THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Recently I discussed the risk factor of circus acts. Performing is certainly a "dangerous life" if you want to thrill the crowds and bring them back for more.

In March this year, at Cirque Pinder in France, a young woman was struck in the head by an arrow from a crossbow fired by her husband during a "William Tell" act.

Cathy Jamet was rushed to a Parisian hospital with the arrow wedged just above her left eye. Her distraught husband, marksman Alain Jamet, has vowed never to perform the "William Tell" act again.

This accident is eerily similar to one that occured at Mildura, Australia in 1994 during a performance of my parents' sharpshooting act, Little Beaver and Maree.

My mother performed a dangerous "ducking" manoevre at the end of the act when my father fired directly at her head. She would duck down in time for the arrow to thud harmlessly into the board.

Both were blindfolded and relied on their hearing for the timing of the stunt. But on this occassion, unexpected noise from outside caused my mother to miss the signal to duck.

Surprisingly, in both cases, the arrow did no damage by becoming embedded in the skull. This is a very thick bone designed to protect the brain from shock. That it did its job so well was lucky for both women.

But I can imagine the reaction when Cathy Jamet arrived at the hospital, if it was anything like my mother's experience. Stunned medics gathered to witness this once in a lifetime emergency.

Another lucky escape occured in Adelaide, Australia, in April this year, when performer Tony Gasser fell more than 5 metres from an apparatus called the Wheel of Death.

Tony, the son of Silvers Circus director Anton Gasser, had been performing the act for 12 years. He escaped with cuts and bruising, mainly because he was able to call on his experience and skill to break his fall by grasping at guy ropes on the way down.

Tony's family are reported as wanting him to give up the act as it is extremely dangerous, but he has apparently agreed to a name change at least.

Instead of the Wheel of Death, which his father never liked, Tony will call the act the Wheel of Destiny.

And the show will undoubtedly go on.

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