In front of the blue, red, and gold circus ring looms the iconic North Beach church, a bright white beacon to St. Francis of Assisi, the namesake of the city of San Francisco who, while living the life of a passionate preacher, chose to never be ordained a priest. He made his own way and soon grew a following, not unlike many of the pioneers today both in and out of the circus arts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We were finishing up the premiere of Circus Bella’s 10th anniversary show RING OUT LOUD! on the street facing this church, and the gathered audience was considerable enough to make the police threaten to shut us down if we didn’t clear a path through the crowd for a wh...