TRAPEZE ARTIST: Hep!

STEVE: Need to pack this show, so that is has the feeling of a roller coaster ride.

GLEN: Lot of in-shape people, all with rock-hard abs.

BARRY: It's not that he hasn't had success as a clown...

This is the big leagues.

Hep!

HARMONY: We've got three people doing three tricks that they've never done in front of an audience.

STEVE: I'm really concerned but... And see what happens.

♫So here we are♫ ♫It's like we never really left the start♫ ♫Time heals the wound♫ ♫But then there's still a scar♫ ♫To remind us of the way it's meant to be♫ ♫Oh, sing a song♫ ♫A melody for what has come and gone♫ ♫Try to convince the choir to sing along♫ ♫Here's to tomorrow or whatever gets you by♫ ♫Oh, la, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la, la, la, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la, la, la, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la, la, la♫ ♫La, la, la.♫ (music box music playing) MAN: We make magic.

The bottom line is still the circus is about magic.

WOMAN: I don't know how to explain what is so awesome about working at the circus.

PAUL BINDER: The magic's in you.

What we're doing is triggering the response.

BARRY LUBIN: We are a classic one-ring European style circus.

When I walk out in front of the public, they're right there.

(audience laughs) WOMAN: We're all so close here.

There's not one person on this lot who doesn't know my name.

That feels good.

MAN: Circus is exactly as a family.

For the good part and the bad part.

We work here.

We eat together.

We see each other all the time.

BOY: When you work in a circus, you're going to find a family right there.

It's going to be like the all-circus city.

MAN: My mother always told me, "If you want to act like a clown, join the circus."

But I never actually thought I'd do it.

STEVE SMITH: Today was a rough day, technically.

Today was a mess.

The show is not at a place that I wish it were at this point.

(kids shouting happily) BARRY: When you first get an audience, it certainly makes you feel alive.

But it's... really frightening.

GLEN HEROY: I like to say I'm never nervous.

(laughing) This is circus magic right here.

I get to clean it up.

That's the nice thing about not having any hair.

That's it.

That's all.

Done.

STEVE: Well, my morning time is quiet time.

This is the only quiet time of the day.

As soon as I step out of the trailer, I feel like it's inundation time.

(playing goofy music) My name is Steve Smith and I am the guest director here at the Big Apple Circus.

My schedule here in Walden is idiotic and insane.

My favorite part of the day.

Hey, Steve.

I think we have a dress rehearsal in two weeks.

There are not enough hours of the day.

That's Walden.

Let's go!

Let's start from the very beginning, you guys.

So let's start in the aisles.

We'll just block it.

ANDREY MANTCHEV: We practice the opening and finale maybe twice a day.

Towards the end, the last two weeks, we don't have a day off.

VIKI DAVIS: Up, two, three, four.

That's when we start going through technical run-throughs and lighting sessions.

We have sound sessions.

Costumes.

I think you look amazing.

AUSTIN SANDERSON: The timeline is really compressed.

For me, it's not stressful, because I'm really organized.

(laughing) Take it from the top.

BARRY: No matter where we are, even the day before we open in Walden, when that audience shows up, there's gonna be a show.

♫♫ ♫Hey!♫ ♫Hey!♫ I've been in the circus business for 33 years now.

I still don't feel like a circus person.

♫♫ I look around and I know who the circus people are.

And I'm not one of them.

I'm one of these people who is in awe of the circus.

(lid clatters) My name is Barry Lubin and I play the character "Grandma" here at the Big Apple Circus.

I think this is my 17th season.

PAUL: Ladies and gentlemen, Grandma.

BARRY: Grandma is what I call "The Best of Barry."

It's taking some of the aspects that are me and leaving some of the more negative parts of who I am at home because they're not so entertaining.

Grandma, I'm introducing the show.

You're interrupting.

PAUL: I actually first saw Barry in Madison Square Garden at a show of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey.

And I look up and there's this little old lady clown on a skateboard, coming down what they call the front track, which is the long part of the arena, on a skateboard.

