| A TWICE WEEKLY SERIAL OF BIG TOP FOLK BY
SIMON PARKE |
|
EPISODE 4
AUDITION DAY
It is audition day in Burt Turtle's Big Top, and they aren't short of acts, hustling for attention. Trapeze artists, tightrope walkers, fire eaters, jugglers, unicyclists, stilt walkers, clowns, acrobats – and yes, three bearded ladies, which is most unusual. Dignity is the first to leave in a recession.
Burt Turtle sits with Ringo the moustachioed Ring Master, who is a trusted judge in such matters.
"I want to take them all!" says Burt, as he looks at the longing in each performer's eyes.
"That's why I'm here," says Ringo. "To keep your wage bill down."
"I do find it hard to say no."
"And I find it hard to say yes."
"So we make a good team."
"No – I'm a good team," says Ringo. "You merely make up the numbers!"
It is a joke, but you know how these things are; not always that funny for the other person.
"I like the dwarf!" says the Ring Master suddenly, twiddling his oiled moustache. "We'll have him. He's got spirit."
A good Ring Master possesses the ability to command attention – instantly! There is something declaratory about everything they say, even if they aren't saying very much. So when Ringo delivers an opinion, it seems very set in stone, like thunderous commandments from heaven; unlike Burt, whose opinions seem rather to be set in jelly, all changeable and wobbly.
So that day, Scuttle the Dwarf joins the Burt Turtle's troupe. And it is true what Ringo says: he does have spirit; bottles of it.
More clowning around |
