I had been chatting to Zippos Circus

On Twitter

For sometime

Sharing circus stories

And photos of my wannabe acrobats

Esther and William are mad about the circus

Crazy for clowns

Addicted to acrobatics

Delighted by daring tricks

Slapstick

And courageous magical acts

They were absolutely over the moon

When we were invited to visit Zippos Circus

In Brighton

We decided to make a day

Of our trip to the sea

So arrived in time

To watch an Open House session

Where Norman Barrett MBE

Was explaining how some of the animals

Cats and budgerigars

Are cared for

And trained for the show

We all loved Norman

And his budgie troupe of many colours

Getting a peek behind the scenes

Made us all the more excited about seeing

The actual show

I love the circus

I always have done

Ever since reading Enid Blyton’s

Here Comes The Circus

As a little girl

There is something special about the circus

Something magical

I love the family focus

The talent and skill

The teamwork

At Zippo’s Circus

Everyone is working all the time

Everyone helps with set changes

Safety checks

And as well as their own acts

They often play a supporting role

In another set

If you want to show children

Cooperation and collaboration in action

Take them to the circus

Take them to Zippos

I always feel very emotional at the circus

And Zippos was definitely the best I’ve seen

From the moment we saw the flags flying on the big top

Zippos felt special

Everyone was friendly

Talking to us

Making a fuss of the children

People were selling snacks and circus souvenirs

But never in a pushy way

The air buzzed with excitement

And anticipation of what was to come

A loud whistle sounded

Signalling the show would soon begin

We were all already on the edge

Of our ring side seats

The show begins with an audience warm up

Led by Mr Lorenz

He also uses magic to put on the lights in the ring

Esther and William were under his spell immediately

And we all enjoyed clapping

To create a piece of music with the rest of the audience

Good pantomime style fun

This was followed by a dance of lights

That ended with the ringmaster

Norman Barrett MBE

Taking to the stage to introduce the rest of the acts

Here was a professional ringmaster

A clear voice

A storyteller

A leader

A gentleman

We all immediately warmed to him

As he guided us through our Zippos journey

Our circus story

Beginning with a brief introduction

To all the acts that would follow

This was a high energy start to the show

That really got us in the mood

For what was to come

The first act was probably my least favourite

The spider lady

Spinning and juggling with her hands and feet

An act that takes great skill and talent

Especially as still spinning cloths on her hands and feet

She was hoisted high into the air

The children were entranced

The next act was cute and funny

Mr N and Speedy the dog

Performed beautifully together

A perfect pairing

Of humour and skill

Esther and William thought it was rather wonderful

The third act was fast and loud

With reverberating bangs as knives hit a spinning board

It was time for Toni Nivotny

The knife thrower

With two glamorous assistants

Taking the place of his wife

Taking turns at striking a pose

On a wooden wheel

To have knives thrown at them

In ever decreasing circles

It was nail biting stuff

Esther and William wrapped their arms around each other

As they watched

In awe and a little terrified

Unable to look away

It was wonderful!

The next act was Esther’s favourite

The horses

Beautiful big, strong horses

Esther kept asking to be reassured

That the horses were happy

And well looked after

The riders definitely seemed to have respect for their animals

And a good relationship with them

And the horses truly were beautiful

Boris the horseman

Was tumbling on the horses

And performed a back flip

From one horse to another

It was wonderful to watch

Exciting and inspiring

For my acrobatic horse lover

I am certain my children would run away with the circus

If they could

After the horses

Came the Master

Norman Barrett MBE

And his budgies

We loved this act

Norman has such a wonderful rapport

And his birds are very funny

Esther and William were enchanted

As was I

Norman Barrett continued his storytelling

Narrative style

To tell us what the acrocats were doing

Throughout their act

The talented felines were fun to watch

Our favourite was Felix

The Super Cat!

The final act of the first part of the show

Was the much anticipated

Wheel of Death

We had seen a clip of this on You Tube

But nothing can prepare you

For seeing this in real life

A giant wheel

Spinning round and round

As high as the big top

And a man

Brave and slightly crazy

(Must be!?!)

Runs, jumps and tumbles

In and on the wheel

With no safety straps or harness

It is amazing

Inspiring

Breathtaking stuff

Esther and William hugged each other close

As they watched

The atmosphere was electric

Stunning skills and showmanship

Must see circus

And what a way to end an act

Magical!

During the break

Esther and I went to meet one of the beautiful horses

And had our photograph taken with them

The photographer was master horseman Boris

The loud whistle sounded again

To signal the restarting of the show

And it started with a bang

The super talented

Very handsome

And incredibly funny

Had us all engaged from the start

Alex the fireman

Slapstick humour and aerial acrobatics combined

A highlight of the show for me

After the blaze of Alex

Came the dancing horses

Which Esther was very intrigued by

After the equestrian act came

Mongolian contortionist Odka

This is the amazing lady

That does archery with her feet

Esther and William were very keen to see this

And were amazed when she squeezed herself into a glass bottle

Contortionists always make me wince

But there is no denying their talent and skill

Next came the Timbuktu Tumblers

With their infectious smiles

And contagious energy

Their obvious enjoyment of what they do

Was just fantastic

This act really made me smile

And truly inspired Esther and William

My very own acro troupe

Every tumbler was friendly

And interacted with us

You felt that they were performing

Just for you

I honestly could have watched them for hours

After the awesome acrobatic dancers

With all their jumps and balances and leaps and tumbles

Came some juggling

A specialist juggler

With Mr Lorenz the clown

Who it turns out is also a skilled juggler

Accompanied also by the ever lovely Norman Barrett MBE

(I do love him!)

The final was Alex Michaels from Brazil

With no safety harness or net

He completed an aerial walk

Across the roof of the big top

Esther and William thought he was doing

‘monkey bars in the sky’

First with his hands

And then his feet!

Swinging between two trapezes

A traditional circus act

Given an edgy breathtaking modern twist

Keeping us all on the edge of our seats

A fantastic finale to an amazing show

Bringing us back down to earth

All the members of the Zippos Circus family came back in to the ring

And we clapped and cheered

And offered our heartfelt thanks

For such a wonderful experience

Such an amazing afternoon

A true family fun show filled with oophs and aaaahs

Laughter and smiles

Wonder and awe

If every day is to be a circus day

Make it a Zippos Circus day

Our children are still talking about our visit

And asking when we can go again

Zippos Circus Celebration Tour

Marking 30 years

Is on tour until the end of October

You can get your tickets here

If you want to see a circus

See a Zippos one

We were invited to watch Zippos Circus in return for an honest review