back lot charlie wrote:
DonM435 wrote:
When I was a little kid, I got to go to the circus at the Chicago Amphitheatre twice (once withg my school class). This would have been mid 1950s.

On both occasions there was a stunt wherein an "ape" (no doubt a performer in a suit) ignored his trainer and jumped a fence into the crowd. The whole section cleared. Parents had to calm down scared kids. It was all a stunt.

Can you imagine that going on today?
The 'gorilla running amok' bit was a circus standard back then- I remember seeing it three separate times at three different circuses (large to small). The most memorable was at a small 'tent' circus in a small midwestern farm town. I would guess 300 people in the audience, tops. When the guy-in-the-suit ran up the center aisle, pandamonium broke loose, and my little brother (who loved monkeys-and still has a pet one) about crapped his pants. I remember that like it was yesterday.
I saw the Moscow Circus back in the 1960's. In the Moscow Circus the audience sits very close to the center ring. During the performance of the elephant act one of those big iron platforms that the elephants stand on broke. The boom was deafening. The elephant really seemed to panic. It trumpeted and started up the aisle into the crowd, the trainer desperately hitting it on the trunk with that long stick he carried. I admit I was as scared as the elephant appeared to be. Fortunately the trainer got it under control, backed it into the center ring and after calming it a bit led it off. I think it was all on the level. If not, it sure fooled me.


Last Edited By: atenolol Mar 3 09 7:20 PM. Edited 2 times.