r/oddlysatisfying • • 21h ago

Performance at the circus

1.7k Upvotes

116 comments sorted by

106

u/_-4twenty-_ 20h ago

I took my son to a circus almost 20 years ago and that contraption broke with the person on it. It just swung.

The ring master was alert and calmly saved the person, like it was part of the act.

51

u/7ofalltrades 16h ago

The way things just go catastrophically wrong and they just roll with it blows my mind. We saw this type of contraption at a Cirque show and the dude jumping rope on it tripped himself with the rope near the very top of the spin. Full on tripped and fell like 50' up.

My hands were sweating and my anxiety was through the roof. Another performer passed him another jump rope. Like bro how do you still have the concentration to keep going.

26

u/KotalXoc 14h ago

PST... That trip was scripted. He trips on every performance.

3

u/MiahPenguin 5h ago

We recently saw this show and he didn’t trip, sooooo ymmv

10

u/fireduck 11h ago

I was at one Cirque show and some people went on stage around a guy who was doing something very high up and looked ready to catch something. Eventually I figured out they weren't there for the person, the person could sort his own business. Part of the bit was dropping chairs onto a net and the blockers were to make sure the chairs didn't bounce into the crowd.

6

u/SabbyFox 15h ago

The show must go on!

21

u/Autoskp 4h ago

Fun fact: Clowns have one of the most important jobs in a circus - being ninjas.

A ninja doesn’t hide where nobody can see them, they hide where nobody notices them - and when a clown is showing up all over the place, who’s going to notice that one of those places is underneath the performer hanging from a cord by her teeth? And who’s going to notice that when the other performer is holding the other end of that cord in her teeth, that the clown is bracing to catch?

My mum did, but most (including myself) did not.

7

u/_-4twenty-_ 4h ago

Rodeo clowns are also the stars of the show for that same reason.

101

u/ThodaDaruVichPyar 19h ago

Needs fewer cuts tbh

8

u/Punkodramon 2h ago

That act was likely 5-10 minutes long with several revolutions between every trick in this video. The cuts are unavoidable if they want the video to be short like this.

1

u/ataraxia_555 1h ago

Oh, stop being so reasonable and understanding! Join the witch hunt.

47

u/perfect_insanity93 21h ago

Looks fun as hell.

21

u/DerpingtonHerpsworth 18h ago

Looks fun to me too. But then I remember my fear of heights and vertigo would fuck me up instantly. Plus I'm in my mid 40s and any one of those maneuvers has the potential to break me irreparably lol

9

u/perfect_insanity93 11h ago

Mid 30s here and im preeeeetty sure id die... but for that one moment it would be like flying.. or falling with style

https://giphy.com/gifs/AUinHb6bQ5f4k

1

u/dudeAwEsome101 4h ago

It looks like a fun fast Ferris wheel.

25

u/pseudoOhm 15h ago

Jump cut. Jump cut. Jump cut.

226

u/TrasheyeQT 21h ago

For me, this is anxiety 😂 what if he falls and kids see it

68

u/qdtk 20h ago

It actually happened 12 years ago. It was all over the news. So it’s rare but it does happen. It wasn’t even the performers fault.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/acrobats-settlement-providence-rhode-island-collapse/

22

u/strangedot13 20h ago

If you look further than just the US it definitely happens more often

13

u/Nairolfje 14h ago

Also happened in 2023 at the Haarlem Christmas circus in the Netherlands. The acrobat broke some ribs and his pelvis with 1000 people watching. I actually went to the circus but luckily missed the fall by a few days

46

u/RCuber 18h ago

The kids name was Robin Dick Grayson

7

u/37_lucky_ears 12h ago

It looks like he trips over his rope once, and the other guy slips, so....fairly likely.

It does look hella fun though.

10

u/Zer0Cool89 10h ago

I think thats part of the act tbh unless the time i saw it live they just also happened to trip in the exact same way.

2

u/twentythreeskidoo 15h ago

I've seen this trick and it's incredibly nerve wracking!

-8

u/Wolfinder 17h ago

Then kids are aware of something totally normal in the world? Kids live through, experience, and see war, abuse, torture, rape, death, etc. and they still come out of it as normal people. I don't understand this cultural impulse to hide the world and enforce purity for children.