And slowly but surely, getting out of control on her skateboard until she hit the hockey panel that was at the end of the arena, and popcorn went flying all over the audience.

And I said, "Oh, this is hysterical."

I mean... And he had created... You know, he created a universal character.

BARRY: I have always had trouble with authority figures and the relationship immediately with Paul, that relationship of the ringmaster as authority figure and the clown trying to interrupt the proceedings, essentially... it was immediately comfortable.

My own personal soundtrack includes Buddy Holly, Mozart, Gershwin, The Beatles, John Williams and Mother Goose.

(music box playing) PAUL: Kids adore Grandma.

The independent Grandma.

This kind of quirky, "I'm going to do things my way" Grandma.

At some age, by the way, they discover that Grandma's a man.

Somewhere around five years old, they go... And that, too, is a funny idea.

MARK GINDICK: One of the things I think I've learned from Grandma is just basking in it.

(music box playing) (crowd applauding and cheering) Well, Grandma... MARK: Being still... and accepting the love from the audience.

(audience cheering and applauding) It's hard.

♫Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur...♫ Everybody said to me when I went to clown college, "You look like a younger version of Barry Lubin."

BARRY: Mark Gindick was actually Grandma for two years.

He did the first two years when I licensed the character, and he took over in the spring and summer.

Ah.

Sweet, sweet.

Wow.

I envy you.

I want to be you when I throw down.

(laughing) Mark is one of the only younger performers I know who I basically trust more than my own instincts.

If he thinks something's going to work, he is so brilliant that I am going to go in that direction.

MARK: My clown, when you see me in the ring, is just me.

(guitar chord sounds) I just turn the dial up a little bit.

It's me times ten.

(guitar plays rapidly) So I'm this neurotic little nerd who's shy around women.

That's my clown.

Because that's who I am.

Two, three, four... (woman counting beats) STEVE: I just wanted to ask you about your fall.

Yes.

Okay.

So what I don't want you to do is to come down on your knees.

Okay.

Okay?

It's not good for them.

Okay.

Don't let people know you haven't been under the big top for as long as they've been alive.

Is where it is.

All right.

My name is Glen Heroy, and I am from New York City, New York, but originally from New Paltz, New York, which is just around the corner.

♫♫ I grew up in a family that was pretty dysfunctional.

My father, uh, left and my mother was drinking pretty heavily.

And my sister was in and out of rehab.

Growing up, we were never allowed to talk about it.

It was always the family secrets.

I kept laughing and everything was fine.

And they made up some ridiculous nickname for me in high school, like, "Happy."

"He's Happy.

He's always happy."

♫♫ Good morning, Christopher.

JULIE: My name is Julie Singer.

I'm the One Ring Schoolhouse teacher.

This is my first real job and real teaching job.

I'm Miss Singer.

Um, does anyone know how to play Two Truths and a Lie?

I have the older kids in the morning, and it seems like because of rehearsal starting, some of the kids will be coming in and out of class, so that will be a bit of a challenge.

I have a pre-K, kindergartener, a first grader, second, fourth, sixth and seven.

Is anyone else ready to go?

I was born in Brazil, I like science, and I'm half Italian.

JULIE: Hmm.

You're not half Italian.

Not half Italian.

I'm half Texas.

Half Texas?

(all laughing) I'm half New York.

Yeah?

May I go to, uh... You have to go to rehearsal?

Yeah.

Okay.

Are you coming back this afternoon?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

My name is Christian Stoinev.

I'm 16 years old.

My mom is from Mexico.

My dad's from Bulgaria.

And I was born in Sarasota, Florida.

My dad is kind of the creator of my act.

He's the one who had the idea to put in a dog and everything.

'Cause I wanted a pet, and he was like, "Okay, if you want a pet, what do you think of starting an act and stuff?"

And I was like, "Yeah, okay.

Cool."

I just said that 'cause I wanted the pet.

I'd like to go to University of Central Florida, studying sports journalism.

My parents, they're supportive of my decisions, usually.

But if I were, like, to say I don't want to perform anymore, like, they'd be really angry.

Which is understandable, you know?

But in another way, it's like, you know, you've given me this option, and that's great.

