AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Shooting star: Human cannonball soars into circus history.(The Dallas Morning News)
Byline: Michael Precker
HOUSTON _ The tigers have been tamed, the clowns have poured out of the Volkswagen, the acrobats have returned safely to Earth.
But in the circus equivalent of the fat lady who's got to sing, it ain't over until Jon Weiss flies out of the cannon.
"It's a tradition," says the fast-talking, hyperactive New Yorker. "If you think of the circus, what do you think of? Clowns, elephants, trapeze artists - and the human cannonball."
Weiss, 41, has more than a century of history to back him up. Different sources disagree on details, but the entertainment value of watching a person get hurled into the air goes back to the 1870s.
For the 132nd edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the human cannonball closes the show.
Can it really be that dangerous? As Weiss, sporting a buzz haircut and an orange jumpsuit, zips around Houston's Compaq Center on a motorcycle, ringmaster Kevin Venardos warns of the perils in booming, apocalyptic tones.
- Shooting star: Human cannonball soars into circus history.
- Newspaper article from: The Dallas Morning News (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) July 30, 2003 700+ words
...artists - and the human cannonball." Weiss, 41, has more...Bailey Circus, the human cannonball closes the show...dangerous? As Weiss, sporting a buzz...aspire to become a human cannonball. But Weiss he says that wasn...
- A couple's calling: Human Cannonball.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Vitez, Michael September 5, 2001 700+ words
WILDWOOD, N.J. _ The Human Cannonball begins every circus at the...tickets. The wife of the Human Cannonball begins every circus inside...seats. She was once the Human Cannonball herself - and desperately...
- A couple's calling: Human Cannonball.
- News wire article from: Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) August 30, 2001 700+ words
...WILDWOOD, N.J. _ The Human Cannonball begins every circus at the...tickets. The wife of the Human Cannonball begins every circus inside...seats. She was once the Human Cannonball herself - and desperately...
- Human cannonball sure to spark fairgoers' interest on opening weekend.
- Newspaper article from: Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX) September 28, 2007 700+ words
...known to the circus world as 'the Human Cannonball,' died ... when he became wedged...Smith, who began performing as a human cannonball in 1975 and is still flying. "It...problem." The popularity of the human cannonball act has fluctuated since its first...
- HUMAN CANNONBALL FIRED -- FOR HIS FEAR OF FLYING.
- News wire article from: Europe Intelligence Wire June 16, 2005 700+ words
...his chosen occupation. But Todd the Human Cannonball insists a simple fear of flying did...know it sounds silly because I'm a human cannonball, but I don't like long flights...billed as the world's only indoor human cannonball since February. "The circus has...
- He's off to work in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... Dave Smith's a human cannonball. It...
- Newspaper article from: Sarasota Herald Tribune November 25, 2007 700+ words
...His father was a professional human cannonball before him. Indeed, now more or...still known on the circuit as The Human Cannonball. Every one of Dave's six brothers...skill involved in being a successful human cannonball -- both Dave Smiths started out as...
- BIG TOP CAN STILL ATTRACT CHILDREN; HIGH-FLYING ACTS LEAVE TWO BROTHERS IN AWE....
- Newspaper article from: Sarasota Herald Tribune Thomson, Rod November 11, 1996 700+ words
...finale. "I think I'm going to like this!" Kaboom! The human cannonball, dressed in bright blue, floated through the air, conducted...choose from tigers, elephants, clowns, funny dogs and the human cannonball, Billy said he liked the trapeze artists the best...
- Human cannonball's father takes over gig.
- News wire article from: UPI NewsTrack August 8, 2006 700+ words
FRANKLIN, Tenn., Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Human cannonball David "The Bullet" Smith's 64-year-old father is filling in for his son and thrilling audiences in Franklin, Tenn...
- Human cannonball suffers back injuries on TV show.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire October 6, 2003 700+ words
...Katsuragi played the role of a cannonball at one of the Fuji TV studios in Tokyo's Minato-ku Thursday evening. The human cannonball was set to land safely in a pool of urethane foam pieces. Wearing a helmet, however, Katsuragi fell awkwardly into the...
- Injured 'Human Cannonball' arrested.(B SECTION)
- Newspaper article from: Sarasota Herald Tribune February 27, 2002 700+ words
...ohara@heraldtribune.com BRADENTON -- Still recovering from injuries he suffered in a botched fair stunt, Ermes "the Human Cannonball" Zamperla was arrested Monday on domestic violence charges. Deputies took Zamperla to jail after his girlfriend Brenda...
Source: HighBeam Research, Shooting star: Human cannonball soars into circus history.(The Dallas...