5

u/PrufReedThisPlesThx 15h ago

That doesn't mean we should normalise it lol. In an ideal world, a child should not experience any of those things. While yes, kids do survive through these experiences, that doesn't mean that they get through it unscathed. What awaits them in adult life is some of the most challenging years of processing and therapy to get through the trauma they faced as a child, lest they carry an intense emotional burden throughout the rest of their lives.

To teach them about it as one thing, but them experiencing it first-hand is another

3

u/Wolfinder 13h ago

I'm obviously not saying we should normalize it. I was one of those kids. I'm just saying we're swinging way too far the other way if people watching an acrobatics performance on the internet are scared, not just that one of the performers could fall (small chance) and die (even smaller chance) and that a child could see it and be so scarred by it that it becomes their defining trauma (even smaller chance).

1

u/PrufReedThisPlesThx 5h ago

That's fair, and I do apologise for misunderstanding. I'd argue that this kind of performance is not for every child, though. When I saw this particular thing as a kid, I really hated just how many near misses there were, and I wanted it to stop before they hurt themselves. Then they got out of the ring and my anxiety went through the roof lol, it wasn't a very pleasant thing to watch.

I guess it boils down to what you as a parent would know what'd disturb your child or not. For example, if you know that your kid doesn't like loud noises, then maybe don't take them to a concert or a raceway without packing ear protection. Likewise, if your child suffers from anxiety, maybe don't take them to a performance that could easily end in tragedy

0

u/anonymous_wrecks42 14h ago

That’s the best part

39

u/AKA09 11h ago

"I recorded this really cool thing! Better cut it up unnecessarily and add some shitty music before I share it with the world!"

42

u/NegativeOwl1337 5h ago

Why are they dressed like leather daddies 😭

6

u/Zemom1971 4h ago

Dressed for the crowd. It was the midnight after hour special.

The AM show was a bit different.

/r

1

u/WrapKey69 1h ago

Like what??

26

u/denedeh 21h ago

Man he doesn't look bothered at all while my anxiety kept going up and up

29

u/nuke_music 21h ago

AI music 🤮

49

u/Vultor 20h ago

You browse Reddit with the sound on? Why?

4

u/nuke_music 16h ago

How am I supposed to browse music related subreddits without sound?

4

u/DjRipNickMcNasty 13h ago

With the sound off

1

u/ataraxia_555 1h ago

Silly DJ.

2

u/Plampth 14h ago

How do you know? It just sounds like a Russian song.

10

u/nuke_music 10h ago

I know Russian, it's a poetry written by Sergei Yesenin in 1923. https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%8B%D0%BF%D1%8C,_%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0!_%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0%E2%80%A6_%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0_(%D0%95%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD))

This music is AI generated, and lyrics are altered by AI as well. I won't go into details but you can hear the common artifacts. The 'singer' does not inhale at all, where does the air come from? There are few vids about ai music now and how it poisons streaming platrofms, it's pretty bad now.

1

u/ataraxia_555 1h ago

A scholar, evidently.

13

u/Horror_Trust1826 21h ago

Looks to be both fun and terrifying at the same time

26

u/stratusnco 16h ago

i never thought i’d hear worse music than imagine dragons

12

u/JuicySpark 15h ago

Imagine dragons reimagined

1

u/Borge_Luis_Jorges 8h ago

Imagine donkeys

-6

u/ClankerCore 14h ago

Imagine that a different culture with different tastes

7

u/WhatSheDrinks 11h ago

That culture and taste is called AI slop.

2

u/-_Dean_Winchester 7h ago

Literally ai music made from old Russian poetry and western musicians tracks in this case imagine dragons.

Nobody likes this

1

u/ClankerCore 7h ago

This isn’t Russian language

Source: Russian

1

u/-_Dean_Winchester 7h ago

This is

СДП-Сыпь, гармоника! (First Take Master)

It ain't understandable in half of it is cause ITS A AI SONG. First thing i said bro.

-1

u/ClankerCore 6h ago edited 5h ago

They are Sergey Yesenin.
Specifically his poem «Сыпь, гармоника!», from roughly 1922–23. Apple/Shazam actually credit Sergey Esenin as the songwriter/lyricist and Zbrodov as composer.

