PERFORMER FALLS FROM CIRCUS WHEEL OF DEATH

A circus performer in the United Kingdom is in the hospital after falling during a performance on the “Giant Wheel of Death” on Wednesday night. The Wheel of Death is the contraption that looks like a double Ferris wheel – two hamster wheels on opposite ends of a spinning pendulum arm. The fall occurred during a show from the Hippodrome Circus in Norfolk, England. The performer, a man in his mid-20s was wearing a blindfold when he did a jump, missed the landing, slipped, and landed on the floor. He was performing the act with his brother, who accompanied him to the hospital. Some audience members said they thought it was part of the act. Said one woman, “They often miss on purpose to get the audience sort of riled up and on the edge of their seats, but then we realized something was wrong.” Jack Jay, the manager and circus ringmaster, said the incident appeared to be a “mistiming.”
* I would have said “blindfold,” but I wasn’t there.
* Yes, circus performers often fall from 30 feet to the floor, to make the trick look harder. The Wallendas used to do it all the time.
* Since nobody died on the Wheel of Death, did the people get their money back?
* Maybe it should just be Wheel of Serious Injury.
* “Wheel of Death”! Big deal. We used to have one of those things on our school playground. That was back when you could have swings, too. These kids today are too soft.