HAVE you ever felt the need to have ten knives thrown at you? No, neither did I, until visiting a new circus show.

I arrived at Zippos Circus in Kingsway, Hove, expecting a fairly calm morning, which would involve speaking to the interesting performers from the show.

The circus is currently in town performing their new tour show, Carnival, which involves many different acts such as aerialists, acrobats, motorcycles driving in a steel Globe of Death, as well as knife throwing.

I believed that I would be interviewing people and getting some photographs of them in action as well as a picture of myself inside the Globe of Death.

However, this is when things took a turn. I was told that due to an oil leak, the steel ball would not be in use and that instead, I could take part in the knife throwing.

The Argus: Performers Tony and Nicole NovotnyPerformers Tony and Nicole Novotny

After a few "ums" and "aahs", I decided to give it a go and put my trust in Tony Novotny, 31, who is the seventh generation of knife thrower from his family and was taught by his grandfather.

He usually does the show with his wife Nicole, 31. She is the volunteer who stands in front of a very chipped wooden board while Tony throws knives around her.

Tony said: "It brings us closer together, that trust that we have in each other to perform this stunt.

"Sometimes we can get nervous depending on the mood. Some people might find it weird, but we love it.

"We can get the feeling from the audience when on stage, which is great, especially after not being able to perform live for so long."

Part of the reason I was at the circus was to do a Facebook live stream to show viewers what the big top was like and to provide a glimpse into what would be involved in the show.

We agreed that once the stream started, we would introduce the circus and then Tony would do a performance with his wife before I took to the main stage.

The Argus: Tony Novotny throwing knives as part of the Zippos Circus actTony Novotny throwing knives as part of the Zippos Circus act

I could tell you that I was completely calm and not scared at all. However, that would be a lie. Having foot-long knives thrown at you is not a normal experience for 99.9 per cent of people.

Having watched Tony perfectly execute each throw around Nicole in a flash did bring me some comfort that it would be over very quickly.

This was not the case. Tony positioned me while telling me not to move at all. Once he started throwing, I could hear each knife go into the board one by one with what seemed like ten minutes between each loud thud.

Watch the moment Tony threw ten knives at me in the video below:

 

After the act was finished, I stepped away from the board and looked at the ten knives that had landed around me. I could not believe what I had just done.

The moment made me realise how lucky we are to have live events back after all the lockdowns and cancellations... but I don't want to go through that again.

Zippos Circus will be running daily performances until August 15.

Tickets can be bought from the onsite ticket office, which is open from 9am to 8pm daily.

People can also buy tickets in advance at www.zippos.co.uk

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