Eddie Diijon and Der Tod des Flohzirkusdirektors

As part of my research into Flea Circuses I regularly scan ebay for "Flea Circus" related items. I was lucky to find two DVDs this month.

The first was "Der Tod des Flohzirkusdirektors" or "Death of the Flea Circus Director", a film from Thomas Koerfer 1973. This fictional account of the life of Ottocaro Weiss has some good scenes with real flea performances. Following the death of the fleas the Ottocaro's act takes a much darker turn. The film is in German with English subtitles.

One of the things I find interesting about this piece is the performer's historical story telling as part of the act. It's known that this was the style that L.Bertolotto used in his performances.

The second film Eddie Diijon - Entertainer and Showman is an autobiography from this Canadian performer. Eddie learnt the art of Flea training from an Old Chinese gentleman when he was doing the club circuit in Hong Kong. With his act he appeared at the Canadian National Exhibition and on the David Letterman show.

You can purchase the Eddie Diijon DVD from Balance Productions, 181 Devonshire Ave,
London, Ontario, Canada.

Sanders the Great

Sanders the Great: mentalist, magician, mindreader, wizard of the east, wonder of wonders has been writing about Flea Circuses.

He promises to entertain you with the latest news from the World of magic, enlighten you with his words on magical literature and bedazzle you with intriguing glimpses into his vault of magical curiosities.

Apparently some people don't like fleas

I can't believe it, there's people out there who don't actually like fleas. A friend of mine send me the following link to a Flea Zapper.

Sven's Flea Circus

Sven Svenson has been working hard on his flea circus. The videos below show his cigar box circus and some excellently crafted miniature circus wagons, the size of a 5p.

Dee Clements' Embroidery

The talented Dee Clements has produced an excellent sample with a flea circus.

http://wholeclothdesigns.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/dee-clements-embroiderer

More L. Bertolotto News

News just in.... from Legislature of the Province of Ontario 1908 vol 5

"And here I would say that I am indebted for the most of the information that I can give, respecting Bertolotto and his Fleas, to D. Jewell, Esq., broker, who was intimately acquainted with Bertolotto, Lt. Col, Gray of H. M. Customs, who was a member of the Stadacona Club during the time of Bertolotto's stewardship, and the Rev. E. A. W. King, M.A., Rector of St Peter's who witnessed on of Bertolotto's exhibitions in Boston. Mass."

This is another tantalising snippet that I found from google books when searching for "exhibit of trained fleas", I'll try to track down if there is more of this article. Apparently my nearest copies are in the USA or Canada.

• Legislative Assembly of Ontario
• Stadacona Club
• Bertolotto in Port Hope

Professor Cockerill's Flea Circus

Professor Cockerill has put a taster video of his real flea circus on Youtube, with three acts, Tight rope, Club Juggling and Football Juggling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gauReGP_Tps