I want to read about the circus!
November 26, 2023 5:55 PM Subscribe
I went to the circus recently for the first time as an adult and now I want to read all the nonfiction things about the circus but somehow there doesn't seem to be a definitive ethnography of the modern American circus? So I'll also take blogs, article papers, maybe even a documentary despite my distaste for video content.
Biographies, auto- or otherwise, of modern circus performers (last 30 years?) would be acceptable though I find it difficult to believe that no sociologist has embedded with the circus for a season and written a tell-all.
Biographies, auto- or otherwise, of modern circus performers (last 30 years?) would be acceptable though I find it difficult to believe that no sociologist has embedded with the circus for a season and written a tell-all.
The Circus at the End of the Earth - the author traveled with the Great Wallenda circus around remote/rural areas in Canada.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:27 PM on November 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:27 PM on November 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
PBS has a really lovely, six-hour documentary focusing on the Big Apple Circus, and it's pretty great. And I also see that American Experience has a documentary about circus history (also on PBS). I haven't seen that one but American Experience is known for their great programs.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:15 PM on November 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:15 PM on November 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Routledge has a 2016 edited volume on Circus Studies!: : The Routledge Circus Studies Reader
An anthropologist named Julieta Infantino wrote "Working with Circus Artists" about the Brazllian circus, sorry can't link it but it's googleable. Infantino appears in the Routledge book too.
posted by ojocaliente at 7:37 PM on November 26, 2023
An anthropologist named Julieta Infantino wrote "Working with Circus Artists" about the Brazllian circus, sorry can't link it but it's googleable. Infantino appears in the Routledge book too.
posted by ojocaliente at 7:37 PM on November 26, 2023
Nitty gritty, first person, The Story of Mr Circus by Charles T Hunt, Sr. Detailed account of rural circus life in northeast U.S. during the transition to trucks. Single day bookings extremely arduous; the grind of it makes a compelling read.
posted by xaryts at 6:24 AM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by xaryts at 6:24 AM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sounds like you're looking for an anthropological or sociological perspective, but if you're near one of the libraries that holds it, the Cambridge Companion to the Circus could be great. It discusses the history of the circus and also methodologies and current issues in circus studies.
Here's a list of books with the subject heading Circus - Social Aspects. A few titles you might explore:
The Meaning of the Circus: the Communicative Experience of Cult, Art, and Awe is a 2018 book written by a professor who was involved with circuses. Seems to include lots of of first hand accounts.
The same author also wrote The End of the Circus: Evolutionary Semiotics and Cultural Resilience.
Here's more by the author, Paul Bouissac.
This article has a great overview of current circus studies:
Arrighi, Gillian. “Circus Studies: Where to Next?” Popular Entertainment Studies 6, no. 1 (2015): 62–65. I can't find the website for the journal but did find the PDF, so just google the author and title.
That article is worth a read (it's short), but it also refers to an exhibition and accompanying book, Circus and the City New York, 1793-2010.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:00 AM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here's a list of books with the subject heading Circus - Social Aspects. A few titles you might explore:
The Meaning of the Circus: the Communicative Experience of Cult, Art, and Awe is a 2018 book written by a professor who was involved with circuses. Seems to include lots of of first hand accounts.
The same author also wrote The End of the Circus: Evolutionary Semiotics and Cultural Resilience.
Here's more by the author, Paul Bouissac.
This article has a great overview of current circus studies:
Arrighi, Gillian. “Circus Studies: Where to Next?” Popular Entertainment Studies 6, no. 1 (2015): 62–65. I can't find the website for the journal but did find the PDF, so just google the author and title.
That article is worth a read (it's short), but it also refers to an exhibition and accompanying book, Circus and the City New York, 1793-2010.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:00 AM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Have a look at Dialectograms run by Mitch Miller, he writes and researches the British showman community, circuses, fairground people, Romany, travellers, and the G people word I grew up with (that I'm not allowed to use here, but which many people in these groups call themselves)... afaik Mick grew up among the showmen, and often works with them in community making as well as working with refugees. Mitch's work is mainly graphical.
His twitter @dialectographer is a great way in to find ways into the circus and related communities.
posted by unearthed at 11:24 AM on November 27, 2023
His twitter @dialectographer is a great way in to find ways into the circus and related communities.
posted by unearthed at 11:24 AM on November 27, 2023
Coming in late to add one more: Under The Big Top - A Season With The Circus
posted by Kangaroo at 3:48 PM on November 27, 2023
posted by Kangaroo at 3:48 PM on November 27, 2023
You may have to try interlibrary loan, but I highly recommend learning more about the Pickle Family Circus.
There are two books I can find (I own the first, haven't read the second):
The Pickle Family Circus, by Terry Lorant and Jon Carroll (also borrowable from the Internet Archive)
The pickle clowns : new American circus comedy (also borrowable from the Internet Archive)
You might also want to try searches for the Pickle performers - for example, here's the WorldCat searches for Lorenzo Pisoni. He grew up in the Pickles, and did a fantastic one-man show called "Humor Abuse" about the experience.
The utterly brilliant Bill Irwin was a Pickle, and he has had some great things to say about the art of clowning over the years, so searching your local library article database for "bill irwin" and "pickle family circus" could turn up some good stuff.
G. Snider (sorry, I can't post her first name, but she created the circus-inspired Broadway Revival of Pippin) and Geoff Hoyle are other good names to search.
The Internet Archive also has:
* audio featuring Lorenzo Pisoni
* A podcast interview with John Gilkey "about life in the Pickles, Cirque Du Soleil, Wet the Hippo and The Ididot wrkshops"
posted by kristi at 10:37 PM on November 27, 2023
There are two books I can find (I own the first, haven't read the second):
The Pickle Family Circus, by Terry Lorant and Jon Carroll (also borrowable from the Internet Archive)
The pickle clowns : new American circus comedy (also borrowable from the Internet Archive)
You might also want to try searches for the Pickle performers - for example, here's the WorldCat searches for Lorenzo Pisoni. He grew up in the Pickles, and did a fantastic one-man show called "Humor Abuse" about the experience.
The utterly brilliant Bill Irwin was a Pickle, and he has had some great things to say about the art of clowning over the years, so searching your local library article database for "bill irwin" and "pickle family circus" could turn up some good stuff.
G. Snider (sorry, I can't post her first name, but she created the circus-inspired Broadway Revival of Pippin) and Geoff Hoyle are other good names to search.
The Internet Archive also has:
* audio featuring Lorenzo Pisoni
* A podcast interview with John Gilkey "about life in the Pickles, Cirque Du Soleil, Wet the Hippo and The Ididot wrkshops"
posted by kristi at 10:37 PM on November 27, 2023
Freaks and Fire tells the stories of several alt-circuses.
posted by janey47 at 2:35 AM on November 28, 2023
posted by janey47 at 2:35 AM on November 28, 2023
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posted by Rhedyn at 6:01 PM on November 26, 2023 [2 favorites]