Circus Mania! by Douglas McPherson

Author:Douglas McPherson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

THE REAL BIG TOP

Martin Burton was an alternative street clown who went on to found the traditional travelling circus Zippos. When the BBC decided to make a sitcom set in a circus, it asked him, ‘Can we borrow your big top?’

Among the many courses offered by the Circus Space is a one-day introduction to circus skills each Saturday. Bruce Mackinnon attended one of them to prepare for his role as East European acrobat Boyco in BBCI’s 2009 circus sitcom Big Top.

Mackinnon joined the cast of Big Top after appearances in The Office and The Catherine Tate Show. He has been able to juggle since his schooldays, but when it comes to the more physical circus arts he admits, ‘I’m terrible at even doing a forward roll. Luckily, I had a stand-in who did some tumbles for the credits and made me look very good. I’m playing a guy who’s lived his life on the flying trapeze, and I’m wearing a leotard a lot of the time, but I had a muscle-piece underneath it, so I think we just about got away with it aesthetically!’

As research, Mackinnon says, ‘I read some books on circus to get a feel for it. Because none of us knew much about what it’s like backstage at a circus – all we knew was from going to see it as a little kid. It’s a fascinating world, a crazy world. I don’t want to say our version is watered down … but if you actually recreated some of what goes on backstage in a circus I don’t think it would even be allowed on TV!’

The actor’s visit to Circus Space left him with a deep respect for circus’s real-life performers. ‘I went along just to chat to some of the acrobats training there, and when you talk to them you realize what a dedicated art form it is. They spend their lives training, training and training, and they do a ridiculous number of shows each week. They put us actors to shame.’

Mackinnon also got to try his balance on the tight-wire. ‘Once, with my arms flailing like mad, I managed to get from one end to the other. It was only 3 feet off the ground, but I enjoyed it. You read stories about old tightrope walkers or trapeze artists, and they talk about it in such amazing ways. It’s such a poetic thing to them. So it was nice to get a small taste of what they go through. Mind you, it’s one thing doing it 3 feet off the ground and another knowing there’s nothing underneath you but death. I think that would be a lot harder … or maybe easier, I don’t know!’

Starring sitcom royalty such as Tony Robinson from Blackadder and Ruth Madoc from Hi-De-Hi! – alongside Britain’s Got Talent host Amanda Holden, who plays ringmistress Lizzie – Big Top is directed and co-produced by Marcus Mortimer whose previous successes include Jonathan Creek.

Mortimer’s production company Big Bear Films had just come

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