When you arrive at Fennell’s Farm to find Tweedy the Clown taking his trusty pet iron (Keith) for a pre-show stroll between the wagons in the car park, you know all is well in the Giffords universe.
Walking Keith is Tweedy’s traditional warm-up. And why not? He has a demanding two hours ahead, including an argument with a deckchair, a flying mop routine, and a well-choreographed fight with a pair of ladders. Not to mention being chased by sharks, greasers, and angry ice cream salesmen.
Giffords picture gallery
Some years at Giffords are better than others, and 2025 looks set to be a good vintage. Director Cal McCrystal has stripped out any whiff of a storyline and instead hung the show on a theme: a big, beautiful, raucous, rambunctious, colourful, captivating, neon, strawberry-and-pistachio theme – transporting us from the rolling Cotswold countryside to Laguna Bay, a beautiful (if shark-infested) slice of 1950s Americana, complete with surf shacks, ice cream stalls and costumes straight out of Grease.
It’s a tight show, especially so early in the run. From the moment Dave Stave and his Semi-Tones start playing and a troupe of hi-energy jugglers burst into the ring, there’s a sense that the show’s going to be a good one. The band continues, note perfect, as a parade of lithe, muscular men hang mid-air from ropes and dive through implausibly tight hoops as us mere mortals hold our collective breath. It’s death-defying and life-affirming all at once.
There are other, more surprising highlights. The crowd whoops for a roll of toilet paper pulled from a top hat. There’s hearty applause for three performers lying down and pretending to sleep on stage. A woman loses her clothes mid-air while her husband chases her around the ring, in scenes not witnessed since the demise of The Benny Hill Show. It’s all brash, beautiful nonsense.
The show is much, much better for Tweedy’s return. If Giffords were a football team, he’d be the star striker. For all the other players’ well-timed comedy, the sumptuous 1950s live music, and uber-athletic feats of strength, there’s no question that Tweedy is still the star. He inserts himself into almost every act, re-inventing every magic trick, knocking himself out while juggling, and ruining the opening number of the second half while suspended from a high wire.
All that said, for once he was upstaged – by a prop. If Giffords seasons were named like Friends episodes, 2025 would undoubtedly be The One with the Full-Size Aeroplane. I can’t explain – you’ll simply have to go and see for yourself.
Tickets for Giffords Circus Laguna Bay start from £10 for children and from £20 for adults.
Tickets for Circus Sauce restaurant are £20 for children and £40 for adults (if booked before 16th April 2025).
All tickets are on sale now and available to book at https://giffordscircus.com/
