And behold, Circus Maximus is back for it’s second year!
The Underbelly talent show that aims to find the best circus performer in the UK… or at least the best one who applied to the competition. Given that the performers cite Sheffield, Bristol, Forest of Dean and Loughborough as their places of origin, there seems to be a decent geographical representation of England.
If you like Britain’s Got Talent, X-Factor, or one of the other derivative TV talent shows – and if you like circus – then this week of competition is probably the event for you. It runs to much the same formula as those more well known outputs (heats followed by a final), except on a smaller scale, with no irrelevant explorations of the entrants’ emotional backstories; and Simon Cowell isn’t allowed in the building. So it’s better. Much better in fact.
Tonight’s first heat sees Ian Marchant playfully warming up the crowd, and skilfully showing off a vast array of juggling and vaudeville tricks in between acts. His timing is excellent, and he draws in the audience while nicely taking the focus away from some of the setups and rigging changes. My favourite part of the night is a line of introduction to a trick that sees Marchant catch 6 spoons in 6 cups simultaneously (I won’t ruin it for you, as I have a feeling he may use it more than once).
There is a good variety of acts, starting with Tori McGrory’s Lollipop, an aerial rope act that is all cutesy fifties smirks and smiles. I also saw this act at Gravity Aerial Academy’s recent graduate show, A Night of Gravity, and it definitely seems consistent; she looks confident up there.
The second act, Fulcrum Circus, look a little more hesitant, with a few wobbles in places. Simon Scotting and Emily Rose’s hand-to-hand act has some good moments, (plus she’s bendy and he’s strong so they are able to make nice shapes); however, without a real rise into more complicated moves, the number doesn’t feel heavy hitting enough. In duo acts, a story of partners coming together and moving apart emotionally has been done to death, so you have to nail it or it feels repetitive – a trap Fulcrum unfortunately fall into.
The winners of the night, Jalina (Helina Griffiths and Janine Elizabeth Mahon), perform on an aerial hoop, rigged at its sides so it can turn horizontally in the air. Despite having a truly bizarre name for their act – Clockworkkittenpig – they win over the audience with a well rounded number. Costumes, movements and music all work together to give a strange off kilter feel and, as they sail over and past each other while the hoop spins on it’s axis, the audience really get behind them.
Full disclosure: I have worked with Andy Wakeford and Simon Ratzker from Flambé Circus in the past. Their entry, Disco Wars, with Tor Callis and Helena Parsons, is the circus equivalent of Tron; using a range of different object manipulation skills and disciplines lit with LED’s and pyrotechnics, it’s an ambitious act. It feels like it would work better on a bigger stage as a couple of the isolations don’t work so well if you aren’t dead centre. Though this temperamental technology presents two problems this evening, the troupe are clearly well rehearsed. The partner poi is the best element of the act.
The last contenders, Arbor Circus, use an aerial cradle, but unfortunately the space doesn’t allow for duo Darryl Carrington and Gemma Michael’s trademark swinging. It’s a good strong act, where Carrington and Michael are accompanied by a live violinist who gives a lot of warm human presence to the act. The flips and catches draw probably the biggest gasp of the evening. The cradle is a big impressive piece of equipment to use, and Arbor do so very well. This is a short excerpt from a longer show, which I would like to see!
Circus Maximus is fun, and you don’t know what you’re going to get. Plus you get to decide who goes through to the final round. From my experience tonight, Saturday’s final between the week’s winners should be of a very high quality.
Circus Maximus. Udderbelly, Jubilee Gardens, London SE1 8XX. 8-12th July. £17.50-19.50. https://www.underbelly.co.uk/node/5382253
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