Day 1 | | Max takes to the air |
Chilled out for a bit, got settled in, met the people here and put the tent up. Had the rules
and timetables read and given to us, I'm quite excited 'bout some of the stuf on offer, especially the other ways you have to be able to work in a circus, like working the ticket office.
The place is like a small village backstage that you don't realise is there until now.
The first show of the night is finishing now, we're gonna watch the second show backstage,
it should be cool to see it from the other side of the curtain as we seen it once before. I'd love to do this for a living. Day 2 Got thoroughly crippled in our workout with (circus strong man) Oleg, although I suspect it
will be nothing to what is to come. Didn't really realise how unfit I was until coming here.
Me and Mary have started trying doubles diablo which is quite cool.
The weather is too muggy, it saps all of your energy. I'm not too good at this diary writing malarkey.
In the box office I got to read the biographies
of the performers and was quite amazed by their varied lives and backgrounds. Day 4  I'd love to do this for a living.
 | | Max Williams |
I feel very tired and have had a catnap already today which is unlike me. The constant exercise getting to me, today I had to balance Mary on my shoulders, but couldn't do more than an hour of the workshop because I was tired.
Did the tickets front of house today which was a bit nerve wracking. Day 5 I've decided that the warm up and stretching is more tiring than the workshop itself. Lindsey gave us some tips on performing and I almost learned to balance on a slackrope.
Lindsey is very much what I'd like to be when I carry on down the circus route i.e. living in a van, a carefree life of knowing I'm good at what I do and loving every minute of it. Day 6 I'm lookng forward to my day off because I'm getting quite tired. On the other hand, I
much prefer being here to being at home, the people and atmosphere are brilliant and I'll
be sorry to leave.
I got to walk with the horse earlier and got to lead a horse round by a rope which was cool
as I've never really done much with horses before and didn't realise what enjoyable animals
they are. Day 9 Our workshop with the Marinofs went quite badly today as our jog left us with little energy.
We learnt that you never do a strenuous warm up before aerobatics as you need all your energy. Day 11 Didn't do much today, the rehearsal went well in the morning and I had a nap after. Spent
the rest of the afternoon entertaining Jimmy Joe, Nells 3-and-a-half year old nephew, which
was fun. Wish I was that age again, life's more full of wonders. I feel quite nervous about tomorrow. 
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Teenager Max Williams spent two weeks with Gifford's circus. Read selected highlights from his diary of the fortnight.
