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The lack of regulation in China is not good for the planet, but I’ll tell you what, it’s freaking fantastic for the Circus. Forget the harness and the safety net; the Circus in China is pedal to the metal for two hours of gut wrenching, death defying acts of strength and balance. Needless to say, I enjoyed the Shanghai Circus =)

I’m not a performer of any kind, but having lived in Boulder now for more than 10 years, I’ve seen more magicians, jugglers, and acrobats that most people will see in a lifetime. As such, I consider myself a good judge of talent when it comes to this kind of thing. The formula for almost any circus act is to create the illusion of difficulty and danger; hence the juggling of chainsaws and torches as opposed to bunnies and Barbie dolls. A good example of this type of progression is a juggler that starts juggling 3 balls and then keeps adding balls one by one until he’s juggling 6 or if he’s really good, 7 balls.

In China, instead of creating the illusion of difficulty, they create the illusion of impossibility and then deliver. Each and every act started with something about as difficult as what you’d see on the Pearl St. Mall as the final act. From there, the performers persisted increasing the difficulty and danger to a level of talent that was seriously beyond belief. Instead of starting with 3 balls, they would start juggling 7 balls while balancing a bowl of scolding hot noodles on their head, spinning 5 hula-hoops on their left ankle, all while being chased around the arena by a full grown Siberian tiger =) Not really, but almost. I loved it!