The Plumbers 1970

For this entrée, Charlie made full use of the sinking ring, pipes, and fountain effects, creating one of the wettest and funniest clown scenes ever staged at the Blackpool Tower Circus.

The Cast

Norman Barrett – Ringmaster

Paul Connor – 26-year-old whiteface clown, partnered by a Circusette

Charlie Cairoli Junior and Jimmy Buchanon – Plumbers, both in boiler suits (Junior in red, Jimmy in blue)

Charlie Cairoli – The foreman

Anthony Bartnick – Ring boy and principal stooge for several years (today fondly known as Karl Bartoni, who attended the recent blue heritage plaque weekend)

The Plot

The Ringmaster announces that the circus will present an unusual departure from the normal programme — a performance by two “famous Russian dancers.” Both dancers appear in full classical ballet attire: white tights and tutus.

As they begin to dance, they notice that one of the fountain jets on the west side has sprung a leak. With the coconut mat removed from the ring, the water quickly makes the surface slippery. Paul stops his partner, inspects the leak, and calls Norman over.

One of the sinking ring operators has accidentally opened a tap, causing the fountain nozzle to protrude at about a 30-degree angle. Norman reassures them:

“Do not worry — the Circus has its own team of plumbers, and they’ll have this fixed in no time!”

Enter the Tower plumbers, pushing one of the Tower’s bottle-collecting tanks on wheels. Jimmy carries a spanner. Charlie, as foreman, asks Jimmy to assess the damage. Jimmy gives the errant tap a sharp knock with the spanner — causing a jet of water to shoot out even higher, landing in a neat arabesque about two feet from the leak.

While Jimmy works, Charlie begins flirting with the Circusette, dropping his handkerchief behind her back. Anthony enters with a mop and bucket to clear the water. Noticing Charlie’s antics, the Circusette storms off in a huff.

Charlie, Junior, and Jimmy attempt a comic ballet in imitation of the dancers, with Junior taking the role of the ballerina. Norman snaps them back to work. Jimmy manipulates the spanner; the operator reduces the water pressure; the leak slows to a stop.

Norman calls Paul back to double-check. Paul cautiously approaches the leak. Just a foot away, the operator restores full pressure — and Paul receives a powerful soaking.

Anthony laughs loudly at Paul’s discomfort. Junior and Jimmy take offence at his amusement: they grab Anthony by the arms and legs, dump him into the tank, and wheel him to the spot where the water jet lands. As the tank fills with water, they give Anthony a thorough drenching before finally letting him go.

Furious, Anthony fills his bucket from the tank, holds it against his chest, and sprinkles water over the plumbers, moving down the line. Before he reaches Charlie, Charlie snatches the bucket — still half full — and pours it over Anthony’s head. They then shove the wet mop down the back of Anthony’s overalls and chase him out through the doors.

As the plumbers celebrate Anthony’s comeuppance, Paul and Anthony return armed with the Circus fire hose.

By now the ring has lowered into the sunken position. From the ceiling, a plank seat suspended by two ropes has dropped down over the centre of the ring. Paul and Anthony open the hose on the plumbers. A full-scale water battle erupts — buckets, hoses, splashing, and chaos — while the ring fills, becoming a rising lake.

Jimmy climbs onto the plank to avoid the water and soon finds himself stranded above an ever-deepening pool. The others — especially Paul, who couldn’t swim and always worried about this entrée — flee to the north entrance to watch Jimmy’s predicament.

Asked to jump, Jimmy refuses. Charlie turns the hose on him, knocking him from the plank into the water. Jimmy resurfaces and salutes the audience like a captain going down with his ship.

When he finally reaches the north entrance, Anthony, who has managed to avoid most of the flooding, attempts to take a bow. The others immediately push him back into the water and block his escape with powerful blasts from the hose.

Sometimes another ring boy would attempt to rescue Anthony, but he too always met the same watery fate!



(The accompanying photographs may be a little “woolly,” but they serve well enough to illustrate the action. The larger photo featuring the centre figure is Daniel, taking his turn as the ring boy.)