So my actual mistake was that it was, in fact, Russian. I just couldn’t understand the rest of it because the words are from 1920 and written in such a way that it is difficult to understand with the modern ear

Сыпь, гармоника! Скука… Скука…
Гармонист пальцы льет волной.
Пей со мною, паршивая сука,
Пей со мной.

Излюбили тебя, измызгали,
Невтерпеж!
Что ж ты смотришь так синими брызгами,
Иль в морду хошь?

В огород бы тебя, на чучело,
Пугать ворон.
До печенок меня замучила
Со всех сторон.

Сыпь, гармоника! Сыпь, моя частая!
Пей, выдра! Пей!
Мне бы лучше вон ту, сисястую,
Она глупей.

Я средь женщин тебя не первую,
Немало вас,
Но с такой вот, как ты, со стервою
Лишь в первый раз.

Чем больнее, тем звонче,
То здесь, то там.
Я с собой не покончу,
Иди к чертям.

К вашей своре собачьей
Пора простыть.
Дорогая… я плачу…
Прости… прости…

Having that be synthesized makes it worse, but it’s not fake and it’s not gibberish

And your claim that nobody likes it is demonstrably false. You should look at the Shazam count at 550,000. And the song apparently became big enough to top both Yandex Music and VK Music in early 2026.

Bro.

-1

u/-_Dean_Winchester 5h ago

So this is your second try at making an argument , you deleted the first one. And best you can do is "yes its ai music but i like it, you can't say nobody likes it".

You spent way too much time trying to argue such a lame point.

0

u/ClankerCore 5h ago

Your claim was that it was AI gibberish

I proved you wrong

And no, you can’t say nobody likes it because it topped all of Yandex music

You can sit there and be pissy about it. I don’t care.

0

u/Nejx33 13h ago

"Imagine that a different culture with different tastes"-what? What am I imagining about this different culture with different tastes?

/j

But please use commas

14

u/-sensory_overlord- 20h ago

It looks so uncoordinated with all those cuts

8

u/nn2597713 20h ago

Can people like this get health and life insurance at all?

7

u/TheWizardSleaze 9h ago

Not satisfying. Let us see the performance instead of just cutting between various individual parts.

1

u/ataraxia_555 1h ago

Buy a ticket.

3

u/CDavis10717 18h ago

“When will you get a real job, huh?” —their Moms.

4

u/strangedot13 20h ago

This is just too hectic to be anywhere near satisfying

2

u/Forrest_Dude 21h ago

which circus?

13

u/limelamb 21h ago

Cirque Du Soleil - Kooza

4

u/2Wieners_1Bun 19h ago

I went to cirque on molly and I thought I was going to die

In a good way

2

u/willcastforfood 11h ago

That one part where he’s blindfolded and trips starts crawling for his life

1

u/RaneeGA 21h ago

I'd so pay to get to try that

4

u/StinkyNutzMcgee 18h ago

The performance or the performer?. No shame either way lol

2

u/VictoryWin77 20h ago

If he doesn't come rescue me like this forget it 😭

3

u/FishAreDairy 14h ago

Whatever this guy is being paid, it’s not enough.

0

u/FitCutie20 21h ago

Amazing... it looks like you have some kind of special deal with gravity 😳

1

u/MainCutie18 20h ago

Sorry, I can't help myself... A hamster on its wheel at 3 a.m.:

1

u/azad_ninja 19h ago

Cirque italia?

1

u/Arghus 19h ago

Better than Netflix

1

u/issiautng 17h ago

They used to have this at the MD RenFest. It quietly disappeared one year. Rumor was the performer was injured (badly) performing elsewhere.

1

u/SmartaHari 13h ago

This is what Hoist in Vauxhall could have achieved if it had ever had a decent budget and not had to spend all it’s money on cleaners.

1

u/TheNo1pencil 11h ago

He looks so chill about all of it

1

u/Bitter-Ad5890 11h ago

So how many times do you have to almost die to be able to not die while doing this?

1

u/Jouglet 10h ago

Mute this.

1

u/SheerKhann 10h ago

One long ass song full of yelling…

1

u/Beleiverofhumanity 8h ago

Jeez take this job if you wanna feel superhuman

1

u/Sooperballz 3h ago

How much does something like this pay?

