Feats of Talent
To learn this basic circus skill, remember: if you start to lose your balance, lifting one leg can actually help
Tightrope walking
The term for a worker at a carnival
Carny
To ride this circus animal, you may need a large saddle called a howdah
Elephant
Tracing its roots to 1980s Canadian street performance, this "circus of the sun" hit Las Vegas with its first permanent show Mystère in 1993
Cirque du Soleil
The saying "The show must" do this originated in the circus, not in the theatre
Go on
The name for these circus performers suggests that they twist & flex themselves into all sorts of weird positions
Contortionists
Clyde Beatty preferred to be called a lion trainer because this other term implies lions can be domesticated
Lion tamer
Knott's Berry Farm's Museum of Miniatures features these "circus" insects in handmade costumes
Fleas
Run away & join this neon-lit intersection of 4 London streets first formed in 1819
Piccadilly Circus
A quote attributed to circus showman P. T. Barnum "There's a sucker born every..."
Minute
A Greek word meaning "one who walks on tiptoes" gave us this word for a circus performer or an Adobe product
Acrobat
This name for the one in charge of the big top
The ringmaster
Legend says Isaac van Amburgh was the first to stick his head here—we hope he got a "roar" of applause
A lion's mouth
If you buy "candy floss" at a British circus, you've bought this
Cotton candy
Probably originating among circus folk or traveling theater groups, it means "let's get moving"
Let's get the show on the road
Caught by his brother, in 1982 Miguel Vasquez did the first quadruple somersault using this apparatus
Trapeze
A carnival worker whom customers try to dunk, or a Larry Harmon clown
Bozo
A Moscow circus act features these animals trained in the art of juggling with the feet
Bears
In 1993 Circus Circus opened Grand Slam Canyon, a theme park under a dome, in this city
Las Vegas
A saying in this circus activity is "the trouble is that the balls go where you throw them"
Juggling
David Smith Sr. once flew over 2 Ferris wheels, 201 feet up, as part of this act
Human cannonball
No 2 are exactly alike & each is painted on an eggshell to be registered
A clown's face
In 1985 a statue of this huge circus elephant was erected in St. Thomas, Ont., where he died 100 years earlier
Jumbo
This city's Circus Maximus hippodrome could hold 250,000 people, about 1/4 of its population
Rome
Henry Gentry was famous for this type of animal "show", now slang for any small circus
A dog & pony show