In September of 2003 several members of our household put on a circus. Headed by Clownie, the group practiced for many weeks and days before finale getting the show together and putting it on for us. The circus was held in a tent created on the deck by Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (who also did all of the costumes). It was a nice day, perfect for the spectacular show. Before the show Doggie and his volunteer assistants Moos, Booy and myself, Edgar, provided food. There was blue and pink cotton candy, chocolate chip cookies, animal crackers and a variety of soda. Everyone was grateful for Doggie's yummy treats.

After a fine opening speech from Clownie the circus began. Panda did an amazing tricycle act in which he did many tricks, such as juggling while riding. My favorite trick was when he stood on his head, pedaled with his hands and steered the tricycle with his feet! I am sure that it took lots of practice for that! For a finale he jumped a large ramp and sailed into the air, making a perfect landing! Panda's act was a great opener.

The second act of the night was a fantastic gorilla act done by our resident gorilla Pongo. Pongo began with a climbing display in which he climbed up the lattice work on the deck. Next he demonstrated his strength by lifting many heavy things - including Annie (the result of which was an angry kick directed towards the gorilla). For a finale he juggled bananas, but since he kept eating them as they flew by he soon ran out. All in all it was highly entertaining and original!

The third act of the show was Easter the pig and her baton twirling. I must admit that I have never before seen as much variety in the field of batons! the multi-talented pig spun the baton not only with her right and left hands, but also with her right and left feet, never dropping or pausing in the spinning once during the entire act! I also found the sequin covered baton to be most eye catching and a clever design element no doubt imposed by the costume designers.

This was followed by a combination act done by Perry the penguin and Bully. The act had a distinctly Spanish feel to it and included a very interesting mock bull fight, complete with Perry the bull fighter waving a little red cape. The bull fight ended with both performers in a heap and rounds of applause and the roar of laughter. A few acrobatics followed, in which Perry somersaulted through the air to be caught by Bully. The finale was extremely entertaining, as Bully did an authentic Mexican hat dance to the strains of Perry's Spanish guitar, complete with Bully's accompaniment on the maracas. The crowd really loved this new act!

The fifth act of the show was Clownie. He began by warming up with a few jokes (such as "Why did the cookie go to the hospital? - It was feeling crummy! and What do you call your puppy in the summertime? - a hot dog!) and then used his skill at making balloon animals to impress the audience. Many spectators called out requests and Clownie happily fulfilled them, giving them to audience members. A few of his creations included an elephant, a tiger, a mother and baby poodle, a flamingo and the ever-popular bear. After this sweet and heartwarming act the circus broke for a short intermission, which was mainly used to take advantage of Doggie's delicious snack table.

After everyone was loaded up with their favorite circus snacks Ellie wowed us all with her elephant act. She began by jumping rope both forwards and backwards, and then finished up with some juggling and a balancing bit wherein she balance a ball on the end of her trunk while doing several intricate poses and finale again jumping rope!. After that Rainbow entered the ring and rode Ellie around in circles, performing tricks of her own atop the pink elephant. The agile bear stood on her head and also did a bit of juggling, which was very impressive despite the fact that she lost half of the balls - it was still much better than I could do, especially while riding on an elephant! In the end, Ellie stood on her hind legs on her pink pedestal, holding rainbow up with only her trunk! It was quite an act!

The seventh act of the night brought us Roary and his amazing lion segment. The clever lion began by demonstrating many tricks, including having a volunteer from the audience (Moos) stick his head inside of the lions ferocious mouth! His finale was really something, as he jumped through a flaming hoop using his trampoline! Of course, Annie was standing by with the garden hose in case of any accidents (don't try this yourselves - Roary is a trained lion and unless you are also a trained lion you could get hurt. In fact, it is best if you don't try any of the tricks performed at this circus yourself!).

The next act brought a bit of variety to the show. Lammy and Speedy did a varied dance routine for us, beginning with more traditional types of music. As the kaleidoscope of music went from jazz to pop, rock, country, R & B and even some of Spud's rap music, the dance routine changed seamlessly from one style to the next. This entertaining segment ended to the strains of "I Will Survive" in a disco theme, complete with a rainbow light ball that was carefully hung by Buster Thomas and used a total of four extension cords!

The ninth performance of the night almost ended in disaster! Annie had managed to capture the new kitten Feanor and tie a rope to his flea collar. She then proceeded to lead him around the ring saddled by Charles the frog to cheers and gasps from the audience. Things went well for the first few moments, but as the act continued something went horribly wrong. The cat suddenly rolled over, causing Charles the frog to fall to the ground. Then, without an ounce of remorse, the cat pounced on the fallen performer and proceeded to maul him! What a spectacle! Annie tugged on the rope in hopes of somehow salvaging the performance, but it was not to be. Finally, out of desperation and fear for her fallen comrade, she surrendered and rescued the shaken frog from the kitten's grasp. The cat was put back in the house, and Charles was examined for wounds and found to be in perfect order except for a few very shallow scratches which Oinkers happily remedied with band aids, himself being used to the procedure through his alien campaign to trim the cats' whiskers.

The next to last act was performed by Sonnett and was a clever variation on the singing tightrope act she performed at last year's circus. The musical rabbit walked the tightrope with the aid of her umbrella, singing a variety of catchy show tunes that she assures us are out of Broadway plays. At the end of a rousing rendition of "Okalahoma", the talented rabbit leapt from the tightrope and landed safely in the pile of pillows below to a round of applause.

Hug Me performed the final set of the show. Dressed in his cowboy hat he proceeded to show us a variety of trick shooting with his authentic western-style bee bee gun. He shot tin cans, plastic bottles and even shot the bull's-eye of a small target. His act impressed us all, and ended with his promising many audience members to teach them the proper care and safe use of a pellet gun (including this reporter).

After Hug Me's act the entire troupe of performers was greeted by a rousing standing ovation, and much cheering. I think everyone agrees when I say this was the best circus yet and that we cannot wait till next year's performance!

The 2003 circus performers:
Hug-Me, Annie, Clownie,
Ellie, Pongo, Easter,
Charles, Roary, Panda, Sonnett
Lammy, Rainbow, Perry, Bully, Speedy

Copyright © Edgar & Oinkers 2003