The Circus Show # 2

The Circus Show # 2.

By Peter Zapfella

We were to catch an early Saturday morning flight out of Perth, arriving in Sydney in the early afternoon. Suddenly I was woken by a phone call from my technician. He was at my front door, I should have been dressed and ready to drive to the airport. My alarm had failed.

I leaped out of bed, grabbing my bags and clothes. I dressed in the car, as he sped down the deserted freeway toward the airport. We were running late, perhaps too late to catch our flight. If we missed this flight we would not get to Sydney in time for tonight’s show.

At the airport there was a mad scramble as we sprinted into the departure lounge. While it was deserted outside, there were hundreds of people inside. As my technician took up a position at the end of a long queue of people, I heard a ‘final announcement’ for our flight. We rushed to the ‘late desk’ and managed to slip through the door as it was closing.

Sydney street performers

Around six hours later we were wandering along Sydney’s colorful Circular Quay, watching street performers, while looking for our hotel. We found it, but the room was not ready.

A quick check of emails revealed another problem. The event organisers informed me that New South Wales government regulations required me to hold a special insurance policy for my performance. It was already Saturday afternoon, and the event was just a few hours away. The insurance offices were closed for the weekend. Checkmate?

The event organisers put me in touch with an insurance agent over the phone who could give me an immediate ‘cover note’, however the insurance fee was to be ten times more than the fee I was to be paid for the event! In short, I was required to pay ten times more to the insurance company, than I was to be paid for the performance.

That was the local law, and I was already there…. ready to perform in a few short hours.

The insurance agent then told me that even if I agreed, I had to pay the insurance policy before the evening’s performance, and he had no facility to accept payment from me.

As we waited for the hotel room to be made available, I was stuck in an impossible dilemma. I am ready to perform tonight as agreed, yet I am suddenly informed I cannot perform without the required insurance policy, which must be paid before the performance, but cannot be paid because the office is closed.

I called the event organizer to explain the dilemma, who called the insurance agent, who agreed to accept payment if I paid the event organizer. I had to pay the event organizer so I could do the performance… crazy!

Next … The Circus Show Part 3.

peterz