The Circus Goes to Xtremes

Once upon a time circuses were known as the greatest shows on Earth. Combining spectacles not seen anywhere else, they were traveling shows filled with companies of people with strange talents including juggling, magic, unicycling, and on and on.

But circuses have become less culturally significant over the years. Today, anyone with an internet connection can have their hair blown back by any YouTube video filmed with a GoPro camera. It’s harder than ever for a traditional circus with clowns and old-school entertainment acts to attract new generations of customers. One new show is called Circus Xtreme, using popular lingo to lure in audiences.

It’s harder than ever for a traditional circus with clowns and old school entertainment acts to attract new generations of customers.

However, that has not completely killed the allure of the Big Top.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the circus company owned by Feld Entertainment, puts on some 5,000 shows a year for some 30 million people. CEO Kenneth Feld, a billionaire from the circus industry, told the Chicago Tribune in 2012 it was “the best year in the history of the company in attendance, revenues, and profitability.”

This should come as a surprise, since the number of worldwide circuses is believed to have shrunk significantly in the last few decades. Not many exact figures are available, but it’s estimated by some that there are less than 1,000 active circuses around the world.

“As technology increases in sophistication, it becomes easier and easier for the people who have access to it to lose touch with what it means to interact with the physical world … Circus is a celebration of physical excellence and is in a constant state of evolution. It is also an art that imitates life,” Joshua Oliver, technical director for Circus Maine, a circus arts training and performance company, told Lifezette.

Even if circuses have managed to adapt to the times and remain a popular staple of entertainment, their place in modern pop culture has dramatically changed since the internet boom.

The headlines circuses have made in recent years have been devoted to their treatment of animals — specifically elephants.

Mother Jones, in an investigative report, wrote firsthand of the treatment of circus elephants. “Ringling elephants spend most of their long lives either in chains or on trains, under constant threat of the bullhook, or ankus — the menacing tool used to control elephants.”

The negative light from the public and animals rights groups such as PETA forced Ringling Bros. to announce last year that they would completely phase out their elephant acts by 2018. The most recent circus show is being billed as Circus Xtreme.

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The recent negative press attention changed the way many perceive circuses. While once seen as safe and traditional forms of family entertainment, contemporary depictions of circuses and circus performers have mainly been reserved for horror content like the fourth season of “American Horror Story.”

Still, the corner of culture filled by circuses is not all bad. The contemporary circus, such as the popular Cirque Du Soleil — which features no animals — is what has grown the business since its inception in the 1970s.

Contemporary circus events move away from older traditions and gimmicks and put more of a focus on theater and stunts.

Cirque Du Soleil’s CEO Guy Laliberte is estimated by Forbes to be worth around $2.6 billion.

“There is no doubt that circus had its heyday at the end of the war and during the ’50s. Back then, the Big Top held 7,000 seats — whereas, now, we tour with 1,000,” Martin Burton, owner of English circus company Zippos, told express.com about the state of traveling circuses. He revealed after a tour of Scotland that many cities had also banned traveling circuses that involved animal acts.

While audiences these days tend to be more entertained by Netflix than by wild tigers, the circus remains a mainstay in modern culture — for now. It may no longer be “the greatest show on Earth,” but ticket sales and acts like Ringling Bros. and Cirque Du Soleil refuse to let the public entirely move on.

“We realized that that the circus has survived this long because it’s always been able to adapt and be contemporary,” Nicole Feld, daughter of Kenneth Feld and overseer of much of the production of Feld Entertainment, told Forbes in 2014. “I know that seems ironic because a lot of people see the circus as a traditional type of entertainment.”

To adapt to the times, companies like Ringling Bros. have made their shows bigger, more glitzy, and more commercial. Bicycle acts are featured alongside clown acts. And the circus’ parent company, Feld Entertainment, has recently found new revenue streams with shows such as “Disney on Ice.”

Oliver believes that beyond the glitz and glamour is still a special core to the circus — with a unique appeal today.

“What makes the feats of discipline, art, and insight that you witness live at a circus so important is somewhat intangible. You can watch these acts on television anytime you want, but there’s always a part of you that doesn’t believe what you are seeing is real (more so since the advent of CGI technology). When you see another person do something seems impossible, it raises your estimation of what people are capable of. Circus can be uplifting and inspiring, anyone can appreciate it or be a part of it.”

Just check out the Human Cannonball.