Are Nuts

Seeing as I consider the squirrel to be my totem animal, this is pretty apt.

A Little Uneven

There is an art, or rather a knack, for getting caravans level. The further along the tour we go, the more tricks I learn. But there are some places that are just out to get you. Say, for example, the ground is a little sloped and one side of your caravan ends up looking like this:

While the other, looks like this:

I think I need to get some more blocks from the workshop...

My Name Is Mud

It rained. It rained, and rained, and then rained some more. It doesn't seem to matter where we go, there's always rain. And then, there's always mud. So... Much... Mud...

Bad Neighbour

We arrived on the new site and were surprised to find that there was already sawdust laid down. It turns out that a rival Swiss circus, let's call them Circus Elbow, had been here not too long before and neglected to clean up after themselves.

My circus takes great care in maintaining a good relationship with the communities where we perform. They take the idea of "leave no trace" to heart and pick up all litter, fill in all holes, smooth out all fields, and pick up every last particle of sawdust they lay down. They even go so far as to pick up any clumps of dirt that may get left on surrounding roads by the trucks before heading out of town. They are just that mindful.

Actually, no. That isn't mindful. It's normal. At least it should be. You wouldn't leave a mess in someone's home after a visit. And seeing as most of the terrains where we perform are later occupied by other circuses, it's only natural that we would leave them tidy for the other members of the circus community. That's just respect.

So you can imagine my outrage when on the morning of the build up, after torrential downpours during the night, we had to shovel out barrels, and barrels, and barrels of slopping, elephant poop infested sawdust/mud.

Circus Elbow, you are a bad circus neighbour.

Nearing the Final Straw?

There have been a number of injuries on this tour, but none have been as frustrating or saga like as that of Y. His regular problematic tendencies aside, Y's ankle injury resulted in missing three weeks of shows. When he returned to the doctor to get the okay to come back to work, he was told he had to take an additional two weeks off. The chap hired to replace him was only available for the first three week period and so the two remaining members of the trio cobbled together a duo version of their act that later integrated the two clowns.

It was assumed that after the tour break he would be returning to the show. He had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 9:30am on the first day back. The higher ups gave him many a time table so that he could get a train back from wherever he went on vacation so that he would be back on time. Y, however, only got back at 2am, was unable to get up for his appointment, and missed it entirely.

Needless to say, the circus was not amused.

It's four hours before show time and no one has seen head nor tails of him. It's unlikely that the trio have time to rehearse before the sold out premiere, and that's even if Y is fit to return to work. I'm pretty sure the circus is within it's rights to terminate his contract, if not now, very soon. I, for one, am very curious to see how all this will play out.

Tour Break

We just finished up our tour break for the season. A whopping three full days off with two half days bookending the whole. All of my cast mates opted to get the hell out of Dodge and either go home or visit friends (translation: party). What did I do, you ask? I think this image sums it up nicely...

And the Tony Goes To...

By now you've probably heard that PIPPIN won a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, not to mention Tony's for Direction of a Musical (Diane Paulus), Leading Actress in a Musical (Patina Miller), and Featured Actress in a Musical (Andrea Martin).

The incredibly talented and all-around phenomenal lady Gypsy Snider of les 7 doigts de la main was the mastermind behind the circus creation of the show.

I could show you the PIPPIN medley from the Tony Awards, but way more fun is the reaction of the cast upon learning the announcement that their show just won a flippin' Tony. Congratulations, PIPPIN!

Well Said

In other news, my back is trying to kill me again.

From Surviving the World

Yellow and Red

My brother once asked me if all circus tents are yellow and red. Apparently he's not the only one under that impression...

source: Unknown

And Circus Folk

How fitting. Especially since it feels like we haven't seen the sun in months. Seriously, Switzerland. Get it together.

from Surviving the World

Love of Circus, Love or Circus

While warming up for a show one afternoon, I glanced over at one of my cast mates and couldn't help but notice a certain look in his eye. It was a look I knew far too well, having had it myself more times than I care to recall. It was also a look that I'd seen quite a lot over these first few months of the tour...

