Peter Shub (born May 12, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an American actor, clown and vaudeville show director who moved to Europe in the 1980s. He has worked with a number of distinguished international organizations and artists and went on tour with well known circuses such as the German Circus Roncalli, the Big Apple from New York and the Canadian Cirque du Soleil. He has won a Silver Clown of Monte Carlo award (International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo) and went on tour with his own show (German: „Fuer Garderobe keine Haftung“) as well as with other vaudeville shows throughout Europe. He has been called a "legend", [1] a "modern master", [2] and a "fixture of the German Varieté world." [3]
Peter Shub was born in 1957 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent his childhood in New York City and later studied sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia. It was here that he met a street artist, a magician, whose work fascinated Shub to such an extent that he moved to Europe after receiving his degree. [4]
He studied at the drama schools Ecole de Etienne Decroux (1980–83) and Ecole Phillipe Gaulier (1982-84) in Paris and soon discovered a talent for making people laugh and became a clown instead.
During his career he has worked in a variety of circuses. He gives workshops all over the world, mostly in Europe, and has also appeared in a number of shows.
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists, as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768 Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River. In 1770 he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed significantly over the next fifty years, with large-scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant feature. The traditional format, in which a ringmaster introduces a variety of choreographed acts set to music, developed in the latter part of the 19th century and remained the dominant format until the 1970s.
Quidam was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. Quidam originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America. It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.
Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes.
Oleg Konstantinovich Popov was a Soviet and Russian clown and circus artist. People's Artist of the USSR (1969).
Anthony Gatto is an American juggler who holds several juggling world records. He began performing in Las Vegas at the age of ten.
Valentin Gneushev is a Russian circus director and choreographer.
Elvin Bale is a former artist and daredevil with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among many other international circuses. He is known especially for his single trapeze act, which finished with a heel catch, as well as his “wheel of death,” “human space shuttle,” “mechanical monster,” “motorcycle on the high wire”, and “human cannonball” acts. His career as a performer ended with a technical mishap on 08 Jan 1987, when, performing the human cannonball, he over-shot his landing cushion.
Laci Endresz Jr. is an English circus performer who performs as the circus clown Mooky the Clown.
Scott & Muriel is the stage name of the comedy duo Scott Nelson and Muriel Brugman, a husband and wife team of comedy illusionists and entertainers. Their style of performance can best be described as "slapstick magic," a combination of visual comedy, slapstick, modern clowning, and illusions.
Circus Knie is the largest circus of Switzerland, based in Rapperswil.
The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo is an annual circus festival that is held in Monaco every January. The festival was created in 1974 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to recognize and promote circus performers at the pinnacle of their profession. It was initially held in Monte Carlo until the festival's permanent venue in Monaco's Fontvieille district, the Chapiteau de Fontvieille, was completed.
Karyne and Sarah Steben, also known as the Steben Twins, are famous worldwide for their accomplishments on trapeze. The girls were the first female innovators of the feet-to-feet catching technique.
Avner Eisenberg "Avner the Eccentric" is an American vaudeville performer, clown, mime, juggler, and sleight of hand magician. John Simon described him in 1984 as "A clown for the thinking man and the most exacting child."
Martin Lacey Jr. is an English circus performer and trainer of wild animals who has achieved fame in Germany. He is the son of Martin Lacey, the circus ringmaster and animal trainer who bred most of the tigers used in the Esso television advertisements in the 1970s.
David Larible is an Italian clown.
René Bazinet is a German-Canadian clown, mime, and stage and film actor. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, first as a performing artist touring extensively with Saltimbanco, and later as the clown act creator and acting consultant for the show as well as for Cirque du Soleil's 2011 production Zarkana. He has also starred in shows at the Berlin Wintergarten and the Circus Roncalli.
Encho Keryazov is a Bulgarian acrobat.
Raffaele De Ritis is an Italian theatre director. He is known for having created and directed numerous circus productions that have been seen worldwide through his association with Cirque du Soleil, Big Apple Circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and Franco Dragone, among others, He wrote and directed Barnum's Kaleidoscape for Feld Entertainment (1999), one of first one-ring under-canvas "boutique circuses" that toured the United States, and was the writer/director of two shows for Big Apple Circus. For Cirque du Soleil, he co-wrote the original circus dinner show concept "Pomp, Duck and Circumstance" (1997). Other directing credits include: Monte Carlo Magic Stars (1998–99); Wiesbaden Youth Circus Festival (1998); Tournai New Circus Festival ; and associate director for the first Moscow Circus Festival (1996) and variety shows in Italy. He also directed Italian clown David Larible's theatre show concept.
Le Cirque World's Top Performers is a contemporary circus company based in Italy.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Doveyko Jr. is a Soviet and Russian circus artist, acrobat, director. He was awarded the People's Artist of the Russian Federation in 2000.