Feats of daring, dexterity and gravity-defying acts — mixed with clown comedy — abounded under the Lewis and Clark Circus “big top” last week in Urbanna’s Taber Park. The Town of Urbanna-sponsored April 24 and 25 shows marked the second year this Liberty, S.C.-based circus came to town.
Vandeir the “Crazy Clown,” with just a few words and a lot of fanfare engaged audience members, especially the children. Volunteers were chosen from the audience to assist Vandeir’s acts. Children jumped for joy hoping to be picked to join the circus. Everyone laughs in the same language.
For starters, there was an aerial act, a magic show, and jugglers. A performer balanced a ball on the edge of a knife blade, the handle held in his teeth. He was only getting warmed up. He later balanced a tray of glasses on a knife’s edge — while climbing up and down a ladder!
As the show went on the acts became more spectacular. All the way from Texas a cowboy whirled a lasso. Then they turned off the lights, and turned on the black light and his lime green rope glowed. He spun it into a giant lasso nearly as big as the stage.
The most daring acts were saved for the finale. A skilled thrower stuck axes and knives in a wood wall — as a woman stood in front of it. Fire was added to the knives and flaming knives flew sticking in the wall around the “assistant.”
The finale was the “Ladder of Death” where Gustavo flipped backwards from a stand hung on a ladder that reached high in the big top. Increasing the height, he dropped to a padded table below landing on his hands and spun off of it doing backflips on the stage.
