Wednesday 29 June 2011

8 HOOP SPLITS!

... Following on from Chi Chi's upsidedown hula hooping from the trapeze (see Chi Chi Revolver's facebook page for a short film of this death defying act)... I caught her practicing her new 8 HOOP SPLIT!!! Inbetween intensive looks of concentration and giggles she is well on the way to performing her spectacular new 'hoop trick'. Check HER out at www.chichirevolver.com!


Meanwhile the show rehearsals are in full swing at Battling Brook school in Hinckley... The show tonight has been completely sold out... so just off to make bucket loads of popcorn.
I'll be back shortly to give more news from here in Hinckley Leicestershire. If you're coming to the show tonight or tomorrow, you're in for a treat!

Sunday 26 June 2011

Fred's Flying Circus nearly takes flight!

Friday night and we've all settled down after a storm of a Circus show. The children of Greenford Primary school put on a great performance and looked VERY bright in all their costumes! (go to http://www.schooljotter.com/showpage.php?id=128501 to see all the school photos - there are some really great ones there!).
Anyway... Fred was ready for bed at 8.30 but Chi Chi and I were wide awake so decided to venture to the local pub for a swift half of lovely local cider. About 10 we left to get back to camp. There was a bit of rain in the air and it was a bit blowy...  we bedded down for the night as the rain started hammering down and the wind started buffeting the tents and caravan. I soon got a text from Chi Chi in her tent... "EEk it's a bit blustery in here!". All night I kept an ear out in case Chi chi's tent took flight and much to our delight it stayed firmly fixed to the ground. One of the School's gazebos obviously took the worst of the storm and produced a very abstract, mangled looking sculpture in the corner of the field. At about 8.30 I heard Chi Chi's tent zip and looked out to see a VERY tired and disgrunted face!!! I guess it's hard to sleep when you feel you're inside a very noisy washing machine!
A few cups of tea later and we were all feeling a tad more human. The school fete was in full swing now and I found Chi Chi at the sweet AND cake stall looking for something to replenish her energy stores (apparently)!
This will wake me up!
Chi Chi saved her last sweet for me... ahhh!
The Circus show was the finale to the fete and before we knew it (thanks to our amazing helpers) we were back on the road to get home to hot bubbly baths. Chi Chi was particularly excited as her and Sideshow Sam have just bought their first house just down the road from Fred and I... which is AMAZING!!!
Tomorrow we are back on the road up to Hinkley in Leicestershire... do give us a toot if you see us!

Friday 24 June 2011

THE SAT NAV IS HAVING A LAUGH!

Wednesday we set out on a pretty straightforward run to Greenford School in Dorset but on the way the Sat Nav decided to demonstrate it's sense of humour and took us on an interesting route for the last part of the journey. Instead of following major A roads it decided it would be MUCH more fun to see Fred panic as we found ourselves in a sprinter van pulling a caravan venturing up single track country lanes!!! Ha ha ha we thought! Luckily we did actually get to the school... and the warm welcome, tea and biscuits soon calmed Fred's nerves!
A great bunch of helpers turned up and the tent was flying it's flag in no time at all.

Putting up scenery first thing in the morning

Next morning we were up early putting up scenery and the trapeze... ready for the workshops to begin. The day started with the whole school turning up in circus outfits to dance outside the tent in the sunshine! BRILLIANT!!!

The day went well with Fred and Chichi running workshops for the whole school.

This morning Fred and I started the day early with a lovely walk through local water meadows with a river running by... Maiden Newton is pretty idyllic. The whole village is also festooned with posters advertising the circus shows tonight and tomorrow afternoon so we're expecting a good crowd.

