Known for bringing fun to families all across America for over 20 years, the All-American Circus has made its stop in Charleston.
As a part of the Illinois branch of its 9-month tour, the All-American Circus made its way to the Coles County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
With the show starting promptly at 7 p.m., patrons who arrived early could take part in the pre-show. Most popularly known as the Kid Fun Zone, the pre-show featured a bounce house, face painting, concessions and pony rides on Buggsie, the show pony.
Ring Master John Belk looks forward to bringing joy and lasting memories to the different towns the circus visits regardless of all the challenging work that goes into seeing up.
“You have to have love and passion to do it, you really do,” he said.
He said everyone in the circus pitches in together to set up and tear down.
“It’s the in-between to where we get to bring other people joy and happiness and excitement in their lives,” he said. “That’s what makes it worth it all through the setup and tear down the gristle and grind of what goes into the circus, bringing joy and happiness to the fine towns that we get to perform in each and every day.”
There were many instances throughout the show where one could see a circus member who was previously running the concession stand now on stage performing in an eccentric costume or someone who was just performing is now walking through the audience handing out snacks and light-up toys.
With the Sun setting just enough for the bright stage lights to take full effect, the show started at 7 as promised.
Belk used his captivating voice to grab everyone’s attention and draw their eyes to the dancers who came and opened the show.
The show featured several different acts including juggling, trapeze walking, balancing, an aerial ring and silk rope show, a clown, a magic show, a contortionist, a light show and a daredevil motorcyclist riding around the globe of death.
Having seen that the event was coming to town a few weeks ago, Paula Mareno and Ruthie McKinley brought their family out to the show. They said they were really pleased.
“I have to say, I’m impressed. I’m really impressed with the tactics to keep your attention.” said Mareno. “We would like to see more events around here like this, more family-friendly events we can come out to.
The children in the audience made up most of the noise coming from the crowd cheering for each performer and interacting with the clown.
Most of the acts evolved on themselves making them more exciting to watch.
The juggler went from juggling bowling pins to flaming torches, the trapeze artist went from balancing on elevated posts with his hands to balancing on his head while spinning disks on his hands and swinging all at the same time.
After highlighting the extraordinary ways her body can twist and turn the contortionist flexed her skills by picking up a rose placed behind her only using her mouth.
Each act drew a bigger reaction from the crowd compared to the last.
The 90-minute show took off running with only one five-minute intermission to give the audience a chance to comprehend the magic they’ve been witnessing.
Mother and daughter Jenny and Rita Stephens were excited to see the circus because they come every year.
What keeps bringing them back are the new acts put on.
“It’s fun every year; we look forward to seeing the new acts,” said Rita. “We saw some new acts today like the magic show and the gorilla, that was just a surprise.”
After the brief intermission, it was back to the show for the second half which consisted of an aerial act, a five-person juggling show by the Rosales family and finally the globe of death. Around the world, performers have died attempting the globe of death as recently as 2016.
As if the final act wasn’t death-defining enough, the daredevil flying around the globe of death brought one of the performers inside the globe and proceeded to drive around them without leaving a scratch.
Leaving the audience with a final goodbye, Belk and the cast of performers gave a bow and ended the show.
“We aim to bring good family fun and entertainment to all that come to the show and witness the experience that we have here at the All-American circus,” said Belk.
Alexis Moore-Jones can be reached at 581-2812 or at admoorejones@eiu.edu.
