Tears of a Clown: the Dangers Faced by Circus Workers

Image by Ralph Klein from Pixabay

Though generally regaled places of awe and wonder, circuses place performers under dangerous conditions as they work to keep the audience on the edges of their seats. Smaller circus acts tend to be passed as easy or simple, but are just as dangerous as larger circus acts. The following are some of the most dangerous circumstances circus workers face in the spirit of entertainment.

Fire Breathing

Performers start this act by filling their mouths with fuel. Next, they spray the fuel from their mouths in a fine mist. This mist is blown onto a hand-held torch, creating a ball of fire. The performers are at risk of burns and can develop chemical pneumonia from inhaling the fuel they use. Some performers may be poisoned. The audience may also be at risk if the flame shifts without warning or if the property catches fire.

Sword Swallowing

Swallowers are at greatest risk if they aggravate a previous injury, are distracted, or swallow multiple swords at a time. The Sword Swallowers Association International (SSAI) website has a resource section dedicated to medical complications associated with the act.

Wall of Death

This performance is a motor-sports act involving motorcycles or cars that race around a cylinder ring. Using centrifugal force and inertia, they race around the walls performing a variety of trick stunts.

Globe of Terror

Several motorcyclists use centrifugal force to ride around a steel sphere at 60 miles per hour. Injuries usually involve performers crashing into one another at high speeds.

Big Cat Acts

Although they may seem like trained pupils, they are still exotic animals. Acts with big cats are more dangerous than they seem. Many handlers and tamers have been mauled for various reasons. In some instances, the cats get loose and come in contact with the audience or the public.

Elephant Acts

Acts including elephants are often thought of as dangerous because of the animal’s size. When an accident occurs with an elephant, people mainly speculate that they crushed or maimed a human. Other reports state that elephants cause a lot of property damage when escaping confinement. Humans cause numerous dangerous situations for the elephants themselves.

Equestrian Acts

Horseback riding comes with its own dangers, but a circus adds in full-speed gallops and acrobatic stunts. These acts were actually the core of the first contemporary circuses. Performers must know their act, their tricks, but most importantly be able to understand their equine partner.

Aerial Acts

Many people consider this a standard circus act, but it carries hidden dangers just beneath the surface. Accidents have been recorded from varying heights, resulting from net malfunctions and even faulty clips. Not every accident may be fatal, but each one consists of acrobats sustaining serious injuries that have often been life-threatening. Such accidents may lead a performer to seek workers’ compensation claims to cover medical treatment.

Highwire

This performance is often done without a net from various heights. In this balancing act, many performers must learn not only balance but how to grab the wire when they fall. Failure to do so properly has led to many individuals being hurt in an accident. In some cases, workers are paralyzed permanently.