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On August 22nd, 1988 I followed the Shrine Circus* down the bumpy road of disappointment. My childhood memories of watching elephants help set up the Barnum & Bailey big top in the Moncton Mall parking lot were wispy with cotton candy-like nostalgia. Me and my friend Tommy would go to show after show, memorizing the routines and laughing our heads off at the crazy clowns. I especially loved the sideshow with sword swallowers and bearded ladies. I vividly recall a wide-eyed fire-eater licking his flaming torches and marvelling in his exotic accent, “Mmmmm, tastes like Big Mac!”
Now, years later, I found myself back at the circus with my girlfriend and her ten-year-old brother. I was hoping to instil the same nostalgia in the young lad that I enjoyed but alas, the olde-school circus was clearly on it’s way out of fashion.
The Shriner’s had set up their tent in the Champlain Place shopping mall parking lot. There was nary an elephant in sight when we punched our tickets and inside we found only a single ring (not three) and a distinct lack of clowns. All the acts were tired and clichéd, the animals looked sad and tired, and springing for three popcorns and sodas cost me nearly a week’s pay. It was two hours of mounting ennui and receding entertainment.
I wonder sometimes if the overall circus experience had changed so much or if the filter of my young eyes had prevented me from seeing the cheap, ugly reality beyond the flimsy façade all those years ago. I suppose in retrospect it’s fortunate that there was no sideshow option this time; at least some of my memories remain untainted by the Shriner’s.
Either way it’s no surprise that the circus industry was about to get turned completely on it’s head courtesy of a couple of juggling buskers armed with a Quebec arts grant. Cirque du Soleil would soon bury the three-ring circus industry altogether. For me the takeover didn’t come quite soon enough.
*Not to be confused with the Shriner’s Circus. I just noticed a disclaimer on the ticket stub that states unequivocally – and in significantly small print – that proceeds did not, in fact, go to help crippled children.
Todd Man Out 