Within the circus world, a name like Nik Wallenda almost needs no introduction. Everyone knows who the Wallendas are– and everybody especially knows who Nik is. In case you don’t, here’s a quick bio. Nik Wallenda is a professional daredevil, wire walker, and author who holds multiple world records. He is best known for crossing the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. Nik has been nicknamed “King of the Highwire.” As for his family, the famous Wallendas brought their highwire act from Germany to the United States in 1928 and toured with the Ringling Brothers until 1946. Today they’re famous for their seven-person pyramid and other feats. Kim Campbell recently sat down with Nik to ask him about the rebirth of the Big Apple Circus. Along the way, they also discussed highlights of Nik’s career, as well as his perspectives on facing fears, creative decision-making, building a team, and the current landscape of circus and entertainment. Keep reading to listen in on the discussion.

Kim Campbell: I’m excited to hear about your new investment in reviving the Big Apple Circus; it’s an East Coast circus tradition. For some context, Circopedia says the Big Apple Circus is a cherished New York institution. It’s a nonprofit, founded in 1977 by Paul Binder and Michael Christensen, and was originally the performing arm of the New York School for Circus Arts. Over the years, it’s gone through many transformations. It last relaunched in 2017. Back in 2020, it was closed up during the pandemic.

Nik, what motivates you to bring the Big Apple Circus back?

Nik Wallenda: You hit on that point in the bio. My family history in circus dates to the 1780s. Circus is something in my blood. I was born and raised doing it. I have been blessed with an amazing career that has taken me outside of the big top to places like the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls and active volcanoes, you name it.

But to be honest with you, I did all that to get right back under the big top.

My passion is circus; it is ingrained in me, and it is something that I love and cherish.

So when presented with the opportunity to revive the Big Apple Circus, there was no question in my mind. My only thought was I needed to ask my wife if she was cool with it.

Of course, my wife Erendira comes from seven generations of circus herself. On one side, she’s a Flying Vasquez. Her uncle is Miguel Vasquez, the first aerialist to successfully complete the quadruple somersault over a thousand times. And on the other, she’s from the Ashton family, which came to the United States for Ringling Brothers in the 1940s. They’re mainly known for risley and foot juggling. Naturally, when I asked Erendira, the choice was a no-brainer for us both. We’re honored and beyond thrilled to be at the helm of bringing this show back to New York City. And not just to New York– we’re looking to take this show across the globe.

.KC:  That’s beautiful. It was a pretty safe bet asking her, I guess, considering her background. 

One thought that’s been shared among CircusTalk staff is, “Nik is so famous for casting out fear in performing, in performance.” So I wanted to ask, are you harboring any fears about reviving the Big Apple Circus? If so, how are you casting them out?

NW: Sure! So… it’s funny; in my latest book, Facing Fear, I talk about how one of my greatest fears right now is trying to rejuvenate and reinvent, if you will, and revitalize the circus. It’s something that I know that I need to try to do. If I don’t give it a shot, then I will not feel like I fulfilled my calling in life. But there are certainly a lot of fears.

One of the greatest lessons I can give anybody is that, when dealing with fear, continue to walk through it.

Fear stops so many people in their tracks: they hit a wall and freeze, and often turn around. I want to encourage people to keep walking.

Even though, yes, there’s some fear– even though there are concerns– even though there’s a lot on my plate right now, I continue to move forward no matter what.

Even when I am fearful. Even when I am trembling on the wire. I continue to walk through it.

We have to use wisdom. You know, if I’m fearful because my rigging isn’t safe, then I shouldn’t get on the rigging. That’s wisdom, right? But if I’m fearful because my mind is telling me I can’t do something that I’ve trained extremely hard for and done a thousand times, two feet off the ground, then why can’t I do it a thousand feet off the ground?

Success, in my opinion, is all about controlling your inner dialogue.

Controlling where you allow your mind to go.

And when it goes down the wrong path, you can 180 that, and go in a different direction.