1

u/Chickenbull1 3h ago

I’ve been to this show, while it is cool it is terrifying when they have the thing over their head. It wasn’t as nice of a circus as this one and could’ve been a trick but the dude definitely looked like he was genuinely in danger a few times

1

u/EastLeastCoast 3h ago

Fridays at The Eagle are getting elaborate

1

u/Key-Commercial7995 3h ago

All that stunning performanc for a insulting low payment,

1

u/WiiDragon 2h ago

HELL NO

1

u/CheesyPotatoSack 2h ago

Kinda digging the music anyone know what it is?

1

u/Gmuss228 46m ago

This is AI song "Сыпь-Гармоника"

1

u/After_Perspective180 2h ago

The people behind the person with their phone up in the air recording. "Oh for fucks sake".

2

u/dhichkyauuu 1h ago

I want to know what the song is about.

2

u/Gmuss228 47m ago

This is AI song "Сыпь-Гармоника"

1

u/Long_comment_san 45m ago

What the блять is this music 😂 there's a reason I actively hate vocals and it's the exact reason

1

u/Effective-Culture-88 45m ago

This is considered the most dangerous act of all circus, aka the « wheel of death »

1

u/ivysaurus0101010 18h ago

Saw this shit in person, dude almost flubbed a trick and had a moment of 🙌😬 before ending the routine

17

u/MinnalousheMinn 17h ago

Generally, 'mistakes' are part of the act, to engage/scare the audience (of course, sometimes there is a genuine mistake). Source: briefly joined a circus, saw the same acts over and over and they made the same mistakes at the same point in the routine

3

u/JohnStern42 16h ago

It’s the same when ‘random’ people get picked out of the audience to go on stage. They are plants.

2

u/Plampth 14h ago

Why do they always pick the guy with the wires?

1

u/JohnStern42 12h ago

You don’t show up to a show wearing your wires? Wow. Weirdo! :)

2

u/mjolnir76 6h ago

I was picked to come on stage for a Cirque show almost 20 years ago. Part of the clown act. I was not a plant!

1

u/razldazl333 20h ago

Just, ya know, workshopping this idea out there one day while playing in the backyard. Yeah, let's make that happen because holy shit it's pretty fucking crazy.

1

u/metalslime_tsarina 7h ago

What's oddly satisfying about this? It's conventionally satisfying aside from the music ofc

0

u/CrazyLazyyyyy 20h ago

I've loved going to the circus ever since I was a kid. I remember that feeling when, as a little boy, I'd go with my parents and sit there in awe throughout the entire show, holding my breath at the acrobatic feats the performers pulled off - and now I've experienced the same thing

0

u/Seated_WallFly 18h ago

I understand some people enjoy this. But I was fearful the entire time. I kept thinking, “What if he falls?” 😣

3

u/SabbyFox 15h ago

I never worried that he’d fall. They practice SO much. It was relaxing to sit back and see a master at work.

0

u/notanyimbecile 19h ago

That might be from Le Cirque du Soleil because they did that exact performance at least 25 years ago.

3

u/JohnStern42 16h ago

Cirque certainly popularized ‘the wheel of death’ but these days many circuses have it, it’s pretty common

1

u/EternumD 8h ago

Yeah, I don't think they're in the business of revisiting old tricks they popularised. 

They're always doing weird shit

0

u/Dankey_kang91 4h ago

I mean it’s cool but satisfying?

0

u/Mmmelissamarie 4h ago

I saw one of these shows live and I was shook

0

u/ShoebarusNCheverlegs 2h ago

Downvote for shitty music and downvote for speeding it up.

-4

u/anonymous_wrecks42 14h ago

The best part of this kind of thing is when they miss

-24

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

8

u/Lalamedic 21h ago

A very large amount of money. Often.

-14

u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

8

u/jshannow 21h ago

Lucky for you you don't have to go and watch!

6

u/xfearthehiddenx 20h ago

The amount of people who look at something, decide they don't like it, and feel the need to tell everyone how much they don't like or don't understand why others like it, is too damn high. Seriously, it's ok if you don't like something. But unless someone's consent is being violated, just leave the people who like it alone. Those people all paid to be there. 99.99999% chance they all did so willingly, and I'd bet big money none of them care what your opinion is on that. The world is going to hell all over the place. Let people enjoy shit.