Zippo's Circus.

The circus has come to town. When I was a kid, I wouldn't be able to sleep. Mates used to brag that they had helped the roustabouts to set the circus up, and got free tickets, which I don't remember ever seeing. The lads who worked on the circus, were just the same as the lads who worked on the fair. Tough looking guys , with slicked back hair, winkle pickers or brothel creeper shoes,drainpipe jeans, tattoos and a fag behind the ear. All the girls used to flirt with the lads. Lucky bleeders. If you ever get the chance, have a read of Hard Times. I believe that it's been turned into a musical, and Roy Hudd is something to do with it. If I was casting it, he would be Sleary from the circus.Which he may very well be. Sleary is the most compassionate man amongst those Victorian bounders. Dickens was a craftsman with words, and the names of his characters can be quite amusing. Gradgrind springs to mind. Bounderby, another cad if memory serves me well.
In the old days, there were animals in the circus, and they used to charge you for looking round the Menagerie. There were moth eaten lions, and all the animals seemed to have that 1000 yard stare. Lights are on but nobodys home. My dad loved it when the circus hit town. He would swap spuds for barrowfulls of manure. My dad was very enterprising, and he swore that the elephant dung grew huge potatoes. Oh yeah!
Adios.