Scott’s BMX Bike Trick Show.
Scott Hone. Canberra Circus Festival. Produced by Tom Davis and Warehouse Circus. The May Wirth Big Top. Lyons Youth Haven. Kambah Pool Road. April 19-23 2022.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Scott’s BMX Bike Tricks is a lesson in pursuing a passion, sheer perseverance and unimaginable possibilities. For thirty five of his forty seven years Hone has been delighting audiences from Forty Second Street to Moscow, from Melbourne to Morocco and across the entire world. Today he is performing his show in the May Wirth Big Top at the Canberra Circus Festival. It’s fair to say that he is no longer the youth who stunned the circus folk at his audition and it’s understandable that he could run out of puff, but nothing would stop his phenomenal display of riding prowess on his beloved BMX bike..
It’s hard enough riding a bike around on the small square stage, but Hone is a pro and years spent on his marvellous mode of transport have helped him to adapt to every situation. First comes the perseverance as a warm up demonstration which delights the young audience as he falls off on the first try, gets himself up , dusts himself down and starts all over again, and again, and again, and again until to therapturous cheers of the children he is on the bike and wheeling his way around the stage..
But curiosity is his eager companion. Is there another way he asks the audience after going doing wheelies for a while? And so begins his demonstration of imaginative prowess. With each time he asks “Is there another way”, and demonstrates, the responses come thick and fast – backwards while going forwards, forwards while going backwards, from the handlebars to the seat, backwards and forwards at the same time and then to absolute amazement and admiration , upside down. His lesson in lateral thinking compliments the kids with “I like the way you think.” And the audience loves the way he rides his BMX.
Then, just as I was wondering how much longer he can keep the kids entertained with the bike, Hone forsakes the bike for small clear plastic juggling balls to mesmerize his audience with the most adroit finger juggling. The balls slide between his fingers and up his arm and around his back like mercury in a barometer. But wait there’s more. Then come out the juggling clubs which he throws behind and around, first the three, then the four, then the five. But wait, there’s more. Out come the juggling blocks. Is there no end to this man’s talent? He’s like a big kid, full of joyful youthfulness and bursting exuberance. His fun is contagious, his acts captivating and his audience goes on the circus ride with him all the way with claps and cheers .
And then there’s more. One final act, the grand finale. Six eager volunteers are chosen from the audience. Each is given a helmet and shown where to stand on the bike for the pyramid ride. Two step on the struts on either front wheel. Two on the struts on the back wheel. One on his shoulders and the smallest on his lap between him and the handlebars. The suspense mounts and off he goes around the stage with all hanging on in a final act of daring BMX bravado..
“ That was the best” my grandsons said of Scott’s BMX Bike Trick Show. Parents watch out when next you take your kids to the local skate park. Maybe an oval would be safer. And as Hopne says, “ I like the way you think.” There’s always another way. His mix of education and entertainment makes for a perfect act at the Canberra Circus Festival.