It's hard to talk about heartbreak without becoming maudlin or falling into cliché. But I swear, looking at his eyes, I could see him trembling at the core. There's no escaping that rawness, and I know that for me, having to perform in that state is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But that is a topic for another post.

What all of this really makes me wonder is if it's possible to have lasting love in the circus? When the news that yet another member of our little troupe had ended it with their significant other (this was the fourth couple to split in in so many months), one of my colleagues wondered aloud "Do any couples make it in the circus?"

I immediately started listing off all the happily married and solid circus couples I knew, some where both partners are in the circus, some not. And while that list made me feel better in the moment, I was left with lingering doubt.

It's one thing to be with someone while on tour, but tours end and visas expire. Who knows where the next contract will lead, and for how long? Many couples try to make it last, but if the stats on this tour are any indication, few make it. When I first started working at my previous circus, my then-boyfriend (with whom I had been for two and a half years) and I barely lasted a month.

As magical and wonderful as circus life can be, it can also be extremely lonely. Facebook is really good at reminding you of that. My news feed is constantly flooded with engagement announcements, wedding pictures, and baby updates. I know that isn't the life I want just yet and that I would be terribly bored if I suddenly found myself tied down somewhere. But I'm going to be 30 this year. Shouldn't I have all this sorted out by now? Aren't these the things I'm supposed to want?

And I do want most of those things some day. But I still haven't been to Asia or Australia and hope very much to find work there, not to mention the handful of countries in Europe and South America I still want to visit. And there are so many exciting companies out there, and interesting projects in the works! I haven't performed in a German variété yet, or done some crazy gig in Dubai. Not to mention all the social circus I would still like to be a part of.

But with every year I'm away, the fewer and fewer people I still have waiting for me in my home town. Every new contract feels like starting from scratch. New friends, new ties, new home... It's hard to meet and keep new people in your life when you leave a town as suddenly as you appeared.

I do ache for those roots, and as much as I want to live out all those aforementioned adventures, the desire to share those adventures with someone else keeps pushing its way forward.

So how do you do it? How do you balance the love of circus and this crazy circus life with that most basic human need for love? How do you build a foundation with someone when the most solid thing in your life can be torn down and packed into a truck in a matter of hours?

I'd try and answer that question but the tent needs to be put up, the sawdust put down, and the show, as always, must go on...

Surprise!

One fun thing about my circus is that it offers free postcards that the public can fill out and the circus will then mail on their behalf. The office staff goes through the postcards to make sure no rude messages go out as the image on the card is the poster of the show and doubles as publicity.

And so one cool, rainy Swiss day, one of the chaps at the office came across a postcard threatening to blow up the circus.

As horrifying as that sounds, it should be noted that the threat was allegedly made by Osma Bin Laden, so... maybe not too serious? Nevertheless, the director of the circus was notified and he said that protocol dictates that the police be notified.

That's when two of Biel's finest arrived on bicycles.

Take that, Bin Laden!

The threat really was taken seriously, though. Images of the card were sent to the highest levels and supposedly a writing analysis was done. Basically it was the bosses of the bike cops who would decide whether there would be a show, or if the entire tent would need to be evacuated.



Many coffees at the buffet tent later, the bike cops informed the circus that the threat probably wasn't legitimate and that the show, already underway, could go on.

It was only the following day that anyone mentioned this to me, and even then, we (the artists) weren't supposed to know.

Feel free to make your own explosion related pun.

Oh No! Not Again!

If there's an award for Season With Most Injuries, I think that the tour of 2013 is a heavy contender to win it.

Our costume woman was trying to get into her compartment after the stairs had been put away for transport and didn't quite make it. The resulting fall left her with a dislocated shoulder and a minimum of three weeks on the side lines.

It's incredible how the absence of just one person can weigh so heavily on a circus. Build up and tear down are a fast and furious frenzy, and when someone is missing, it's as though the entire circus stumbles over itself. If one step in the process is delayed, somehow no one can do their job properly! X can't be done until Y is completed, but Y can't be completed unless Z is moved out of the way and so forth and so on. And that's just build up and tear down. There are all the day to day tasks as well.

Here's wishing M a speedy recovery and even more importantly, that things settle down on the injury front.