Glossary of Circus Terms

Arrow - Paper sign, consisting of a simple arrow, used to mark the route between towns. Taped to road signs by the 24-hour man the day before the show moves.

Back Door - Performer's entrance to the tent.

Backyard. The area behind the big top where props, animals, and performers are readied for the performance.

Backlot - Were the Performers park and stay in their Motorhomes and Trailers.

Bale Ringe - Large steel ring encircling a center pole, on which the tent is attached and hoisted up.

Blowdown - When the tent is destroyed by high winds or a storm.

Blow Off - Immediately following the end of a performance, when the crowd mills out of the tent and onto the midway.

Bull - Elephant.

Butcher - A concessionaire who sells his/her wares by carrying them into the audience.

Center Pole - The tallest pole holding the tent up, located in the center of the tent.

Chinese - Anyone who works for free.

Cloud Swing - Aerial act in which an individual performs on a loop of rope suspended from the top of the tent.

Come-In - Just prior to the start of a performance, when the crowd is moving from the midway into the tent.

Cookhouse - Place where circus people eat. Also Known as the Pie Car.

Doniker - Toilet.

Doors! - Order used to open the gates and let the public enter the big top.

First of May - A rookie on the circus.

Floss - Cotton candy.

Guy Lines - Cables used to stabilize aerial rigging.

Hey, Rube! - A call for help among circus folk, usually involving fights with locals.

John Robinson - A shortened performance.

A Jam Face - A Clown term for a first of may beginner clown.

Lot - The property that a circus sets up on.

Lot Lice - Mostly townies who hangaround the back lot area, bugging the performers for photos and autographs

Mechanic - Safety harness worn by aerialists.

Midway - The area outside of the entrance to the main tent, typically lined with concessionaires.

Nut - The daily cost of operating a show. Legend has it that local authorities would remove a nut from the wagon wheel of the circus office and keep it to ensure that everyone got paid.

Pie Car - Place where circus people eat. Also cookhouse.

Quarter Pole - The second largest poles in the tent, between the center poles and the side poles.

Rigging - The equipment used in aerial acts.

Risley - An acrobatic act in which one person juggles another on his/her feet.

Roustabout - A laborer on the circus.

Sidewall - Wall of a tent.

Side Poles - The smallest poles in the circus tent, running around its outer edge.

Spec - A parade within the tent of all performers and animals in costume, usually at the beginning of the show.

Spool Truck - Truck which carries the tent canvas.

Straw House - A sold-out performance.

Tear Down - Take down equipment and ready the circus for moving.

Townie - Anyone not traveling with a circus.

Twenty-Four Hour Man - A circus employee who plans the route to the next town, marks the route with arrows, and determines where the circus will be set up on the lot.

Web Long - Ropes (actually cotton-filled fire hose) hung from the top of the tent for aerialists to perform on.

Windjammer - Circus musician.