But it's my decision of what I want to do when I grow up.

MAN: Look at that.

I cannot do that to save my life.

That's insane.

Do you believe I've been trying to do that for eight years, and a kid does it over me?

You juggle, too, right?

Yeah, I thought somebody said you juggled.

Ah... wow!

GIRL: I would rather grow up in the circus 'cause then I get to meet new people every year and play a lot more.

Sydney, you're on the wrong side again.

My name is Sydney Michelle Zerbini-Wen.

My parents work with horses.

Next time, wear your boots.

You're gonna get a broken toe.

WOMAN: I have been performing for, let's see, I think I started when I was two.

I start to work when I was nine years old.

About six years old, I start performing with my dad in juggling.

My full name is Adriano Espana Anastasini.

We have proof of a poster from 1877 that the Anastasini Circus has been going on, and I am ninth generation.

My whole life was in a circus, and not a second of it I ever really thought, "I don't want to be in this."

I actually really like it.

Yeah, nice.

Very nice.

My name is Sarah Schwartz, and I'm from Germany.

Soon is my boyfriend's daughter.

Magnifique!

She is living in France, so we just get the chance to practice together during the vacation.

When you're here, this one has to be straight and with a point.

It's not an easy discipline, the wire.

You really have to love what you're doing, otherwise it's too hard.

(gasps) ça va?

You saw your quick, quick down, and then when the wire is higher you just... you're quick on the floor.

(laughs) Yeah.

Bring it up.

Next...

It's like you...

Yes, that's it.

Yes.

When I was about 14 years of age, I discovered the wire.

And I saw this beautiful wire walker Gipsy Gruss in France, and that was, like, "I want to do it like her."

So, after finishing high school, I went to France to the Fratellini School and became a professional wire walker.

It makes you feel light, you know?

It makes you feel like flying a little bit.

It's like a... a stage.

You can tell stories, and then you can play theater, you can dance, you can juggle, you can do anything on the wire.

WOMAN: Hep!

No good!

No good!

HARMONY: As far as I know, it's clear what is expected of us: the passing leap, the triple and the Russian Swing.

That's what's written in our contract and that's what the circus expects.

PAUL: Yes.

HARMONY: The passing leap is good.

PAUL: Check!

Ooh, yes!

That was great.

Oh!

HARMONY: The triple has not been caught, and I don't know when it will be caught.

Stop!

Monica hasn't thrown the triple without the mechanic yet.

How goes the music?

STEVEN: The expectations weren't really high, but still, only one trick was caught.

There's no way that this is gonna be the finale act in the show.

Just no way.

I can't imagine that we would cut the act totally.

It definitely has to move in the show order.

The current thinking is to open the second half with the flying act in a condensed form.

PAUL: And there we are.

LaSalle and Rodion finale.

STEVEN: The Rodion Troupe is an elegant classical circus act that takes great technical skill.

It's a Russian bar act.

("Dance of the Reed Flutes" playing) GUILLAUME: I love that act.

She's a fantastic acrobat.

(audience applauds) It was one of those acts that for myself, was always a dream to have them in our ring.

So now I need to move one act out of the second half into the the first half, move the first half act back into the second half, change the transitions around both of those...

I think we can actually make an entrance under the net.

STEVEN: In putting a show together, the clowns seem to be the chess piece that we can move around the board the easiest.

And so sometimes, their material that worked great in the first half, doesn't work so well in the slot in the second half.

And so, by tomorrow morning, come up with something else.

You'll squeeze first, right?

Yes, squeeze!

We're gonna pull the rope a little bit, then you start, loosen up... BARRY: The pressure is entirely different, I think, for the clowns than it is for anybody else.

You ready?

Ready?

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

BARRY: Just today we were handed a new assignment, which is to cover the net coming down from the flying trapeze act.

Yes!

Let's start again!

(laughs) BARRY: Can you juggle clubs?

GLEN: Very poorly, but we can start now.

Don't start now.

That's probably better that you're not any good at it.

Yeah.

The real parody is, the two of you guys coming out with no shirts on Right.

and doing... and going into the bit.