I relate it to my walk across the Grand Canyon. When I was about halfway out, Jim Cantore– the Weather Channel weatherman– was in my father’s ear with updates, saying, “okay, the winds are picking up.” At one point I heard him through my dad’s microphone, saying that the wind gusts were about 48 miles per hour. Immediately, my mind wanted to be scared. But rather than allow my mind to go further down that route, I said to myself, “Wait a second, you trained in 90-mile-an-hour winds for this walk. What’s 48 miles per hour? Who cares?”

That’s the way I live my life; when I deal with something that creates fear, I immediately try to counter it by saying, “Okay, look, I might be nervous.”

I call fear respect in a lot of senses.

When I walk up to the edge of a skyscraper, my heart races like anyone else’s.

But that’s because I respect the fact that if I were to go over the edge, I could lose my life.

That’s my memento to your question, Kim: we really need to control where we let our minds go, in all aspects of life. I think, by doing that, we can create a positive environment and a positive future for ourselves.

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KC: Those are great, powerful lessons from the world of circus. You can apply those thoughts on risk-taking to everyday decision-making. Thank you for sharing them. 

Can you tell me what’s different about your plan this time, and what gives you the faith that this is the right moment to relaunch Big Apple Circus?

NW: Yeah, I would say there’s some fear there, too. Is this the right moment?

But as I said before, we have to keep moving forward. We can’t be stopped in our tracks.

Yes, there’s COVID. Yes, people are reluctant to go see shows, and, yes, we’re dealing with that. I could roll over and play dead, or I could say, “No, guess what, we’re going to give it our darndest and do everything we can to make this thing successful.”

So, is it the right time? I don’t know, but I’m willing to take that risk and find out.

I think that’s really the key here: to make things different– to rejuvenate. To that end, I’ve just brought in some amazing partners. There’s Michael Cohl, who has produced some of the greatest and largest concerts around the world. In fact, he’s one of the highest-grossing producers in the world, if not the highest. He has almost no circus background, very little. And then there’s Arny Granat, who hails from the Midwest, Chicago. Another incredible producer. We’ve also brought in Phil McKinley, who has directed several renditions of Ringling Brothers over the years, as well as many Broadway shows. He has some experience on the stage. The four of us are the creative team, the masterminds behind Big Apple’s new direction. We have incredible continuity between us.

I’m bringing in people with different backgrounds, because they see the circus from a different light.

I have a different vision as well: I’ve always wanted to make the big top a theater. Starting this season, we’ll be doing that, and will continue adding to that vision in the next few seasons. We’ll continue for as long as we can keep this thing going. I hope to pass it on to my kids or grandkids, or wherever else it goes.

But we’ve started with making small changes. Change the environment; change the setting. I would say that’s one of our big challenges. As I mentioned, I was born and raised in the circus. Most of my life I was homeschooled, because we traveled all over the country, all the time.

It’s very easy to be stuck in the big top.

I think that’s something any business struggles with, when it’s been run by the same people for generations. You sort of get stuck in a mold.

I always say we have to think outside the big top. That’s why I’m excited to bring in these partners. We’ve had so many, many conversations behind closed doors where Michael or Arny will say something to me, and I’ll be like, “No way. That’s the craziest idea ever. That doesn’t work in circus.” And then I catch myself– and this is part of that internal dialogue: I catch myself, and I go, “No, wait a second. That’s exactly what we want.” We want to change this. We want to reinvent this. We want to rejuvenate this. We want it to be the same, but different.

That’s really the whole goal: the same, but different. We have to pay tribute to my ancestors, my family history; to Big Apple, to Paul Binder, and to Michael Christiansen; and to everybody else. But we also have to adjust to the times. I think one of the biggest ways circus has struggled over the last century is that we have not done a great job adjusting to the times. My dream is that Big Apple Circus will start accelerating in that direction.

KC: I’m glad you shared that, because I think this is possibly the right time. Look at what happened after the Spanish flu pandemic: the entertainment world really took a big uptick, because people were so eager to get outside and celebrate all the important things about their life. Circus is—now, as historically— one of those elements. I hope this will be a successful launch for you.

NW: Thank you.

KC: You’ve already told us about your creative team. Can you tell us about the artists that you’ve cast, and how you cast them?

