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Captain Frodo, the incredible rubber man, street & sideshow performer.
Derek Ives, clown
Kate Ellis, acrobat & circus performer extraordinaire
Annie Stephens & Paras Christou, new circus performers
Michael is a wire-walker, acrobat, clown, juggler, trumpeter and sometime percussionist with Circus Oz. At the age of ten, Michael was a founding member of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, with whom he trained and toured extensively. Michael spent the spare time of his formative years perfecting the art of walking over tables and countless other objects on his hands. Michael joined Circus Oz in 1987, performing with the company for two years before going freelance for gigs with the French circus Archaos and others. Touring with Circus Oz has taken Michael to every corner of Australia, and overseas on numerous occasions, visiting every continent except Africa (and Antarctica). Michael has been doing circus for so long he is sometimes terrified by the prospect of having to run away and join the real world…
Mel is a 31 years old Sagittarian with a passion for tatts. She is known for her powerful physique and her feisty performances. Her exuberant rapid on-the-spot front walkovers & backflips from the Russian ring invariably get audiences going. Despite her acrobatic fervour, Mel has never broken a bone, and has suffered but one injury - a ruptured disc in her neck. Mel trained at dance acrobatics from the age of three. Her first circus gig was in 1995 in Perth with Reg Bolton, and in her early years she also performed with Perth company Bizirkus. She is currently performing with Circus Oz. Mel is able to support large acrobats on her stomach in a back arch and once, legend has it, a Circus Oz truck driver weighing 135kg!
Gareth, pictured here as the Amazing Bjaaland, is a performer, musician, rigger and bus freak. He is currently driving around the world with a mob from Western Australia called Lunar Circus, headed by the illustrious Fatt Matt Yates. He began his career in circus as a boy, performing street shows around the Northern Rivers. Gareth possesses formidable skills in various circus disciplines including; hand-balancing, acrobatics, head balancing and juggling. He also plays guitar, banjo and fiddle like a demon. Gareth is known for his work with the group Circus Monoxide and for his odd-ball comic characters. Gareth would like it known that he doesn’t always wear women’s swimming costumes on backwards - in fact he sometimes likes to wear them forwards as well.
Born in Germany and raised in England, Lou now lives in Brisbane with her 4 year old child. Heavily tattooed and standing 5 foot and 11 inches, Lou is a striking sight in the air, on a trapeze or web rope, not to mention on the street. Lou has been much noted for her strength and grace particularly performing cordelisse [a form involving poses on a vertical rope]. Lou has performed at numerous cabarets, parties, nightclubs, and festivals throughout Europe and Australia. Lou recalls many odd happenings during the course of her busy career in circus, including performing in Berlin on the end of a crane as riot police marched in.
Trent Arkley-Smith, musician and clown, as Strudel
A burly little dynamo with a raucous laugh and loads of character, Nicci was born in 1970 & joined the Flying Fruit Fly Circus at age thirteen. A circus all-rounder, Nicci has worked as a performer, stage manager, lighting operator, tour manager, production manager, tent boss, site manager, acrobatics instructor and circus band singer. Nicci recalls performing as a shopping trolley tamer as one of the many highlights working with Circus Oz. Among her many skills as a circus performer are: tumbling, Chinese hoop diving, hand balancing, contortion, trick bike, flying trapeze, aerial Russian ring, tightwire, whip-cracking, German wheel, knockabout, shit juggling, not to mention gumboot tap-dancing.
Andy Bray, circus performer
Judith Lanigan, stage and street performer
The big guy with the big hair, known as the idiot strongman, Daryll is a New Zealander who sought asylum in Australia in1992... status still pending. He studied psychology and worked as an actor before discovering circus at the Circus Space in London where he trained. Darryl joined Circus Oz in 1993, and after three years on the road with Oz the time came for him to branch out and freelance around Australia and internationally, working as a performer, rigger and production manager. Before long though, Dazza found himself back in a dress in the middle of the ring, performing with Circus Oz again. Darryl is a juggler, acrobat, aerialist, tambourine virtuoso and member of the Circus Oz Board of Directors. He is currently dividing his time between touring with Oz and spending time at home on Browns Island on the Murray River. Last haircut 1982.
Reg Bolton, teacher & scholar of circus arts
Josephine the aerial queen
Jeff Turpin, as if being a clown wasn’t enough