I discovered Circus at a young age after learning how to juggle as a twelve-year-old. I became obsessed. I would practice every afternoon, to the detriment of my homework and the frustration of my school teachers. At 14 I did work experience with one of Australia's leading contemporary Circus companies at the time, Rock 'n' Roll Circus from Brisbane (and subsequently at the tender age of 15 toured to the National Circus Festival in Tasmania as their stage manager). These two events changed my life; I discovered a colourful, flamboyant subculture filled with tattooed, risk-taking, exciting individuals who got paid to do what they loved. It sunk in that this was an option as a career and I never looked back. At the time (early 90's) there was already quite a bit of Circus action happening in the Byron Shire - Leonie Mills had started the Spaghetti Circus (one of Australia's leading youth circuses), there was also Byron Youth Circus (my old friend and world-renowned sideshow artist and Byron local, The Space Cowboy came out of there) and there was a juggling shop in Byron Bay that we all hung out at. At 17 I left school and 'ran away to the circus', I studied at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne and became a full time circus trainer and performer, travelling nationally and internationally until I broke my arm badly. So I picked up a video camera and started documenting the world that I inhabited. I gave up performing and for the past 15 years, I have been documenting the contemporary circus, physical theatre, cabaret and fringe festival culture in Australia under the alias Carnival Cinema and in 2017 morphed the company into an online Magazine with a podcast and physical magazine in the making. The online magazine archives, entertains, celebrates and reflects the Australian circus and fringe festival community back in on itself and exposes that exciting world to others, told from inside that community.

Hamish