The Greatest Show on Earth
Mike Palumbo
I haven't been to a circus since I was a child. When I did, it was in Nassau Coliseum, a large indoor event stadium, so in my memory it was small, not because it wasn't grand, but simply because we were so far up in the seats. Regardless, that did not take away from the wonder and grandeur. The eyes of a child make the whole world seem bigger; the circus, seen through those eyes, seems even bigger by comparison.
When the opportunity to take my four year-old son came, we got front row seats. We also had the luck of finding a smaller circus under the traditional big top instead of the stadium. Despite being closer, I realized that the circus is in fact small, but that's not necessarily negative. Movies and TV have us believing that everything intense happens up close, with flashing cuts and moving camera perspective. The circus in comparison, happens within your scope of view, in one static shot, no cuts, and it's completely analog. They are small people, just like you and me. But they make a big effort to entertain us within the confines of a quaint and time honored tradition.
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