I turned Simon Cowell down ... there’s a lot more fun at the circus
Zippos stars are one big, happy family
IT must be tough at the Big Top.
We live in a world of blockbuster movies, PlayStations and enough streaming YouTube videos to melt your broadband connection.
Meanwhile the circus – which dates back to Roman times – seems stuck in the past.
Jugglers and trapeze acts seem quaint compared to watching giant 3-D robots knock lumps out of each other at the multiplex.
Death-defying stunts? Tune in to Britain’s Got Talent.
Taking the family to the Big Top might seem a thing of the past – but the crowds still roll up, roll up to Zippos Circus.
One of the UK’s leading circuses, Zippos has arrived in Scotland for a summer tour and The Sunday Post to take a look behind the scenes.
And you can forget the sight of creepy clowns in white facepaint squirting each other with trick flowers on their lapels.
This is a modern circus, with an act thrilling enough to reach the Britain’s Got Talent final appearing every 10 minutes or so.
Not that many of the acts would want to, though.
“I’ve been asked to go on Britain’s Got Talent a few times but I’ve always turned them down,” says Emilion Delbosq, 32, the closest thing Zippos has to a clown.
“I’m not going to let Simon Cowell judge me as a comedian. What does he know about it?
“If it was David Walliams I’d listen because he’s a comedian, but the rest of the panel? No thanks.
“You don’t see carpenters judging singers.
“Don’t get me wrong, Britain’s Got Talent has some good acts.
“But nothing’s new. What you see on BGT may be the first time you’ve seen it, but we saw it 30 years ago when my grandfather was doing it.”
Emilion, like most of Zippos’ cast, comes from a long line of circus performers.
His act – mucking around with a Henry Hoover, blowing smoke rings and gurning for the crowd – is more like a Lee Evans performance than the traditional circus clown. The cast, are a tight-knit family. A united nations of performers mingle with each other – from the Argentinean twirlers to the Kenyan acrobat troupe or the Mongolian hula hoop artist.
A baby, possibly belonging to a Kazakh horse stuntwoman, is happily breastfed at ringside.
“We’re like a family here,” says Nicolas Souren, a world champion juggler. “On our days off we hang out and have a barbecue.
““I’m here with my wife and child so it’s a good family atmosphere.”
Nicholas isn’t the only one travelling with a child.
There’s the jocular Toni, a knifethrower from the Czech Republic, who chucks blades at his assistant, who also happens to be his wife.
He tells me how he threw them at her up the day they found out she was pregnant with their child.
There’s barely–contained pride as he reveals their child will perhaps one day be part of the show.
Meanwhile Germaine Delbosq, Emilion’s sister, is married to Gabriel, from Argentina.
Their daughter Carina travels with them and is now part of their deadly-looking Bolas act, spinning flaming weights around on cords.
“I’m grateful for my life in the circus,” she beams. “I’ve seen so much of the world – South Africa, Italy, South America, the Caribbean.
“It’s like a holiday. Of course you have to work but we’re a family and we love to make people smile.”
Circuses have been criticised for their treatment of animals, but you won’t find any depressed elephants here.
There are horses for the Cossack Riders, but the SSPCA have visited Zippos and have given them the green light.
Zippos realise tastes have changed and, instead of roaring tigers, you’re instead confronted with roaring motorcycles whizzing round the Globe of Death.
The risk of injury is always real and circus performers, like actors, have their own superstitions.
We’re pointedly warned to not sit ringside facing away from the centre. It will horrify the troupe.
“Someone once sat with their back to the ring while a tiger was in the centre,” explains Emilion. “The tiger reached out and… that was it.
“There’s nothing like coming to the circus,” adds Emilion. “You walk in to the Big Top and smell the sawdust, the popcorn and the candy floss . . . it’s unique.
For tour dates, see zippos.co.uk