Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A BIG CATCH SOCIAL
THE French foot jugglers are itching to kick off, the Spanish hand balancers are smothered in antibac and the contortionists are bending over backwards to be ready.
Paulo Dos Santos the Brazilian acrobat is flipping his 3ft 6ins frame around the ring and the aerial artists are hanging about high on pre-show excitement.
I, however, am standing against a white board gouged with deep blade marks, trying to stop myself shaking.
“It’s important you don’t move,” says Toni Novoltini, the High Speed Knife Thrower from the Czech Republic, stating the bleedin’ obvious.
“My wife is my usual assistant and I’ve never hit her – but I did pin her dress to the board once.”
Before I can ask if he has practised much recently, a huge metal knife whistles past my face close enough to trim my eyebrows.
Six more thud into the target and, as I check my limbs are intact, a huge cheer goes up from the assembled ensemble. I have passed my in-tents audition for Zippos Circus, the spectacular family show that is finally back in action after four months of corona lockdown.
The big top is up again on Southsea Common, in Hampshire, ahead of a nationwide tour, and the 80-strong community have been working flat out to make things safe.
As circuses are classed as outdoor venues they have now been allowed to reopen ahead of theatres.
So, roll up, roll up, ladies, gentlemen and children and take your socially-distanced seats for the greatest covidcompliant show on earth.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be back,” says founder and director Martin Burton, aka Zippo the Clown. “We are calling this the Rebound Tour as we’re