Apr 05 2009
WHERE ARE THE CLOWNS
Of childhood memories I treasure those involving the Circus very highly. The excitement of anticipation knowing my brothers and I would be going would cause me dizziness. From the time the Circus arrived by train and the entire group would parade through the downtown streets of Baltimore to the 5th Regiment Armory where it would give it’s performances. Each year going to the Circus was a major event for the entire town. The memories are more than fifty years old yet still vivid to me. There was one year when “Poody” Richards, the school bully, tripped me in the boys room breaking my elbow. My brothers, knowing we would not go to the Circus if Mom found out, made an improvised sling for my arm and off to the Circus we went.
For those of us having been to the Ringling Brothers / Barnum and Bailey Circus of fifty years or so past, today’s events simply cannot compare. From the live orchestra to the numerous live animals to the incredible clowns, flying trapeze, to warm roasted peanuts it was truly a wonderful experience. Over the years I’ve maintained my love for this adventure and have attended several performances of the Cole Brothers Circus which claims to be the oldest in America and is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
It’s heartbreaking to see the transformation over the years. Gone are the live orchestra, replaced by piped in music, some of which is very irritating and mundane; tigers, lions, bears and stallions are all gone as well as the chimps.
Yesterday my friend and I took her grandson to the Circus. We were in the process of budgeting this event when a friend offered free tickets. Wow, how nice. Not. It turned out they were the most expensive free tickets ever. Imagine our shock without the free tickets. We arrived an hour early for the 4:30 show and were told we could not sit together as a group and should return for the 7:30 show. This lead to a late lunch - early dinner and shopping that costs more than if we had paid for reserved advance tickets. Upon our return and seemingly three mile trek to the big top we waited in line for 45 minutes and wound our way through wood chips to our seats. The differences were noteworthy from the outset.
The Big Top was not so big. What used to be about three acres was now reduced to one acre. The size of this event was equivalent to a small elementary school auditorium. Advanced entertainment was not happening. This is where the clowns are all over the place pulling stunts and entertaining the crowd……warming us up. There was no music yet. I noticed there was little to no smells. No smell of freshly popped corn, peanuts or the sweetness of cotton candy. Upon being seated I was shocked to see there was only one ring. What? No three ring Circus? This can’t be. There it was, one sad little area where the entire show would take place. The Ringmaster was in the process of telling us to put our hands together and welcome the troupe of Circus Clowns. All three of them. No miniature car with several dozen clowns piling out of it, no clowns running all over the place doing so many silly, hilarious things to keep us entertained. The wild animal show was a brief cute performance of a number of dogs along with a miniature horse. Four camels made a brief appearance walking around in a circle while a number of scantily clad ladies danced around them. The motorcycle caged riders were still there, tight rope walkers did nicely and the three elephants did their thing.
I wanted some warm roasted peanuts. There were none. There was $5 Cokes, $4 snow cones, and $5 bagged cotton candy. Previously made, bagged cotton candy. You’ve got to be kidding me. I didn’t want to know how much popcorn was. The show started twenty minutes late and before we knew it we were being told to be sure and get our tickets for our kids to have a camel ride or pony walk during intermission. Twenty minutes later it was time for the show to go on. Following one brief performance involving some talented folks juggling, doing gymnastics and various cartwheel type stuff the big cannon was rolled out and a minute later we were being thanked for attending and directed to the clowns who were selling coloring books, balloons and other items as we were leaving.
This morning I’m still feeling wounded and disappointed and I turn on the news to hear we are now teaching our high school students how to cuss and swear. Lovely, I don’t think I can handle much more. How many of our time tested and proven lifestyles will we dwindle away just to replace them with pushing the envelope items? No warm roasted peanuts, how sad.
