Wet Bit Words 3--1st Winter Programme (2008 - 09) Krone Bau

For once I flew over the WB (that's "Wet Bit". What else could those letter represent?!?), checking in at London's Heathrow Airport about two and a half hours before my flight - which was going to take a lot less that that!

You can depend on any of Krone's Winter programmes having at least 3 animal acts, namely liberty horses (surely the back bone of a circus), elephants and a cage act. Like as not, the first two will come from house resources, as they did with this show.

For a long time, the horse act in the 1st programme would be presented by Christel Sembach-Krone herself, but she has retired from the ring. the responsibility now falls on Jan Mandana - for the last year or so, Mrs. Martin Lacey Jr.

This year's equine presentation was a "Parade in Black and White", the first sequence involving 12 beautiful white horses (greys if you prefer, but note the title of the act), which facilitated pairs, threes, fours, and sixes. I have a feeling that the routine was fairly new as a couple of the horses were being led at times. Effective nonetheless.

Seven black horses entered once the whites/greys had left, ten of them returning later. The carousel had each colour group circling in a different direction.

Quite a simple act, with Jana garbed in a black and white dress.

Just 3 elephants (Bara, Mala and Delhi), again presented by Jana (in black catsuit) with James Puydebois standing by. A feature was two of the big girls doing hind leg stands on tubs, their trunks interlinked, and then straight in to sit-ups on the tubs. The act closed with a "long" mount.

Jana is scheduled to show both hprses and elephants in the other 2 Winter programmes this season, but be assured that the acts will be different.

The cage act was that of Christian Walliser, an act I saw last Christmas with Circus Probst, with which it spent the 2008 season in western Germany. All 6 tigers are of traditional colour, which I suppose I should call "tabby". The tigers' seats were hooked on to the cage at the rear of the ring. A couple of pyramids. A leap-frog sequence. Six tiger lie-down. Three leaning on a beam between 2 pedestals. A decent act without being outstanding.
The other animal act was the Noah's Ark of Johnny Fischer, portraying a prospector character by the name of "Lucky Luke", the animals being conveyed in a covered wagon. Goats, dogs, domestic cats, chickens and a donkey. Much the sort of thing you might expect from these species. At one point, we had a chicken sitting on a cat, sitting on a dog, sitting on the donkey. This always gets a strong reaction as it depicts something from a traditional German folk story. A pleasant enough act, much helped by the presenter's strong sense of showmanship.

Additionally, Johnny Fischer (who is Bavarian, so was very much on home ground at Munich) presented a trio of "comedy elephants", each being a pair of humans in disguise. It's a parody, of course, and it's fun. (The photograph in the printed programme showed the act at Blackpool Tower Circus in 2007, when it was presented by Laci Endresz Jr, perhaps not with the same routine. Laci's uncles are Bobby and Tom Roberts, his mother being their sister, Maureen.)

As ever with Krone, a highly enjoyable show, if not exactly a classic. But well up to standard, as it should be, given that Krone is celebraing 90 years in Munich.

"Thank you for the great review again, Mate. Sorry for the "dated" pictures, but we can blame it on "getting lost in the ether", which caught me with me knickers down!!!"

Courtesy of John Cooper