Friday, December 11, 2009

From Don Covington

LOS ANGELES TIMES


Circus Vargas wants you to cash in your pink slip
December 9, 2009 | 11:21 am
Family entertainment this holiday season just got a little bit cheaper thanks to Circus Vargas.
The California circus company, which is performing in Canoga Park through Dec. 14, said it is offering free tickets to people who are unemployed. Individuals can bring proof of unemployment -- such as a layoff notice or unemployment check stubs -- to the box office to receive as many as four free tickets for a same-day show.
Tickets are valued at $20 for adults and $15 for children. The box office is in front of the big-top tent at the Westfield Topanga mall.
Circus Vargas' holiday show runs about 2 hours, with a 15-minute intermission. The production includes some new elements, including a trapeze act, a new clown segment as well as a balancing act involving cylinders.
The production, which is primarily aimed at children, also includes an interactive pre-show. Children are invited into the big top 30 minutes before each performance to learn various circus tricks like juggling and balancing feathers on their noses.
A spokeswoman for the circus company said it has offered similar deals at previous engagements in Palmdale and in the South Bay area.
-- David Ng

Posted by Buckles at 12/11/2009 08:28:00 AM

8 comments:

Buckles said...

I wonder what Clifford E.would think of this?

11 December, 2009 08:32
Anonymous said...

The many good works by circuses and individual employees on their own to support those in need are too often overlooked, demeaned or forgotten. Ricketts did a benefit to supply coal to the people of Philadelphia one winter before 1800; Popcorn George Hall staged a benefit for those that suffered from a fire in 1880s Memphis; B&B collected materials and staged a benefit for the victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; Vargas did an AIDS benefit; numerous circuses staged benefit shows in prisons, at hospitals, and for invited underprivileged and physically-challenged children; Cole Bros. supplied its generators to provide power to flood-ravaged Indiana in the 1930s. The list can go on and on.

11 December, 2009 09:07
Down the Road by Jim said...

Maybe he understands it better now .

11 December, 2009 10:36
Anonymous said...

Mollie Bailey gave a free pass to any vetern for her show. (either side) Which would be something for current shows to think about again.
She also purchased the lots in the towns she showed in to save the lot and license fees. Most of these lots went back to the towns after her passing in 1917.
Wagon show 1879 to 1905, went on rails in 1906.

11 December, 2009 11:02
Frank Ferrante said...

Buckles -

If I remember correctly, Cliff was the one responsible for the "FREE CHILDREN'S TICKET - Two Free Children's Tickets with Every Paid Adult Admission" That was a BIG deal during the first few years of the show. I think Clifford would be thinking, "How can we cash in on food stamps!"

11 December, 2009 12:56
Buckles said...

Cliff once told me that he came up with the idea of hiring school teachers who would be free in the evenings.
In the smaller towns they would be acquainted with most of the people they were calling but in any event it got away from the usual boiler room pitch.

11 December, 2009 13:48
Buckles said...

Joey Pons also told me that he was hired on the show without knowing a soul.
His first job was taking tickets on the front door and was instructed that kids under 11 were admitted free if accompanied by a parent.
Things were going smoothly until someone suddenly interrupted him and asked the parent, "How old is this girl?" and the parent replied "Eleven!"
"Eleven? Look at the size of the tits on her!"
Joey's first introduction to Mr. V.

11 December, 2009 13:57
Jack Ryan said...

Buckles,

Clifford E. would heartily approve.

He once told me he'd realy like to let everybody in free, just so he could get the concessions money. He proposed that in one town but the police didn't like the idea of the crowds it would like cause.

11 December, 2009 16:43

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