That's... that's a laugh, too.

That's like a second laugh.

Now, what is the third laugh?

In real-life terms, the clowns are the glue that hold the show together, because in a show that features amazing skill and athletic artistry, the clowns are the people that we can relate to the most because they're really the most human.

Look at that.

(laughing) (laughing) You're so pretty!

It's a good look for me.

GLENN: Today I'm going to New Paltz, since it's very close, to swing by my mother's house, which got sold last week.

My mother passed away about a year and a half ago.

She left the bulk of her estate to a faith healer televangelist who was going to cure her of being blind.

She suffered from a form of dementia called "confabulation" where she, among other things, thought she was on a cruise ship.

One day I went up to a rehab place where she was, and I went over to her, and I said, "Do you know who I am?"

And she whispered in my ear, "Yeah, you have the starlight in your eyes."

Couldn't imagine growing up anywhere else.

I really thought this was a magic place.

This is where all the props and costumes and lighting equipment were.

My mom started a community theater here in New Paltz called the "90 Miles Off Broadway."

And I think it's still going, to this day.

And over here was a cigar box with my makeup on it under the stairs that had my first clown makeup.

My ready-made theater with ample exits, stage right and stage left.

My mother planted all the seeds.

She put me onstage when I was four.

Told me that you never break character till you are so far in the wings, and no one can see you.

Oh, my God.

When my parents got divorced, my mother really drank a lot more.

But, uh... she got a second job, I got a job as a busboy at the golf course, and you know, just kind of pooled our money.

And sometimes when she got sick, would be in a hospital, and I would live alone in high school.

I don't think you could get away with now, (chuckling): but...

I think I was hiding a lot in fantasy world as a kid.

And my imagination kind of saved me.

When things got sad or sketchy, or-or... um, having an alcoholic parent, and, um... and not being able to tell anyone, you could hide in that and find a place to just play in that and have a fantasy world take you away from all that.

HARMONY: Okay, so we have ten practice days left until the dress rehearsal.

The countdown has started.

JOSUBER NEVES: It is important.

We miss one time, it is okay, but two or three is too much.

HARMONY: We're in big trouble here.

(anxious laugh) WOMAN: Willy, he have a big job, because he have to get used to who I gonna catch?

He's a new catcher, so he needs a lot of practice.

He used to be a flier before.

It's so easy to talk for us.

'Cause I was flier, too.

He was a flier too, he was a flier, too.

Yeah.

ADRIANO: When she was younger, my mom, Gladys Espana Anastasini did a trapeze act with her three brothers.

They were on the news, they were on the papers, they were everywhere.

MAN: She used to be a beautiful lady up there doing real nice tricks.

I'm Raul Lancheros-- the electrical supervisor.

Hep!

GLADYS: The time right now is so short.

You start to getting nervous.

When you get nervous, you know, almost everything is impossible.

That's the way it is.

SARAH: I came here first by myself, and then there was a place where they could take my boyfriend in the show.

Serge was the tent master.

We'd been working in the same show long, long time ago.

And then we met again two-and-a-half years ago.

So we started to go out together.

(sultry rhythm and blues playing) ♫♫ SARAH: Losing the top level of what you can do-- I think you can easily keep it up.

I hope for another five or six years would be good.

I think until 40.

Physically, I think it's possible longer than what we think, but then the face is getting old, and then there is new young girls coming that look way prettier.

Today, I'm going to New York.

I'm going to cut my hair off.

The circus roles of men and women-- it's very classic.

They like it when you have long hair so you can put them up like ballerinas, or...

It's still-- it's still very different in the circus to have short hair, though.

You look pretty muscular in your upper body.

Do you lift weights, or is that all from performing?

No, it's all from performing.

Last year I did the hand-to-hand act and I had to lift a guy, so... You were lifting a man?

Yes.

So there's still... still some muscles left from last year.

(chuckles) Yeah.

And I did a couple aerial acts as well for years and years.

Have you ever fallen?

Well, I...

Injured?

Is this too intimate?

My... Can I not ask you this?

No, it's no problem.

I broke a ligament.