We got back and found a very happy but pretty exhausted Chichi. Her new smaller hoops arrived yesterday and we found her practicing her new 8 hoop split!!!!! (has to be seen to be believed... I'll put a picture up in the next couple of days). Looks amazing already and knowing Chichi she will master it in no time at all... check her out at www.chichirevolver.com

If you're in the area DO pop along to see one of our shows which includes the AMAZING children's circus show (definately NOT to be missed!)... you can also see Chichi 'hooping', Fred with his magic, mayhem and bad jokes, Henry, the world's only mind reading dog!!!... and ME selling homemade popcorn and a whole load of new badges that have just arrived (after completely selling out at a show last week)....



Until next time...
Mrs Fred x

Monday 20 June 2011

Circus lion eats Fred!


Our adventure to Poringland Primary school was just amazing... After battling through the traffic on the M25 we arrived and were greeted by a whole team of helpers and big smiles. The tent was put up in no time at all and we were soon settling down to putting up scenery, setting up camp and rehearsals.
Fred disrupting Chichi's rehearsals!
The next days school assembly was held in the tent as all the children were introduced to Fred, Chichi and the amazing little big top in their school playing field. The day continued with a timetable of circus workshops so all the children in the school could experience a taste of being a circus star. 
Friday was spent teaching a group of 23 children circus routines that they would then perform that evening in front of a live audience. Fred and Chichi commented that these were amazing children - they all listened and put their all into their learning experience. During the class the children are asked if they have anything special they'd like to perform..."A double back flip and a somersault will do nicely" is Fred's usual request... only this time he was greeted by "yes okay"... we just so happened to have a champion gymnast in our midst... in fact 2!! The show that evening was spectacular!
Grrrrrrrrrr!
Saturday was the school fete and a fabulous painting of a lion and it's tamer was installed by the circus entrance. We were now ready for the three shows of the day and I set about making copious amounts of popcorn!
Some of the children who had performed the previous evening turned up in their bright costumes and red noses to perform again... they'd really got the bug! During the second show they even improvised and made up a new routine all by themselves - a sign of being true professionals!
It was sad when the last show was over but it was great to see so many people stay to help us strike the tent. We set out to beat our record of 30 minutes to take down but we were severly hampered by the kids coming round with trays of FREE CAKE... yum!
After being waved off by everyone we were on our way back home... oh WHAT a lovely time we had in Poringland Primary! Thanks to Richard Burbage and all his staff and PTA who made it such a lovely experience for us all.
Next stop... Dorset. We hit the road again on Wednesday so do give us a toot if you see us on the way!

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Mrs Fred runs away with the Circus!

Well we're now well into June and my plan of starting a blog from the Circus caravan back in April was rudely interrupted with putting up big tops, making popcorn with my new Whirlypop machine and making sure Fred and Chichi have enough snacks and cups of tea!
The season started superbly well with our annual visit to Brooklands Park in sunny Worthing.


This is our fourth year running at Brooklands and it just gets better and better. We saw plenty of new faces and plenty of fans who come back year after year and the tent was full to capacity most of the time. We were truly blessed with good weather and those sun hats and ice creams came rolling in!
Next we were off to Furley Park school in Ashford Kent for a week. Fred and Chichi worked each day with 40 children (what a squeeze!) who then put on a show for their parents and the local community in the evening. We did this for 4 nights running to a full house each night. All the children and staff were FANTASTIC - they all made us feel very welcome and it was quite sad to be waving goodbye.
Our next stop was Giffards school in Essex... we were greeted with smiles, cups of tea and Jaffa cakes and it just kept getting better! The last night was spectacular - most of the audience stayed after the show to help us take down the tent and pack up and the circus. We were so pleased to be asked to go back again next year!


Last weekend we headed off to Benenden School in Kent as part of the weekend activities for the girls there. Our tent looked so lovely on the green in front of the school. Again we had such a lovely time with the girls who put on an amazing show... amongst all the giggling! A huge thank you to the staff who looked after us impecably AND invited us to the most amazing sunday brunch...
Next time I speak I'll be sat in the circus caravan up in Norwich tapping away on my laptop... we are heading off tomorrow... give us a toot if you see us on the road!