Big Top Mugsy

I went to see Cirque du Soleil this weekend at Dallas' Fair Park, not far from the scene of my Cotton Bowl triumph last year. I really enjoyed the show, especially the first half. I was not really sure what to expect and thought that perhaps the performance would consist of naked Frenchmen eating baguettes and cartwheeling around the stage. I am pleased to report that there was none of that. Instead, Cirque du Soleil offered an often jaw-dropping feast for the eyes. Not quite as satisfying as a feast for the belly, perhaps, but not bad. Not bad at all.

The performers pulled off some amazing feats. Among the most impressive were some who got inside large rings (imagine a 7-foot-diameter hula hoop) and spun around the stage in a manner that would make even a newly bathed pug dizzy. The show also featured a tiny woman tethered to oversized helium-filled balloons who was batted around by the crowd like a beach ball.

For all its creativity and its vague storyline about a dead clown, Cirque du Soleil's Corteo was at its heart a circus. With acrobats and trapeze artists and clowns, it brought back memories of my own brief stint as a circus performer. The ups, the downs, the cameraderie. But I don't want to bore you; I am sure nobody in the congregation wants to hear about those bygone days.