NW: Absolutely. One of the blessings in my career is that I’ve headlined shows all across the globe. And while I’ve been touring, I’ve been able to meet and perform alongside some of the greatest entertainers from around the world, all the while building my Rolodex. I’ve reached out to a lot of them. This rendition of Big Apple became a reality– or this whole transaction, I guess, became a reality– late in the game. You know, it’s only been… I dunno, about three months. So I had to reach deep into my Rolodex.

We have amazing performers from around the world.

Everywhere from Russia to Germany, Australia to Mexico. Performers from all over: an incredible, talented group. A lot of solo acts this year; no big troupe acts.

This is a show full of incredible solo artists. There’s Johnny Rocket, who will be headlining as our comedic performer. He’s one of the greatest guys I know, one of the greatest comedians that I know, who has not had the opportunity to showcase his talents on a stage of this level. I’m sure he’s going to become a staple of the Big Apple for years to come. We also have Alan Silva, who many people have heard of from AGT [America’s Got Talent]. He was in Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity for 18 years. On AGT, he was a semifinalist, an amazing aerialist. He’ll be our ringmaster this season. I’m really looking forward to working with these artists.

Again, we try to get a bunch of diverse, talented individuals together so that we can work off of each other. Leading up to our New York trip, I’ve spent a lot of time on Zoom calls, going over the creative side of things. It’s fun to get in a room and talk about these ideas.

KC: When does the show start?

NW: We open November 11th in New York City. We’re running through the end of January.

KC: Wonderful! Circus has had a tough time during the pandemic, as you well know, and news about Big Apple Circus’ return has been very inspiring to people. What message do you want to share with the circus world and circus fans right now in particular?

NW: I live by the words “never give up.” Anybody that knows me knows it. My merchandise says never give up. All my autographs say never give up. I really think that should be all of our mottos, especially coming out of this pandemic. It’s easy to get upset. It’s easy to get frustrated and depressed because, as you mentioned, the entertainment world was first to get shut down. And it’s one of the last to reopen, because it does… create an environment where people are close together, and there are still concerns with that. But I encourage people, no matter what you’re facing, to continue to pursue your dreams.

Is this the right time to open up Big Apple Circus? I don’t know. Is there fear there? Of course there is. Is there reluctance there? Of course there is. But guess what? I get up every morning and I go, “you know what, we’re going to give this our best shot.” I know it’s going to be successful because of the team that I’ve surrounded myself with.

Whatever challenges I face, I continue to move forward, no matter what. I might get knocked down.

But when I get knocked down, I consider that a stepping stone in life. Setbacks give me time to reflect. Then I can move forward with greater desire and passion to make this thing successful.

KC: That’s a great sentiment to end on. You’ve kind of said it all, and given us some hope for circus. I’m very excited to see the show, and see who you’ve got on the team. It’s going to be an exciting process, and I wish you much luck with it, Nik. 

NW: Thanks for talking.

This interview was first shared on October 25 as part of the CircusVoices podcast “Press Pass with the Editor,” Episode 8. The transcript is an abbreviated version of the complete audio.

Transcript by Carolyn Klein.

Image courtesy of the Big Apple Circus website.

Kim Campbell

Writer -USA

Kim Campbell has written about circus for CircusTalk.News, Spectacle magazine, Circus Now, Circus Promoters and was a resident for Circus Stories, Le Cirque Vu Par with En Piste in 2015 at the Montreal Completement Cirque Festival. They are the former editor of CircusTalk.News, American Circus Educators magazine, as well as a staff writer for the web publication Third Coast Review, where they write about circus, theatre, arts and culture. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association.

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Carolyn Klein

Content Writer -United States

Carolyn Klein is a writer, poet, and circus fan from the Washington, D.C, area. Writing stories about the circus has been a dream of hers since getting introduced to circus fiction around 2014. She recently completed her B.A. in English and Creative Writing, magna cum laude, at George Mason University. As a new member of the Circus Talk journalism team, Carolyn looks forward to learning as much as she can about the industry and people behind circus.

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