Ben Pratt
New user
78 Posts
|
Posted: Jul 16, 2010 12:09pm
Alrighty... I have a lot to say about this whole shindig. First off, I was introduced to Circus Smirkus just like how tens of thousands kids first found out about it...the disney channel (back when it was actually worth watching - zing!). I saw all these different kids who were my age and from all different backgrounds doing all these crazy circusesque type stunts. My first thought was, huh...thats pretty neat. The more I watched it, the more fascinated I became of it. A few short episodes later the show apparently got cancelled, sadness. Like all kids, I eventually forgot about the show over time. When I was 15 and in Burlington VT, I was there to actually see my first and only David Copperfield show that I have even seen to date (however, that's a whole different story). Anycase, me and the fam were walking up and down the main strip of Burlington when all of the sudden I saw this kid with big curly hair and a bright blue t shirt. "Hmmm, why does that kid look so firmiliar" I thought to myself. And then it dawned on me, That was a kid on the Circus Smirkus TV show!!! Sure enough, right behind him one right after the other... all the other kids wearing Smirkus t shirts whom I recognized from the TV shows all followed right behind him!!
There is a guy who was in my class during my senoir year of high school, named Mason Ames. Really good looking guy and generally always kept to him self. I didn't really know him all that well. I first met him at one of my shows ironically. I picked him to help me on stage and everything. Well, in my film studies class here comes Mason walking into class wearing a Smirkus staff jacket on. What?? I HAD to to ask him about it.. "Are you a part of Circus Smirkus?" I asked him. "Just had a tour with them last summer" he Said. Apparently, he was one of the main acrobats! Did the flying trapeze and everything! I couldn't believe it! I think to this day, he is still very much serious about being in the circus circut, more power to him!! It was now officially a necessity to find out more info about this whole Smirkus thing. I rushed right home and jumped on my computer. I turned it on and waited a whole 10 agonizing minutes for the computer to turn on. Followed by another 10 minutes to connects to the internet using our super fast dial up 24k connection (technology at its finest). After doing a bit of research for this whole thing, I found out that I to fork almost 4 grand just be a part of the tour! WHAT?? 4 flippin' GRAND?!?!? I was crushed...
Oh kay, Oh kay I know what you're thinking. Get on with the story Ben! I just got home from grocery shopping and I got ice cream melting in my car, HURRY UP!! Well, alrighty then fine go get your *** ice cream and put it in the freezer. You can even bust open the carton if you want and have yourself a little 3 second snack if you truly desire, I can wait...
.
.
.
.
All set? ok good.
About a week ago I saw a flier at panera that said Circus Smirkus: Wonders of the Wilderness. I was thrilled! So I managed to scrape together 20 bucks for the show and just enough gas to get there and back this evening. As I'm driving there I feel like I'm going into the middle of no where. As soon as the trees clear up there it is... A giant blue and while tent with a sign that displays above it high and proud 'Circus Smirkus'. There were also a couple of other little tents next to the big one. One was a concession stand, selling hot dogs, drinks, cotton candy, popcorn, the works. The other was a souviner tent. T shirts, mini random smirkus trinkets, juggling toys, dvds from previous tours, you get the idea. I purchase my ticket and wait in line. Luckily for me I was one of the first ones in line, so I got first dibs to where I got to sit. Sweet... As I wait in line, the lady in front of me is turned towards me and is akwardly staring at me for a solid 20 minutes. Eventually, she realized that I'm not very interesting to stare at and decides to face in the same direction as everyone else. Then, for about the next 25 minutes or so I was squirted with water by these little kids behind me. I like kids, but come on! Parents really need to learn to control their kids sometimes! The was probly the most agonizing 45 minutes I have ever dealt with while standing in a line for something...
Mmmk, so now they let us in and I was immedietly impressed with the entire set up. As I enter this one ring circus tent, everything is state-of-the-art. I could tell that this was a show that I was gonna remember. Boy howdy, I'm sure I will! The arena itself appeard a bit smaller on the inside than it did on the outside. that's oh kay though, it created a more intimate setting which I liked. It had padded bleacher seats, with a little curtain behing ring that displayed Smirkus in wooden letters. Now, like how magicians don't reveal their tricks and what happens in the show I'm now going to reveal anything that I saw in the show. You'll have to Spend the 20 dollars and catch the show for yourself. But believe me, it's money well spent. The theme of the show was wonders on the wilderness and they did a fantastic job with that theme. It's by far one of the most creative shows that I have ever seen. I will say though that my favorite part about the show was in fact the jugglers. These kids are younger than I am and did things that I've never seen bofore. They absolutely blew me away with their skill and creativity! The shows run time was about 2 hours long with a 15 minute intermission. The time sure went by fast though, that's for sure. After the well deserved standing ovation, I make my way over to the souviner tent and purchase a smirkus t shirt because I liked the show so much. I almost ended up buying a through the looking glass dvd copy of the '04 tour which is the one that Mason was on, but I decided against it.
BEN! Whats the point of all this? Why are you going so into detail about everything? My ice cream is still all melted! I'm getting there, I'm getting there! I left out one minor detail that impressed me the most about the entire show. It was the kids themselves... The ENTIRE show is literally completely run by the kids. Virtually no adults what so ever... Every kid helps out with the show in some way and some how. You have a 7 year old girl walking around shouting "Cotton candy! Get your cotton candy here! Only 3 dollars!" You also have one of the jugglers selling hot dogs and the consession stands. The contortionist sitting at the register waiting patienty to collect money for the t shirts. Even a 4 year old collecting tickets stubs saying "thank you, enjoy the show!". All of them doing it in a very professional and carnie fashion. I even saw the young ones after the show start to tear down the big tent to get ready to move out for the next show! It was everyone working together as a team to get everything done and make an extra dollar at the end of the day. that's what impressed me the most. It was that passion and the want and the need to be performers.
My entire life, I have always wanted to have a fully dedicated magic crew that is willing to put everything they got into the show. And have them be as passionate just as much as I would. It brought a tear to my eye at actually see that right in front of me today. Its my untimate dream to have that and so much more in my life. They say you only live once, so why not live it to the fullest? Go big... or go home...
I guess I just wanted to express how I felt about it on here. I figured this was a good place to post it. Has anyone else have any experiences on the wonders of Smirkus??
|
