Hopefully none are left paralyzed from this but I can't see a good outcome for the lower middle one.

"Suspended only by the oh shit." I do grant work for a local childrens' circus company and I really really hope this doesn't deter people from becoming circus performers like the Challenger deterred us kids who watched it live from becoming astronauts. Accidents like these are one in a million. My stars go out to everyone involved, may your recovery be swift.

I was going to ask that too. I think I saw a Ringling Bros circus when I was like 2 or 3 so my memory's pretty fuzzy.. I think it changed themes from continent to continent, so it had the typical Ringmaster, Clowns and Elephants stuff but also more of a European "Circus Voltaire" vibe too. Yes, I equate everything to pinball machines.

A lot of it is probably to make it look less "exotic" for the sake of exotic, or "freakish" for the sake of freakish. I blame Katherine Dunn. Two Dunn references in one day. I'm on a roll.

Short answer: animal welfare is (rightly) much more of a consideration than it used to be, so there is more focus on acrobatic/aerialist performances.

I think the mom's doing a pretty good job of that. If this was like The Great Willendas disaster that'd be a time to panic and a calming voice would have been helpful. This was so sudden that there's hardly time for anyone to either say "it's all part of the show folks" or "oh shit" and try to seek help.

what a baby pussy you are

Back when I used to sing Opera (later I worked as Arts Admin) we were doing Aida and got an actual circus elephant who did everything right until opening night where s/he (can't remember the gener) flipped out and took a shit on stage and fell halfway into the orchestra pit so I can relate to not wanting to see this.

another time we were doing.. can't remember off the top of my head, one of those Operas where EVERYBODY DIES AT THE END which is most Operas, anyway the principal soprano is supposed to commit suicide by jumping off the stage into a strategically placed cushion, which unfortunately worked more like a bouncehouse. She sprung back up and out of the orchestra pit into the first row of the audience, injuring herself and 4 others. Sounds funny in hindsight but pretty terrifying when it happened.