Circuses are usually a mixed bag of entertainment. On the one hand you have the likes of Zippo and his famous clowns messing about with buckets of glitter while cramming into tiny unreliable cars and on the other you have the Chipperfield-esques and their dancing elephants. Each bring their own particular brand of horror to the audience, either a heightened concern for animal welfare or a deep mistrust of silent grown men in over-sized shoes. Thankfully the Chinese State Circus has neither of these and is all the better for it. What they do have is some of the most sensational feats of human acrobatic ability and, with the inclusion of the world famous Shaolin Wu-Shu Warriors, astounding physical endurance.
 | | 'Jaw dropping!' |
Introduced and narrated by The Handsome Monkey King (a legendary character in Chinese folklore and familiar to western audiences via the hokey 70s Japanese TV show 'Monkey'), the show is a dazzling display of juggling, wire-walking, sleight of hand, martial arts and comedy. It's fair to say that scarcely a moment goes by when you aren't rubbing your eyes in disbelief at what you are seeing onstage. Anyone wishing to catch the Chinese State Circus at a later date is advised to take some kind of comfortable chin-guard to avoid any injury caused by your jaw repeatedly dropping to the floor. The cast are superb entertainers as well as amazing physical gymnasts, in particular the Slack Wire Walker (exactly what it sounds like, a tightrope walker with a slack rope!) displaying incredible agility in performing freestyle headstands on a swinging rope while still managing to goad the audience into clapping along and maintaining a winning cheeky grin and the impossible cute Human Candelabra whose contortionist act was one of the most balletic and graceful sights I've ever seen.
 | | 'Awesome ability!' |
That said, the overall flow of the show does seem a little frenetic. Many of the performances seem to jar with each other in terms of fluidity. For example it's not long after the wonderfully delicate illusion of The Mystery Known As 100 Faces, where a character changes her masks in the blink of an eye, that the stage is brimming with rampaging muscular monks displaying their awesome ability to have bricks smashed across their backs with sledgehammers! There also seemed to be a technical problem with sound levels as parts of the narration were lost by over-modulation. But these are trivial quibbles for what is ostensibly a feast for the eyes. Children in the audience were clearly mesmerised by the spectacle of the Dancing Dragons Of China - and no doubt there will be many a parent in the days to come trying to coax their beloved offspring from attempting the crockery-endangering Jar Juggling act in the family kitchen - and adults were amazed by the unbeatable agility and physical strength of the Bow Bending and Giant Sword act. In an age of CGI-laden movies and epilepsy inducing shoot-em-up games it is a delight to see such old fashioned entertainment can delight and astound a modern audience and it's testament to the incredible skill of the Chinese State Circus that they can still lay claim to the old maxim "The Greatest Show On Earth"! | 