In your leg?

Yeah, on the foot.

And I fell on my head once.

When I was... Concussion?

Yeah.

When I was younger.

I used to act and dance a little bit.

And when we were on the road, there was always... hookups.

Was... Is there love on the road in the circus?

Yeah, well, yeah.

(laughing): Well, yes?

Sure.

'Cause that could get lonely without that, right?

Yeah, sure.

Okay, good.

Well, I'm lucky, I got my man with me, so... Oh, yeah?

Did you meet through the circus?

Yes.

Not in this circus, but through the circus.

Do you guys have babies?

No.

Do you want them?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Sometime.

(orchestra playing off-key) STEVE: Glen Heroy is a First of May.

It's his first time in the ring, and it's been a difficult adjustment.

BARRY: Glen is going to do a piece, using the audience, called "Lead a Band."

But you have to get used to the fact that there are people almost all the way around you.

(frantic orchestra music playing) I believe Glen is going to go through a very interesting learning experience.

(coda playing) And lights.

There are people behind you you never looked at.

What's going on?

What's going on basically is, you haven't just drawn everybody in.

Uh-huh.

You've actually not drawn any of those people in.

So it's like, wave, wave from right there and move.

Get ready.

Get ready.

And lights.

Okay, again.

Do it all from there, and wave to everybody in the house.

Move.

Pull them in... Then move, exactly.

It may seem ridiculous, but it's your way of drawing everybody in, in a focus.

So get ready, it's coming, it's coming.

Move?

Hi.

It's got to be... Yeah.

It's kind of two moves, so just pick your move.

Bang.

Bang.

That's it.

'Cause if you do this, it's not something very specific.

It needs to be... Ba!

Exactly.

And then...

But again, it can't be "Ba..." It has to be "Ba!"

Ba!

Exactly.

Huge difference.

Instead of "Ba..." it's got to be "Ba!"

Huge difference.

BARRY: If we could actually do this in clunky form now, Okay.

we would be most grateful.

Go.

(lively music playing) I'm gonna (bleep) kill him.

It's frustrating to me that I give him a direction, and it goes in one ear and out the other.

He's taking some directions.

I like his instincts.

But for focus and staging and theatricality, things are lacking that I just talked to him about.

I believe he'll get it, but he ain't got it yet.

If you held up Grandma against Glen, it would be a double standard.

Because Grandma moves in a much more subtle way.

But that comes after years of learning how to make a little gesture read to the back of the house, because everything else is still.

When that light hits you, Yeah.

stand where you are for one beat, and stand where you are as you take in the whole house and go up onto the ring curb.

One thing-- go to the center.

And then you have to plant yourself, and bang.

Um, I think there is something that goes on because of our lighting.

Like, whenever you furrow your brow, Yeah.

Which I know you do, Yeah.

It looks-- it just looks...

It's conveying something that I am sure you do not wish it to convey, so... Death and kill and...?

Serial killer?

Things.

Okay.

That I don't want to convey.

Yeah.

I'll see you back in there.

GLEN: Getting a lot of direction late in the game.

Lots of my clown comes from a conflict, so there's some kind of a drama, and I'm being steered more towards, uh... playfulness.

So, less angry clown, David Shiner, more Oliver Hardy.

So it's a whole mental shift with every step I'm doing, so... ♫♫ Well, I wouldn't...

I wouldn't go here.

This part here, because here is so nice, and then come down here.

So, just a little bit this part.

Let me... And you know what?

And I have to see you guys together as a troupe.

Okay.

Not just you.

I know.

'Cause you can handle it.

I have to see the other girls.

And they don't have your body.

Do you see what I'm saying?

STEVE: Good afternoon and welcome back to the big top.

First half is still pretty rocky.

So I want to start today from pre-show all the way to the intermission tag.

STEVE: I would say that people are a little tired now.

(laughing) I think we're all running on fumes at this point, and there's just nothing we can do about it.

We have to keep pushing forward.

The motto is: "Onward."

And we will make it to our dress rehearsal.

♫♫ Whoa!

PAUL: At this point in the process, there's always lots of anxiety.

