Circus entertainment for your event, a helpful guide
25/01/2023
Everyone loves the circus and if you get your circus entertainment right you will really wow your audience. From a colourful, eye-catching circus parade to advertise your company, a sit-down glitzy gala dinner show or a fabulously circus-themed wedding. There’s a lot to think about when you hire circus performers.
Hire Circus entertainment that’s chic, not cheesy
Many circus performers for hire work brilliantly for 5-year-olds but not at your sleek corporate event. Matching your circus acts to your audience is very important.
For example, when you hire circus performers for a wedding think beautiful and graceful like a balletic hand balance act or romantic acrobatic duo. Perhaps even stilt walkers in glowing white costumes scattering rose petals or a gorgeous aerial hoop routine. If there are lots of children at your wedding, however, a balloon modeller or trick bubble artist will delight the little ones.
To make a big splash at awards shows some highly skilled circus acrobats, aerial silk acts, or hand balance contortionists always hit the mark. They must be to a very high-end standard, however. Awards attendees expect the very best so you can’t scrimp on budgets.
For a gala dinner a glitzy circus showgirl troupe, big-scale fire acts, roller skate trick artists, the bed of nails and knife-throwing circus entertainment will all excite your guests. Keep it colourful, fun, and full of spectacle and you can’t go wrong.
The best venues for Circus Entertainment
A stately home full of antiques, drapes and expensive carpets may not be the best match for your death-defying circus entertainment. Low ceilings just won’t work for many circus acts. As an example, you will need at least 4.5 meters in height for a spectacular duo of hand-balancing acrobatic circus performers.
Wow, factor aerial acts are always the pinnacle of any circus show. However, you don’t need to go as high as the average big top to book aerial silks or aerial hoop. These acts don’t involve the swinging height needed for trapeze but are just as awe-inspiring. For these circus acts you will need to check that your venue has an existing weight-tested and certified rigging point. Failing that, lollipop hoop acts combine the skill of aerial hoop but uses a rotating hoop with a floor-standing base. This particular circus entertainment only requires a 3 – 3.5-meter height, so is a handy option to fit into many more venue spaces.
Large-scale fire acts are always a crowd-pleaser, especially when combined with sparkle or flash effects using Lycopodium powder. All our fire performers are very experienced and heavily insured. They provide full risk assessments and have fire stewards where necessary. Not all venues allow fire acts so check before you hire circus performers that they are happy and can silence heat sensors for the duration of the act.
Which circus performers to book together?
It’s important to tie your circus theme event together so the entertainment flows naturally. Circus entertainment should build excitement levels, so you end on an adrenaline-filled high.
Meet-and-greet performers such as walkabout sideshow acts are a great ice breaker as guests arrive. A singing ringmaster or ring mistress ties everything together and they can introduce each act. Circus acts that require audience interaction or participation are best arranged earlier in the evening before too many cocktails are imbibed! Your set list of circus acts should build in excitement with your most exciting and highly skilled act as the grand finale. If you can arrange for a specialist to install some indoor ‘Gerb’ pyrotechnics for a sparkling cascade of fire effect or confetti canons to end the night with a bang, even better!
Vintage Circus acts or modern Circus Performers for hire in London, Brighton and The South East
Modern circus performers create a stunning spectacle.
There are so many circus acts that have taken inspiration from pop culture, some incorporating street dance and graffiti. DJs and state-of-the-art lighting and visuals. Stunt bike and motorbike tricks. Even juggling modern items like power tools – don’t try this at home!
Vintage circus is always incredibly popular.
Vintage circus entertainers can range from Victorian ringmasters or ring mistresses and loud-hailing sideshow barkers to Houdini-style illusionists. Old-fashioned feats of danger like sword swallowing, the ladder of swords and the bed of nails. Aerialists, strongmen, and contortionists can wear beautiful old-fashioned costumes to delight your audience.
It all depends on your audience and the nature of your event. Match your circus entertainment well and you will be off to a great start!
Our ready-made vintage Circus show for hire in London, Brighton and The South East
The Electric Cabaret Company can write unique circus shows exactly to your personal preference or to get your company message across. We also have a ready-made vintage circus show with a set list of circus entertainers specially chosen to suit your chosen venue and audience.
Pop-up acts like sword balancing and crazy sideshow exhibits like our ‘real’ mermaid presented by our very own Victorian Greatest Showman create an immersive experience. Our sassy ring mistress interacts with the audience and builds excitement as your circus show progresses, highlighting the thrills and spills of every act with great gusto.
Feats of danger like escapology, bed of nails and the ladder of swords bring a fun vintage flavour. A dapper, retro strongman with a curly moustache brings incredible feats of strength, skill, and humour. Our sparkling circus showgirl dance troupe routines bring glamour and pizazz. Jaw-dropping acrobatic and contortion shows plus aerial acts with death drops and rolls will all wow your audience. All our circus acts wear gorgeous vintage costumes from the Victorian age. Our circus entertainers are happy to meet and greet and have selfies with your guests.
The night culminates in a big dance party together with all the circus cast making our circus show an incredible night to remember.
We are specialists in immersive and site-specific circus entertainment