Have you ever been to a circus? I remember my last visit. I went with my sister, brother-in-law and 2 nieces when they were 3 and 4 years old. My nieces are now 15 and 16. I feel a little old thinking about my once cherub faced nieces then, and now driving and going to Prom, but last night I sure felt like a kid again. My own family and I were treated to a social media preview night for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Fully Charged show show at Philips Arena.
Upon arrival we received a warm welcome from Feld Entertainment (complete with bright red clown noses for everyone!), and then were led down to the circus floor for an up close and personal introduction to some of the circus animals and their wonderful trainers. Then we stayed in the floor area for the All Access Power Up Pre-show, which by the way, is open to the public with your ticket purchase. I strongly suggest you take advantage of the opportunity. It was so much fun!
The kids were able to step into the various rings and try on samples of the elaborate costumes and personally interact with the talented performers.
Baby loved having a turn sitting in the trapeze ring that she watched flying high above the ground with a graceful aerialist just minutes before.
After a little more meandering around the floor mingling with the clowns and watching Asia, the elephant paint a few portraits (for real!), we headed to our seats for the start of the show. Not sure why we had a full seat to sit on, since you really only needed the edge.
Our entire family was soon sharing big belly laughs over the antics of the clown team of Stas and Vas. Their 14 year history of performing together solidifies their chemistry and comedic timing. There were more fun clown antics, like trying to change a giant light bulb, only to be followed by our jaws hitting the floor when the tightrope performers walked, leaped and even biked on the high wire.
The Fernandez brothers were absolutely amazing! Their turbines of terror performance requires such precision and balance. They had me gasping more than once in sheer awe.
Even DH’s eyes got as big as saucers when the tigers came out into the center ring. Holy cow! Those tigers are HUGE! I could have died when the trainer leaned in to one of the big cats for some “kisses”. I totally think the tiger was just checking the seasoning level of the trainer’s face! Egad! The trainer must have nerves of steel to be in a cage repeatedly with 13 massive tigers! When they stand on their hind legs, they tower over him in height. It was utterly amazing to watch their interaction.
Our family had a wonderfully fun night, even though we missed the final act of Brian Miser, the Human Fuse. I heard the crowd went wild seeing him launched from a self-made crossbow at over 65 miles per hour — while on fire! WOW! I sure hope one of my fellow GA Social Media Moms got that on video!
Interested is checking out this awesome show for yourself?
There is still time!
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Fully Charged will show at Philips Arena from Feb 15-20, 2012 and at the Arena at Gwinnett from Fed 23-26. For ticket information visit www.ringling.com, call Ticketmaster at 404-249-6400 or visit any Ticketmaster retail location.
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Disclosure – I was provided free tickets for my family for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Fully Charged show in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
