Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been around, well, longer than any of us currently writing/reading this, our parents, maybe even our grandparents. And while the three-ring spectacles have changed over the years -- and additions made, like human cannonballs, although we suspect the human cannonball might be an invention nearly as old as the cannon -- the classics are still there: A ring master. High-wire acts. Kids with sticky cotton-candy faces, staring up, slackjawed.
With so much history, and a good dozen or so acts in the Zing Zang Zoom tour (the show currently at STAPLES), we want to focus on two of our favorite features.
One, the involvement of those sticky cotton-candy faced kids consistently charms. Clowns pulling children out of the audience, putting silly hats on their heads, making them hula dance or whatnot. Charming. And the kid remembers it forever (this kid does).
Two: Clara & Fabio's Upside Down Act. There are many intriguingly titled segments in Zing Zang Zoom, but this bit, where two people hang upside down and do wondrous things, has us curious and a bit bewitched. Will we want to Velcro the ceilings after the show and blow a raspberry at gravity? Perhaps.
Zing Zang Zoom from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus runs July 8th-12th at STAPLES Center
