The Circus Is Coming! The Circus Is Coming!

This year's poster.

The Alzafar Shrine Circus is coming to town this weekend. Once again it appears that the Carden Brothers Circus will be playing under the Shrine banner. I hope it's a new show. Last year they had a number of the same acts as the 2010 edition including Clown Johnny and Mini-Bo, which is a fun act to watch but it seems a lot of shows are reproducing that act so it's getting a little stale. The floor looked a little empty too. It looked like they tried to fill the empty space with a variety of lights and goboes rather than use floats or banners or some other set piece. Ringling does that too.

A few years back, the Hanneford Circus was brought in by the Shriners and quite honestly I thought that was a stronger show by far than the last two Carden Brothers productions put together. The production values were higher, the acts were strong, the show flowed better and overall was very entertaining. I wish they'd bring them back. 

The Shrine shows always seem a little too long and this year's show might no be any different. Always leave 'em wanting more. That's holds true for any circus. At least they haven't tried to re-invent the circus every year like Ringling. This past summer we didn't catch the Ringling show. We just couldn't see ourselves spending all that money to see a shadow of what was once a grand show... the greatest show on Earth.

But we always look forward to the Shrine Circus when it comes to town and  loading up on popcorn, hotdogs and over-priced toys. It'll be fun. Going to the circus always feels like we're coming home. 

Last year's poster.