★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Peacock @ Gluttony. 19 Feb 2023
If you can get a fart comment into the first few minutes of a kid’s show, you’ve started on the right note. And so it is with Circus: the Show; the kids snigger and look at their parents just to make sure this is okay. And if course it is.
Circus has managed, for the most part, to balance its offerings of acrobatics , magic and clowning with the short attention span of most children, and invites just enough interactivity to keep them entertained as participants.
We (pre)open with the inevitable clown, who does all the clowny things one expects - equipment malfunction, missed cues, balloon mishaps – but let’s be honest, you can’t fail with these. They’re still funny, and kids still love seeing hapless grown ups, even if they are wearing silly big shoes.
Ringmaster Magnus Danger Magnus (also of The Greatest Magic Show) guides the proceedings with a practiced hand, geeing up the crowd and introducing each performer with superlatives aplenty. Shaunah Johnson brings on the de rigeur hula hoops; kids wriggle in their seats as they imagine they too can perform with the same style and grace, and later on, two of them get the chance to take the stage and do just that.
Local artists the Diamond Duo perform a dance/acrobatics duet, with lovely aerial performance on the ring. Acrobatic skills are a staple of the circus repertoire and it forms the majority of this circus program, with aerial ropes (fabric) and floor hoops also featuring.
Sam Sam The Magic man put in some good turns, including levitating young audience member Marianne, who simply could not explain how she managed to hover above the stage with seemingly no support!
A bit of juggling would have been entertaining as it’s always a favourite, but the final act certainly made up for it. The clown is given permission to end the show, and does so with a giant balloon prop that had even the adults in stitches. It’s a brilliant end and sends the audience out on a high.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 18 Feb to 19 Mar
Where: Peacock @ Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
