My wife is shrieking with laughter so loudly that the kids are begging her to quieten down and stop embarrassing them. Seconds later she is peeping through her fingers in open-mouthed terror as an acrobat does a handstand on top of a teetering tower of chairs. These are the extremes of emotion at the Pirates Live show at the unique Hippodrome Circus , a national treasure tucked away in Great Yarmouth , Norfolk.
In these days of endless scrolling videos, it’s easy to forget what a live show can be like. Then you get into the Hippodrome and are reminded. As a pair of contortionists bend themselves into impossible shapes and shoot a bow and arrow at a target using only their feet, we can see the trembles in their muscles, the concentration on their faces.
We feel the heat of the pyrotechnics that light up the impressive pirate-ship set. It’s jaw-dropping. Manager Ben Jay tells me after the show how he sources the best circus talent from all over the world.
This show – not the only one they stage – has performers from Kenya, Ukraine and China as well as from the circus’s own dance school next door. They are all world class. After the show, which weaves circus acts into a kid-friendly pirate story, audience members are invited for a cheap-as-chips tour of the backstage museum.
It gives you a real sense of the circus and its traditions, making you appreciate the show that much more. We had got into the circus spirit beforehand with tasty flatbreads and bagels at Cafe 1903.