IT was great to be able to go along to see Cirque Berserk! for once and not have them try to kill me.
In my previous existence as a journalist, I twice “ran away” to join Britain’s biggest theatre-circus spectacular and was invited (some might say “forced…”) to join in a couple of their most dangerous acts.
That would probably explain that, while the packed crowd at the EICC screamed and clapped and cheered as Toni, the fastest knife-thrower in the business, apparently, hurled razor-sharp blades, murderous-looking axes and even flaming torches at his wife Nikol, I was sat having PTSD-style flashbacks of the time I was the one strapped to the board as the grinning Czech sent his knives thudding into it inches from my noggin.
For many, the highlight of Zippo’s adrenaline-fuelled show is the Lucius Team, five – demonstrably mental – Brazilian bikers who hurtle around inside the legendary Globe Of Death at up to 60mph. I couldn’t tear my eyes off the scene as one of their circus chums stood in the centre of the Globe as they sped around inches from her head, mainly because I’d once been in her shoes and the roar of the engines and the tang of two-stroke was bringing me out in a cold sweat!
This is a real high-energy spectacular – there’s a giant robot, natch – with a pounding soundtrack keeping up the pulse rate but as well as the stunts there is more traditional circus artistry including aerialists and acrobats. One chap had my heart in my mouth when he performed a “headstand” balancing solely on a small stand that he was gripping in his mouth – oh, his poor molars!
And you can’t have a circus without clowns and the diminutive Brazilian Paulo Dos Santos provides the laughs – as well as the heart – of the show. He started out as a strongman and his role has expanded not just to clowning but to aerial rope work as well and he had the kids around me chortling into their popcorn.
One sequence that seemed straight out of The Prisoner, when Patrick McGoohan’s No.6 is attacked by the Village’s inflatable guard Rover, saw Paulo disappear into a giant balloon in a manner that defied physics as well as every tenet of Health and Safety. I still don’t know how he breathed.
Don’t worry if you suffer from coulrophobia (fear of clowns), either, as Paulo and his sidekick aren’t dressed Pennywise-style in trad Harlequin get-up with frankly creepy white faces but in Morecambe and Wise-style brown caretakers’ coats.
If you’re looking for family thrills, this is certainly the show for you.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/cirque-berserk
Alan Shaw