There's a lot of unknowns in this show; a lot of acts that we've developed on our own, and, you know, created here-- Sarah's wire act.

We don't know how it's gonna play in front of an audience yet.

Can we talk later?

Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Aw, don't say that-- "maybe."

No, no, no, no.

No, no.

Maybe.

No.

Is not big change.

You have to listen.

You have to listen.

I know.

Is not big change.

Is just a few... Maybe.

Maybe.

Okay.

(speaking native language) GLEN: If you look at a calendar, it gets a little scary... since people will be here in two days.

BARRY: He is really nervous.

I'm not him, but I know for myself, if I'm nervous, the blood is rushing to my head and I'm hyper-aware suddenly that all these people are watching me, and you just can't do your work.

Let's work on your down beats.

I got it.

I'm gonna sing with you.

Okay.

♫Ba♫ ♫Ba...♫ STEVE: Okay, everybody, if you'll take your places, please.

We're gonna do this one more time.

(whimsical music playing) BARRY: He's having a hard time.

I've drilled him pretty much because I feel like I have to drill him.

And all I can tell you is, at this moment, he's not taking notes.

Or not retaining them.

Not retaining.

He's taking the notes.

He is.

He's a smart guy.

We have good rehearsals, though, I will tell you that.

Mm-hmm.

Execution, it's not happening at the moment.

That's it.

Thank you.

Very much.

MAN: I feel that Glen has had a really hard time.

I don't know, I just feel like every time I'm in a meeting, or something, um... you know, the criticism is directed at him; I don't know.

GLEN: I haven't slept in two days.

All the beats I did today were new.

Um...

I missed a few beats.

The band came in at different times, so we have to learn the rhythm with each other, and I'm still dealing with invisible children.

I would say Glen is not ready for an audience at this moment, but, um... he's going to get one anyway, on Monday.

(giggles) GLEN: Everybody who knows me says, "Glen, what are you worried about?

As soon as there's kids, you're going to be fine."

It's just learning how to stand in this ring and not let it swallow you up.

How are you?

Oh, good.

HARMONY: My boyfriend's here for our dress rehearsal.

So, yeah, I'm really excited.

I don't know.

Sometimes that makes me a little bit more nervous.

I come in the ring and I stay in the left side of the ring.

I'll turn, and as I go out, then I'll just turn and... 'Cause at first... MONICA: I'm looking forward to have some public now.

It's hard to give these feelings to an empty audience.

GLEN: I'm about to go do the first dress rehearsal of "Play On."

Yesterday, Paul pulled me aside and said if I do that "Lead A Band" piece wrong, it's going to be cut from the show.

So... hey.

And, uh...

So... that was a little bit of added pressure.

Sucks the fun right out of it.

HARMONY: I'm nervous because it's probably been two out of three that I've been catching.

That frustrates me 'cause I don't really understand why.

At this point, I kind of feel like I'm just winging it.

So that makes me nervous.

I don't know if they're the types who would take us out of the show, or...

I have no idea.

I know some circuses would.

I honestly thought my whole gig here would be gone.

So I did talk to Barbara about... you know, maybe this is it.

Maybe I blew it.

(kid shouting excitedly) Michael, you look... My name is Giuseppe.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

Wow.

She's a-very nice-a.

MAN: I just have never seen so much nervous energy backstage.

Everyone I talked to was, like, was really nervous.

And the wire act-- she's been here three years-- was... Before the charivari, she said, you know, "I'm going to be sick, I'm so nervous."

(band playing) Thank you.

WOMAN (over P.A.

): The show will now begin.

(applause) (orchestra playing lively music) (music stops) Good evening.

Welcome to The Big Apple Circus.

I'm Paul Binder, I'm the founder and artistic director.

(music swells) (bright orchestra music playing) ♫♫ (cheering) SARAH: We are performers, not actors, so it's the real feeling, you know?

We have to give this energy.

(rimshot) (laughing) That you're scared.

Everything builds up just before.

So, like, my heartbeat is going so fast before my act, it's like, boom, boom, boom, boom.

