A PAIR of circus performers are bringing the magic of the Big Top to gardens in and around Woking.

Chobham-based Tolly Mack and Sanna James teamed up with three others to bring circus shows to local schools.

They had 38 bookings this year and after they were cancelled Tolly the Clown and acrobat Sanna  came up with the idea of garden parties.

With lockdown rules eased to allow small outdoor gatherings, the pair are performing in people’s gardens, provided there is no more than a total of six people, including themselves.

Tolly, who comes from six generations of circus performers on his French mother’s side, juggles, does puppetry and performs magic tricks, while Sanna performs acrobatics and is the doll in a joint act.

“We are bringing some circus magic into people’s gardens,” Tolly said.

“They are small, intimate groups and that’s fine. They are fun for the children and the parents as well.”

Tolly said that performing on the internet, or even on Zoom, was not the same as being able to interact with his audience, even if they are small in number and at a distance.

“I normally get the children to come up and get them to help. We can’t do that, but they are still involved.

“It is something special to have live performance. One of the recent performances was for a birthday party for an autistic child. It wouldn’t have worked as well on a screen, but because the performance was live, that made it make much more sense.”

Tolly and Sanna perform in Woking and Guilford and in the local area as far as Walton, Staines,  Ascot and Aldershot.

For more information, visit www.mypartygram.com.