JAY — A crowd of 128 community members packed the lawn of the Jay-Niles Memorial Library on June 30 to watch a one-man circus full of wonder, laughter, and imagination. The family-friendly event marked the start of the library’s 2024 Summer Reading Program, and it exceeded all expectations.
“We were looking for a dynamic kick-off,” said Library Director Tamara Hoke. “Our programs for young people are geared toward the arts, and this falls under performance art. Just when we thought no more were coming, we saw another group come across the parking lot.”
The show, performed by Andrew Silver of The Silver Circus, featured physical comedy, audience interaction, and feats of balance and coordination that left children wide-eyed with amazement.
Hoke said one young attendee told her his favorite part was when Silver balanced a ladder on his chin.
Andrew Silver, a trained variety entertainer, has built his show around themes of creativity, resilience, and the importance of play. In an earlier interview, Silver shared that his performances are designed to inspire audiences to embrace failure as part of growth.
“Throughout the show, the character fails again and again,” he said earlier this year. “Instead of getting discouraged, he just thinks the failure is interesting and tries again.”
Silver’s roots are in the theater, with experience performing across Maine with Portland Players, The Lyric Theater, and Maine State Music Theater. He later trained in clowning, mime, acrobatics, and stunt coordination. Now, his Silver Circus performances blend those skills into a vaudevillian-style celebration of imagination.
“Vaudeville is a fading art,” Silver noted previously. “You don’t see many physical performers anymore. I’d love to bring this simple yet effective art style back.”
The audience, children and adults alike, were invited to participate during the hour-long show, which Silver described as reliant on “the audience’s creativity and imagination.”
Sherri Couture, a local grandmother in attendance, said her grandchildren were captivated. “Our granddaughters were mesmerized from the first second,” she said. “When they got home, the 4-year-old tried balancing her stool on her chin.”
The next event in the Summer Reading Program lineup is “Cupcake Wars,” a decorating competition for tweens and teens ages 9 to 18.
Although no official photos were taken of the performance, Hoke encouraged community members to check The Silver Circus website for photos and more information about Silver’s work.
“Thanks for covering our events,” Hoke added. “This was an excellent show.”
