Review: Circus uses magic theme to tie acts

In its 139 years of existence, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has always featured bits of magic including such staples as dancing elephants, trained tigers, funny clowns and death-defying acrobats.

Those traditional elements were all on copious display during this year's edition which opened its four-day, nine-performance run Thursday night at EnergySolutions Arena with a 135-minute extravaganza of animals and acrobats.

But this show, called Zing Zang Zoom, had an added element in the form of young ringmaster Alex Ramon whose recurring magic act kept an appreciative audience mesmerized.

Whether he was making an elephant disappear off the arena floor, helping three kids chosen from the audience

Photo Gallery Ringling Bros-Barnum & Bailey Circus

levitate two dads and a mom or performing more traditional magic tricks like sawing a clown in half, Ramon's tricks made the Greatest Show on Earth even greater.

This is a performance that easily passed the "2-year-old test" as my grandson Rocco sat as still as I have ever seen him. At the end, when the lights came on, he looked at his dad with hopeful eyes and asked "one more time?" despite the fact it was more than an hour past his bedtime.

The circus puts together a semi-plot line that tries to connect its traditional acts. This year it involved Ramon and his interplay with Mr. Gravity played by Alan "Tweedy" Digweed who kept trying to thwart some of the gravity defying acts.

First-half highlights included Olates' Dynamic Dogs and the Klose K9s, Ramon's magic with the traditional human cannonball and then a double human cannonball shot across the arena floor.

The second half featured the dancing elephants, tiger trainer Tabayara Maluenda, an upside-down magic show high above the arena floor and the Fernandez Brothers doing acrobatics on spinning wheels.

Don't miss coming to the circus early to enjoy the All-Access Pre-Show which begins an hour before the circus and takes place on the arena floor where the audience gets a good chance to interact with performers as well as the Animal Open House across from the arena where it's possible to take a close look at the elephants, horses and tigers in the show.