Showzam - Blackpool's Festival of Circus, Magic and New Variety
In the end of February this year, a few friends and I took a trip to Blackpool to see the festival of circus, magic and new variety that was taking place over there. It was one of those magical trips that makes a person wish they were able to do all those amazing things and at the same time brings back the feeling of being surrounded by so many marvellous things in the world that you cannot feel bad about anything - there is magic everywhere. Blackpool itself was magical. I had missed the sea for so long, since before coming to England, I was living by the beach, and I just missed the peaceful sound of water and seagulls. There is a specific vibe about the sea, which awakens so many of my senses and reminds me of feelings like happiness and simple pure joy.
We got there around 11, when the water was still about a hundred meters in and we got to walk on the sand, which would later be covered by the sea. It was an incredible feeling to know that those steps we were taking would be under water just a few hours later - I had lived by the beach of a closed sea, where the tide was never that obvious.
Mist was covering almost all of Blackpool in that time of day, which was also a beautiful thing to see - once we were in far enough, close to the water, the whole town behind us seemed to have disappeared and it felt like we were the only people left in the world - there was fog everywhere and everything that was visible was just more sand.
The first treat that Blackpool had for us was a Heat The Streets spectacle, which was a musical performance, where fire was used to go with the music, as well as a fire display all around the centre.
Afterwards, we went to the Queens of Magic - a magic trick show by three women, performing different types of magic. Fay Presto was mostly delivering tricks with cards, ropes and bottles disappearing, which she also did in front of small groups before the show and on the next day - we were lucky enough to be done a trick with coins and cards in front of our eyes. Romany did an old-time hoops tricks and also used cages with birds. And Mandy Muden was the most hilarious of all of them, although she did not do that many tricks, entertained the audience quite a lot. The show also featured some quite impressive dancing moves by men and women in ridiculous costumes and with perfect bodies.
The main thing we had planned to see was later that evening, which was a show called La Clique. The show is described as "cocktail of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary vaudeville". We were witnesses to some absolutely incredible things, whether it was a person's movement, tricks or jokes, it was an incredible experience. The show started with a 'tribute' to the Queen, which was portrayed by a man, and was absolutely hilarious. The best parts from the monologue were a place where the Queen had difficulty pronouncing Camilla and a sentence which went "I found out my daughter was a horse" (followed by a pause, while she was turning the page), "my daughter was a horse-riding champion".
Followed The Wau Wau Sisters, delivering an old-time acrobatic performance, which brought me back to my childhood years and the feeling of sitting in a circus once upon a time. Their acrobatic tricks were absolutely stunning, as at one point, one of the girls slid down the other, while they were holding each other only using the power of their legs.
Captain Frodo was an absolute delight to see, although his tricks seemed quite painful and to most of the audience it looked like he was really hurting himself. At one point, he had his leg through the tennis racquet and fell down the stage, which seemed to be by accident, although I suspect it was part of the performance. He did all kinds of amazing tricks that the human body could not possibly do, such as put his whole body through a tennis racquet or dislocating all of his joints and chasing one of his hands with the other. At the same time, while doing those painful tricks, he was treating the audience with hilarious comments and the sweetest ever gesture of throwing shiny pieces of paper whenever he would get stuck in one of his positions, which would totally lighten up the mood and make it seem as if he was making no effort whatsoever.
The Skating Willers were a husband and wife doing incredible acrobatic tricks, while at the same time roller skating on that little circle stage. Just by looking at it, I had no desire to sit in the front row whatsoever. But they were absolutely flawless. They did pick a girl from the audience to be turned around, while the two of them were holding her, which probably turned her whole world upside down. Their final trick was the best part of the whole performance, as he was spinning the woman in a circle, while she was only 'attached' to him by a leather band, which was going around her head and his neck, but at the same time the woman was spinning around her own axis. Absolutely breath-taking, I have to say.
Captain Frodo delivered the final performance for the evening, as well as a very inspirational speech which went along the lines of "Now that you have seen the things we do, I'm sure you feel like you can do everything" and "don't be afraid to follow your dreams". La Clique also featured an opera singer, a woman with hoops and a sword-swallower. Overall, the whole show was absolutely magnificent and it left me feeling like I couldn't do any of those things, but at the same I felt like I could do anything.
The next day we visited the display they had in the main building and also saw some old-time performance shows - as Nadia explained to the group, those were real shows in the 70s and 80s and people actually believed them. For instance, the nine inch woman, who was living in a small aquarium, was a projection of some sort; the man with no head was obviously not real; and the transportation thing was totally transparent. But the point of those displays was not to be realistic, it was showing things that people actually used to believe and, taken into that context, it had a totally different meaning and purpose.
Overall, the whole event was absolutely spectacular and it was one of those things that leaves a long-lasting feeling of 'unfulfillment', whilst at the same time the optimism that no path is impossible and no dream is ever too ridiculous to be followed and whatever we choose to do, we will have a 'clique' that is involved in that and in a sense, we will never be alone in our dreams and goals.
