Great Moscow Circus
Alexandra Park
Review: Louisa Cleave
The Moscow Circus is a reminder of how dull life can be.
Under the big top, it's okay to clown around at the office, especially if you are Diamandi and Ermachenkov, the resident Russian funny guys with big shoes and loud blusher.
Using the coat stand as a juggling prop and bringing your pets to work are all part of the job for the band of international circus superstars who make up the Great Moscow Circus.
If every kid would love to join the circus then I wonder if, like me, a few adults also dreamed of a career move after 90 minutes captivated by the Moscow circus.
It's as far away from any circus I can remember - those politically incorrect travelling shows which rolled into our country town with their chimps, lion and an elephant, put them through a few standard tricks and then rolled out.
The modern circus line-up is mostly two-legged and puts on a polished show which most of the time moves along at good speed and offers up plenty of laughs, suspense and "death- defying feats", to use circus- speak.
All this is backed by a live circus band and served to the audience by flamboyant ringmaster Sasha Frish.
The Globe of Death is a thriller to watch with three motorbikes zooming around inside a giant steel egg-like structure.
Their timing was perfect, unlike a couple of the stilt jumpers and acrobats who found it was three-times lucky for some stunts.
Depending on your outlook, this either offers up more suspense or a few extra laughs.
Hugo Zamoratte offered one of the more surreal moments when he contorted his body to fit inside a giant bottle. The feat could have come straight off the Guinness Book of Records television show.
With the timing of an acrobatic back flip, the circus is in town during the school holidays.
But even if you don't have a child to take along as cover, it's worth making up an excuse and slipping out of the office early.
Circus fun for all
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