Spending a week off work watching magic shows allowed me to attend some magic shows for children, that I’d otherwise miss out on while I was at work. One such show was “The Amazing Littlest, Greatest Show on Earth” performed and presented by Ringmaster Rob. I found the concept of this show  – a flea circus – whimsical and harking back to classic forms of entertainment and magic so I was curious to see what this show had in store for the audience.

Upon entering the theatre, audience members were given a colouring page / program which included information about the performers and flea facts. I thought this was a nice touch and memento of the show. After much confusion and discussions from audience members and Ringmaster Rob regarding seating arrangements, everyone was happy with their seating and the show could commence. This show was exactly what I’d expect from a flea circus, and Ringmaster Rob even had a few magical effects to show the audience. A special appearance by Mr Fluffy the dog (puppet) delighted everyone. Multiple technical difficulties experienced during the show meant that the flow of the show narrative was interrupted which was a shame. It was hard to follow which part of the fleas’ circus act we were up to each time Ringmaster Rob had to visit the tech desk for assistance and to sort out issues. Ironic, given portions of such an ‘old world’ flea circus show relied so much on modern technology (for intros and musical cues).

Many children seemed to be enjoying themselves and getting into the spirit of the different personalities of each flea, which was encouraging. Overall, the amount of technical difficulties resulted in a disjointed show. I left the show eager to return to my modern world.