Under the big top

Molly Shore

Whether they are juggling balls, spinning plates on sticks or

carefully walking on the tight wire, the children in the Jumbo Shrimp

Circus, a six-week program at McCambridge Park, have one thing in

common -- they are having lots of fun.

Jessica Shinn, 12, would like to work in a circus when she grows

up.

“I think I’d want to do the high wire,” she said.

Kyle Clark, 7, said that twirling the Diablo, which is like a

large yo-yo, is the most fun for him. But he hastened to add that he

would really like to be a lion tamer.

Philip Karp-Briggs and his wife, Heide, founders of the academy,

do not offer lion taming, but they do teach the children how to

juggle, form human pyramids, walk on a huge rolling globe and

maintain their balance on the tight wire.

Karp-Briggs, outfitted in black striped slacks with colorful

patches, a bright yellow shirt and a red porkpie hat, began a recent

session by asking the 14 children to form a circle, then leading them

through warm-up exercises.

The children clapped their hands in a rhythm pattern. Karp-Briggs,

a former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus clown, asked one

child at a time to clap in that same rhythm. Finally, he instructed

every other child in the circle to produce the same rhythmic sound.

“This helps them focus and communicate with each other. Part of

circus work is working with each other,” assistant Suzanne Haring

said.

In another exercise the children jumped up and hollered “ta-da,”

as they learned the art of taking a bow.

Jumbo Shrimp Academy began two years ago. The name was taken from

a billboard Karp-Briggs’ passed one day.

“My wife is small, I’m sort of large,” he said, adding that the

name seemed perfect for their venture.