Sybil (with Sultana and Sultano) at Milton Keynes International Festival 2014. Although the film quality is not marvelous (and Sultano has ripped his pants), it is the only footage we have so far of Sybil on a spree.
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WITH A MIRIAD OF MARVELS, THE INSECT CIRCUS RETURNS TO JACKSONS LANE, LONDON IN FEBRUARY
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Sadly our Roundhouse CircusFest 2014 appearance was canceled due to waterlogged ground.
Here is the poster for our 2014 BIG TOP TOUR! News of this exciting development will be posted soon...
Albina the awesome and her Mantids at Arte TV's "Tracks" programme's extraordinary Tracks Circus show. Paris, November 2010.Broadcast: 2nd December 2010
A lovely little Swiss Info film of our recent excursion to Geneva.
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The Insect Circus Museum is proud to have been used as a location in the Puppini Sisters 2008 video - 'Jilted'. It was directed by Alex de Campi who graciously then edited our 'Showreel'.
The Insect Circus Showreel. Filmed by Philippe Vartan Khazarian and Rob Haynes and edited by Alex de Campi.
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Roland has been renovating an old family heirloom- 'Mr. Mc.Peak's Rarity Show'. This old wonder was premiered at the Roundhouse on 12th July 2007 as part of 'A Night at the End of the Pier with Marisa Carnesky'. Sadly it has again fallen in to disrepair and is no longer available for showing. However, some of its contents have now been installed in the Insect Circus Museum!
The Rarity Show was finely made and fitted with glasses of magnifying power revealing eight scenes from Insect Circus history. (Including Arachnachaos, Mr. McPeak's Music Hall and Boll Weevil Bill's Wild West Show!)
Mr. McPeak's Music Hall.
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In 2008 the Insect Circus was chosen by Time Out to be one of the '1000 Things to do in Britain'.
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THE BUNDLE AT BLACKTHORPE HEATH, written and illustrated by MARK COPELAND was published, by Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, on July 26th 2007.
Set in the world of the late Victorian insect circus, the author gathered the source material for this rather wonderful tale from the Insect Circus Society's extensive collection.
'It's Art's birthday, and he receives a brass spyglass from his grandfather, the respected insect circus ringmaster Sir Henry Piper. No sooner than his grandfather tells him to use the spyglass for only good purposes (no spying!), Art accidentally sees something he shouldn't . . .Enter a world of incredible delight and mischievous mystery, where snails, beetles, and bees make up one of the greatest spectacles on earth. Where humans and insects share the circus ring as friends and colleagues. And where a boy and a girl -with a little help from a pet ladybug- try to prevent one of the biggest bundles to hit the traveling insect circus circuit in years!'
ISBN-13/EAN: 9780618563029; $15.00 ISBN-10: 0618563024
Hardcover; 224 pages. Coming Soon. Publication Date: 06/26/2006.
Illustrations: Black-and-white line drawings.
Available to order now at on-line bookstores.
KIRKUS REVIEW. July 2006:"The expertly tightened suspense builds to a magnificently funny climax with an entirely satisfying closing twist...A good prospect for hottest ticket of the season."
Cheerfully tongue-in-cheek, resolutely old-timey, and intensely imaginative, this tale follows a traveling circus through the British countryside. And what a circus it is, featuring insects--sentient, verbal, and as large as the people they perform alongside. When Art, grandson of the circus' human owner, gets a spyglass on his twelfth birthday, he discovers a nefarious plot involving a rival circus and the ant that serves as his grandfather's trusted agent. With the help of his pet ladybug, Rufus; his intrepid friend Daisy ("a most accomplished bareback beetle rider"); and a lovelorn stick insect from Australia, Art investigates and exposes the conspiracy, with the whimsical action extended in frequent line drawings by the author. Colorful, invented insect dialect abounds, circus lore delights, and the final"bundle" (English slang for fight) between the circus ringmasters is a spectacle indeed. A coda recounts grandfatherly advice for training stag beetles, weevils, and the like. GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved
Booklist, ALA :"Cheerfully tongue-in-cheek, resolutely old-timey, and intensely imaginative, this tale follows a traveling circus through the British countryside." -Booklist
School Library Journal :"The story strikes a charming balance of mystery and drama...the eclectic cast keeps the pages turning."
Publishers Weekly :"...Copeland's charming fantasy of human and insect interaction...will likely amuse both adults and children."