(upbeat music playing) (music tempo slows) (audience clapping in time to music) (applause) Nice work, Sarah.

Bye, Papa.

(speaking native language) Don't leave.

We've got time.

We've got time.

You got to relax, enjoy the moment.

When you practice, that's why you practice.

So you know exactly what time you're on and all that.

Just relax.

♫♫ PAUL: Yeah.

They did it.

Nice going, Lizzie.

PAUL: Oh!

Hep!

(gasping and cheering) (whooping) Yeah!

Yeah, right there.

Whoa!

Harmony!

(laughing) (cheering) (cheering) (drum set playing stomping beat) Yes!

Hep!

(audience gasps) (light applause) (motor revving) Et voilàà!

Hey!

Hey!

(barking) Oh!

Ow!

GLEN: It's a little intimidating to walk into that ring.

And you gotta have a lot of moxie.

But I think you have to doubt yourself a little first.

That kind of levels it out.

Heck, yeah, I can-- I can do this.

(whimsical music plays) (band plays flourish) Aha.

(light applause) ("Can Can" playing) (music stops) (applause) No.

Go!

("Can Can" plays) (applause) (audience clapping in time to music) (song ends) (band plays flourish) I don't think so.

Yeah, yeah.

("Can Can" playing, audience clapping in time) (slow music playing) (applause and cheering) (hip-hop music playing) (laughing and cheering) Glen essentially got the biggest laugh of the entire show by just walking out in a silly costume.

(chuckles) Which was a bit unfair, but true.

Hi, Barbara Bracing.

How are you?

PAUL: It went better than I believed it could.

I was really starting to doubt myself.

I get nervous when a dress rehearsal goes that well.

I think it's really fresh, this show.

I really like it.

I love the juggling acts.

(laughing) Music swing.

It's so beautiful.

By the time it gets New York, it'll be a grownup circus.

I can't wait to see it again.

Yeah.

I feel really relieved that we got it together.

I mean, our whole troupe is really happy.

STEVEN: Okay, and then right on into the Flying... Yeah?

PAUL: I have a serious question.

I want to address the question that she's not coming out of that triple at all.

She must... We don't know.

I mean, she must feel she ain't gonna make it, so she doesn't even come out, you know?

'Cause she's not trying to.

I thought it was... not great.

Well, it requires some discussion.

(indistinct radio transmission) STEVEN: I know it's load-out night.

We got a lot to do.

In close.

Helen Keller once said that "The best and most beautiful things in the world "cannot be seen or even touched.

They must be felt with the heart."

And from the bottom of my little heart to the top of my bald head, I thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you, collaborate with you, laugh with you and sometimes scream at you.

Good... night.

I love you.

That's it.

Let's pack up!

Let's get the heck out of here!

On to Virginia!

Electrics has got to pull...

Since just after this show about 9:00 last night, we worked till 1:00 and came back at 7:50.

MAN: Ay-up!

(man yelling) Up.

(giving horse command) Three!

(all grunting) All right, a little bit more.

We got this.

You're not pushing it.

We're going this way.

Right there.

Straight in.

(grunting) Oh, (bleep) (bleep)!

These all became crazy.

(mumbles) (mouthing) GLEN: I'm in show business!

(chuckles) I even got a camper!

The last couple of weeks were... kind of stressful.

I thought they were angling to get another clown in, but Paul Binder assured me that I was still in the show.

And he said, "There's a new character at the Big Apple Circus-- it's you."

(muttering): It's a new day... (bleep) We're stopping.

We're stopping.

Beautiful.

Circus life.

ANNOUNCER: Next on Circus: WOMAN: My first day, and the guys would come up and be, like, any excuse they can just to touch me.

I'm, like, "God, you're pathetic."

What am I supposed to do, have a super real boyfriend on Mondays only?

STEVEN: Barry found out that he's sick-- he has cancer.

BARRY: It just hit me like a ton of bricks.

MAN: It sucks that they got cut.

PAUL: Have we ever replaced the major act the night before a dress rehearsal?

No.

The new name of the show, it's, uh, Change On.

♫I didn't wanna get high♫