The Circus Diaries goes national

(at Circus Joseph Ashton)

The Circus Diaries featured on two ABC Radio programmes in the past week - Australia Talks on Radio National, Fri 22nd June, and then on Queensland Regional ABC radio on Wed 27th. ABC is amazing.

It seems they all listen to each others' programmes and pick up ideas for their own programmes that way. And good on 'em I say.

So the Circus Diaries ABC stint actually started on Red Symons morning show at 6.30am Wed 9th May, even before the exhibition opened. Red and I chatted for maybe 10 minutes, and not long after I had a call from the producer of another local ABC programme who heard that interview.

So I did their show on Thursday 31st. Then my mate Frank Chalmers (the wonderful screen writer and exhibition designer and only other person I know whose work is as eclectic and crosses as many artistic forms as my own) happened to be in Melbourne from Brisbane for the opening. He suggested I ring Australia Talks, which I did. And then Queensland regional heard that programme and rang up wanting an interview too. Phew!

Australia Talks was a minor debacle, as the taxi driver decided to drive me straight through the centre of Melbourne in Friday peak hour traffic, so a trip that should have taken 20 minutes and got me to the ABC studios in plenty of time to settle in and do sound checks, took an hour. The whole plan of action for the programme went out the window it seems, but it went ok.

I was joined by the wonderful Doug Ashton (ex of Ashton's Circus), and Lorraine Maynard (Perry Bros Circus). And we chatted about life in the circus and how it has changed over the years.

Wonderful photographer Cal MacKinnon also joined us to tell a few yarns about being on the road taking photographs for the exhibition, and outed herself as someone who is actually scared of large animals. She didn't tell me this before jumping on board and taking photos within inches of large pachyderms, lions, llamas, and vicious tiny dogs.