Blog watch

Here is yet another great blog. I'll let it speak for itself.

"Raffaele De Ritis' Novelties and Wonders
Journal, Cabinet, Multilingual Parlour, Untranslated Conference Room, Repository of Erudite Pastimes, even a Gymnasium for the Polemist and the Humorist; Consacrated to Oddities and Facts Concerning Peculiarities of Theatrical Amusements related to the Circus, Conjuring, Comedy etc.; their Connections with Fine Arts; the Uncovering the Curiosities of their Past, and the Critical and Hopefully Provocative Account of what of Interest is Remaining of their Uncertain Present. Profusely Illustrated."

http://raffaelederitis.blogspot.com/

Discovery

It is a wonderful thing to be curious. I never know what I might discover.

Find a website that has a link page; follow the links to another page and their link page, and so on and so on. (Of course, you better set aside some extra time to do this.)

I followed a link to a sideshow page, which moved me to a performer’s page, and linked me to the page linked at the end of this article.

Did I ever mention I am selfish? I almost want to keep this a secret, a little piece of magic I own. Yet, I realize there are so few opportunities to experience something so original and so magical.

In my experience, I come across a lot of performers, some good, a few great, most bad. Most don’t know good from bad, but that is another essay. The great masses of performers fall into a predictable cookie-cutter blur. It is why I stopped hanging around comedy clubs. Airplane routine, followed by cat routine, fast food routine, “I broke up with me girlfriend because she dumped me.” etc. etc. etc.

Rarely, a performer will stand out, like a Mac King. Original. Cirque Du Soleil creates its own alternate universe. Original. (Not that a classic act can’t work and work well, a la Lance Burton.) In is just when you see something new to your world, it adds so much more.

Back to this website, it describes a show I have never seen and may never see. It could suck. But not in my head. See it, I felt lost in a daze of wonder like Alice down the rabbit hole. They created such an alternate world as Alice experienced.

As a writer, I should be able to describe anything; a loss for words is not an option. I look at what they’ve done with awe, admiration, a bit of jealousy, and wonder.

See it for yourself: Insect Circus Museum & Peep-Show Mechanical Menagerie

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
--Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898), Alice in Wonderland

The Zoppé Family Circus

Today, while Doug Higley was writing about the “new” Ringling Bros. Circus, I attended one of the final local performances of the Zoppé Family Circus. Zoppé is a throwback, not a hundred years, but over a hundred and fifty years. The family has been in the circus business since 1842.

They now run a single ring, 500-seat tent show. It really is an intimate family affair. That girl who sells souvenirs, she is also an acrobat. Another beauty selling lemonade works the trapeze. The guy hawking the cotton candy and popcorn juggles and dances on the slack rope.

83-year-old Poppa Alberto Zoppé came to America in the early 40s when he appeared in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. His son, Giovanni is NINO the clown and the center piece of the show and the business.

He revived the show and has been trying to make a go of it ever since. The competition from larger shows, gas prices, and an uneducated public make it a tough go. They don’t carry with them the trappings of other small circuses or carnivals: no games, sideshows, or mitt camps. The show is everything and really, the only thing they sell. Okay, there is a ding at intermission, if you want to take a photo with a miniature horse.

What a wonderful show they put on. When I was a child, my parents took me to the circus. It was the Ringling show at Chicago’s International Amphitheatre. I don’t remember much; I was too young. The show was too big show; this is the first small show I’ve seen.

The show starts before you enter the tent. The performers come out with musical instruments in hand. They get the audience going with a traditional Italian sing-a-long and some dancing. Inside, it smells like circus, all sawdust and canvas.

The acts are classic circus: trapeze, trained dogs, juggling, slack rope, and acrobatics. However, NINO is the real star of the show. He plays off the ringmaster/clown/heavy/bad guy. The ringmaster constantly trying to ruin NINO’s fun and NINO getting the best of him in the end. All to the audiences delight and sometimes to my jaded eyes’ surprise. New wrinkles and clever twists had me smiling and laughing.

This satisfying show warmed my nostalgic heart. The Zoppé Circus is now headed to New York. Those of you that can, see them. Rather than thank me, thank the Zoppés for keeping these traditions alive.

(Doug Higley’s Pygmyland Herald is linked on the side bar. And you can visit The Zoppé Family Circus at http://www.zoppe.net.)