The Great Norbu! |
Sunday, July 21, 2013
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6 comments:
The very best vertical rope climb
I saw The Great Norbu perform in Cleveland at the 1963 Edition of the Grotto Circus. I can remembering him making a fast descent on a heavy-duty elastic rope (like a big bungee cord) and landing hard enough on the floor so that I could feel the impact in my seat, which was close by. (It must have been hard on his knees!) He also went up into seats to cause mischief, like rubbing the head of a bald man and grabbing and throwing away someone’s box of popcorn. I also remember him running along the tops of the seat backs while people were sitting in those seats.
If you did an act like this today, someone would probably protest that it portrayed gorillas in an “offensive and demeaning manner.”
We worked Cleveland in '63 and Barbara filled in for Arden when she left briefly due to an illness in the family.
I was impressed, she ran around cracking the whip and chasing the gorilla as tho she had done it all season.
Hard to imagine that any assistance
or contribution your wife would add
to the realm of show bisiness could
ever surprise you (impressed yes)
I might have 2nd thoughts about her
with that whip though
As I think back that vertical rope
was used to descend in making his
entrance at the top of the routine
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