Last weekend, I took Mazzy to the circus with my mom and my sister. I haven't been to the circus since I was about ten so it was very interesting to see it from an adult perspective.
For one thing, on the drive in, we passed all the traveling trailers lined up in the parking lot. It was a massive amount of them— like an entire alternative city in the middle of Long Island. And even though this was Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, the trailers were dated and dingy and not that dissimilar from something you'd find on the set of Like Water For Elephants.
Except the circus in Like Water For Elephants traveled by train, didn't they?
Never mind. You get the picture I'm trying to paint though, right?
Clothes lines and strands of lights and outdoor table set-ups— it was clear each one was owned by an acrobat, a clown, or an animal tamer and this was a way of life, not a day job.
During the show, while Mazzy admired the colorful spectacles and the oddly docile animals, all I could think about was circus romance and politics.
Did the motorcyclists look down on the clowns? Were the trapeze artists sleeping together? Did the lion tamers get all the girls?
And then every once in awhile, I'd think something along the lines of…
The elephant clumbsily standing on one leg can't possibly be happy…
Or…
I really hope today is not the day the lion decides to enact revenge…
And the whips. The whips made me uneasy.
But pesky thoughts of animal cruelty aside, we all very much enjoyed the circus. It was just laden with a lot more context than I remembered.
I know what you're thinking!
You're thinking— how the hell did you have time to focus on CONTEXT when you were busy corralling a two-year-old so she didn't run straight into the ring, mount a horse and join up on the spot?
WELL. This is gonna be like when you watch an episode of The Simpsons and the episode starts out being about one thing and then midway through, you realize the episode is actually about something else entirely.
This post is actually about revealing THE GREATEST SECRET to "toddler-circus-going" EVER.
This is super specific. So specific, it might not pertain to anyone going to the circus at any place other than the Nassau Colleseum. And it's so good, I can't believe I'm sharing.
Last weekend, we discovered "BOX SEATS".
And I'm not talking about fabulous super expensive box seats that are only available to the owner of Coca Cola and assorted Masters of the Universe.
I'm talking about box seats masquerading as ROW M in the 200s section. They cost exactly the same as any of the other seats around it and we bought them totally by accident. In the seating diagram, they just look like the last row in the section.
We didn't know what we were getting until the usher pointed us to them. At which point, I might have screamed and did a little happy dance.
ROW M has cushy velvet seats, sits higher above the rest of the section and is almost totally enclosed by a wall. This means your toddler is free to run around, stand up, kick the wall, lay out her food stuffs on the ledge in front of her, etc. without bothering anybody.
PLUS— she can't get out!
I say this as a parent who took her child to see Sesame Street Live and was so traumatized by the experience that I have yet to write about it. Basically, Mazzy had a hard time understanding why the aisle leading up to the stage wasn't a direct invitation and we practically had to duct tape her to the seat to keep her from bumrushing Cookie Monster.
So the circus was a very nice change.
Even if the trapeze artist broke the ringmaster's heart and a lion attacked a clown (not really).
Mazzy was CONTAINED and that made for a very good time.
(Well, except for the part where she ran off with the motorcyclists…)
Circuses freak me out. Always have. I was traumatized by a clown there as a kid.
I’ve NEVER been to the circus. *sad panda*
I’ve only been to the circus once, when I was little, but I remember that I was quite disappointed because I’d expected something like the circus shows on tv and I got, well, a small-town circus.
Which is why I have not made my mind up yet about whether to take my kid to the circus at all.
Also, Mazzy looks adorable trapped in that seat.
Whenever I hear about a circus I think about the one and only circus I went to when I was in 5th grade and they had those light-up flashlight gun things called Winky Blinkies…and every so often they would yell “Everyone show us your Winky Blinkies” and we would all giggle uncontrollably.
Okay I still giggle when I think about Winky Blinkies. Because I’m pretty much still 10.
I took Caitlyn last year but I was too traumatized by the protestors to go back again this year. They hand out these pamphlets telling you all the awful things they do to the animals to make them so oddly docile and that was it for me and the circus.
Did you not encounter any protestors?
Well, Poltergeist pretty much destroyed any positive associations I might have had with clowns up until that point.
Turn that *sad panda* into a *sad elephant* and you’re pretty much half way there.
I went to a small town circus once and it’s way different. But not exactly more or less impressive. At least you know everything is real tricks and not rigs. I have my doubts about some things with Barnum & Bailey.
Although the animals are all equally as sad, I’m guessing.
I did not see any protestors. They probably hate the Long Island Expressway just as much as I do.
I know this is going to sound so weird, but in college I took an honors class for my “Viewing A Wider World” requirement called The American Circus. Our final consisted of a trip to a cirus wearing red clown noses. It really was a great class, even if it had nothing to do with my degree.
ON the personal politics of the circus, PBS did a reality show on it a couple years ago. The six-episode series is online here, http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/video/. It was soooo good.
I played violin in the pit orchestra for a Summer Musical Theater program for 5 years in/around high school. Did you know there is a musical based on the life of P.T. Barnum? Well, now you do. You’re welcome.
(No, I have nothing to add to the idea of going to a circus… maybe I saw Dumbo a few too many times? Something inherently bugs me about it)
Took my oldest to the circus once, she was so sad with the chains and the whips, and then cried and cried and cried … so we left halfway.
On the upside, I do not see a future in S&M for her.
The “box seat” picture is adorable. She kind of looks like she was BORN to sit in the “good seats.”
What venue is this box seat? And we need them everywhere!
Ooh, such a good tip. I’ll have to see if our arena has any seats like these.
Also, while we enjoyed the circus when it came to town a few weeks ago. I did leave with the impression that all the really good performers have gone to Cirque and Ringling Brothers has sort of accumulated the rest.
My employer prevents me from commenting on your patronizing the circus, but having seen INXS in 1987 in Nassau Coliseum’s lovely box seats, I agree with your assessment.
Not only box seats, but you also got to use the word “bumrushed.” If this were Boggle…well, you know.
I almost didn’t use it. Check out the definition they give it on Urban Dictionary. Definitely not child-friendly.
Oh that concert must have been awesome. Better than my first concert a few years later which was for (hangs head) Erasure.
And who do you work for exactly? Barnum?
The performances seem more about effects than doing impressive things with your body- a la Cirque du Soleil. Although I thought twelve motorcycles riding in one tiny sphere was incredibly impressive.
Nassau Colosseum.
Consider it an important life lesson then and pat yourself on the back.
I did know that. I was a musical theater geek, remember? I actually think one of the classes preformed it in my elementary school for a school assembly.
I will definitely check it out- thanks!
Sounds like a tough class. Was their a quiz involved or was it just an earn your grade through clown hazing kind of thing?