Looking Back

I don’t know about you but at this time of year I spend quite a lot of time alone, looking back over my life and of course, the older we get, the more we have to look back upon. I suppose being born into a Gypsy family always sounds very romantic and in some ways it is, or at least it was. Nowadays things are very different for the travellers with so many rules and regulations, etc. but when I was a child it really was a life of freedom to some extent.

My family travelled the fairs and carnivals in the summer time so finding somewhere to park up was no problem as we moved from place to place from Easter until the end of October; it was after that the problems started. Year after year it was more difficult to find a place to stay for the winter months, especially when the horses had to be cared for too. Once we moved up to a lorry and caravan instead of Vardo (Wagon) and horses it became a little easier for a time.

For some reason, these past weeks as Christmas approaches my thoughts have been with the Circus, the reason being (although it’s not common knowledge) my wife and I travelled as Circus performers for a number of years working with different outfits around the world and of course Christmas was the highlight of the year. There is nothing to equal the excitement of working a Festive Circus. What did you do? I hear you ask. First and foremost we were clowns working under the name ‘Duo Paul Oro’ my wife was a white face clown, that’s the one who is always spic ‘n’ span in a beautiful sequinned costume and myself the ‘Joey’ the one always on the receiving end of a bucket of water, etc. and we worked a comedy car routine, you know the sort of thing, the car keeps falling to pieces bit by bit and it finally chases me around the ring minus a driver. Most circus artistes present two different acts and we were no exception, the second string to our bow was a ‘Fire Eating, Knife Throwing and Stock Whip’ act in full Red Indian Regalia.

One season we were working with the French outfit ‘Cirque Perrier’ and things weren’t going too well, so the management decided instead of the usual 5 piece orchestra they would substitute it with a single Organist with one of these instruments that can produce the sound of a whole orchestra,proving you knew which buttons to push.  The only problem was they had no one who could play the thing so an advert went out in the local papers, we were working Poole in Dorset at the time and response to the advert was poor so they took on the first applicant who assured them he could play anything they required, he didn’t need sheet music as he was a professional. So, it was decide to open that night after being closed for several days. A quick chat with each act to determine what kind of music they required and when it came to the Lion Trainer he suggested something like ‘Born Free’ or similar, no problem said the organist.

The show went up, the artistes paraded round the ring to the organs rendition of that circus favourite ‘The Entrance of the Gladiators’ followed by the ‘Trio Del Bosque’ on the trapeze to the beautiful hypnotic sound of ‘The Breeze and I’ and our Western Act was next to the rousing tunes ‘Dance of the Devils’ and the ‘Sabre Dance’. The rest of the show was perfect then came the finale – the ringmasters voice rang out in three languages – “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Cirque Perrier proudly present Captain Johnny Kays with his troupe of African Lions, the lights went up, the lions were let into the ring and the organ chimed up with ‘When the Red, Red Robin come bob bob bobbing along….’. Johnny threw his whip and stick to the ground, unfortunately what came over the speaker system from his microphone is definitely unprintable. Needless to say the next day the orchestra was back in work and Johnny Kays was no longer in need of sedation, nor were the lions for that matter. Happy days.

Until next time……….

P.S. Please leave your comments below, thanks