Right clown to the wire
The societal hole left behind by Covid is as big as a clown’s pocket and twice as dark, but by the skin of its teeth, the Leeside circus scene has endured.
At the centre of that scene is Circus Factory, a unique community-based circus and street-art training and creation space in the city.
Circus Factory’s survival is down to a number of things, not least the recent and very timely granting of funds from Arts Council Ireland for the coming year.
These new funds have given Circus Factory the stability it needs to get back to what it does best. It has also allowed for the introduction of the first ever paid position of artistic director.
Put your CV and tour shiny red nose away! That role has been filled by none other than comedian, juggler extraordinaire and self-professed clown Cormac Mohally.
Unsure of what to ask someone with such an interesting and mysterious job, I start with a simple and uninspired “how are you?”.
“As crazy as a clown without a stage,” he answers and immediately I know that my job as an interviewer is about to be made very easy. Thank you Cormac!
“There’s only so many times you can do a pratfall in your kitchen,” he explains. “There are moments in the day when you ask, ‘what’s the whole point?’, but I can confidently say that I’m not the only person feeling like that right now.”
Cormac took his first steps towards a career in circus when he was just 13. He then dropped out of school at 16 and floated around with “no real purpose” until he came across a course in Belfast Community Circus School and the rest is circus history.
“I’ve never made my living from pure juggling. I love teaching it and juggling with other people. I love performing in all its forms, big stages, small stages, and lately I’ve really enjoyed producing festivals and events where other people get to perform,” says Cormac.
With its doors still closed and all physical activities stopped for now, the Circus Factory team are all busy behind the scenes putting in place the foundations for the future of the organisation.
However, Cormac tells me it all could have come screeching to a halt when, after the first lockdown Circus Factory was unable to pay its rent.
“Thankfully we came to an agreement but I see other businesses go broke for that very reason now. I know from our books that we would have had to close our doors in December had we not gotten the Arts Council funding for 2021. It was right down to the wire.”
Cormac says his new official title will challenge him to raise circus arts in Ireland to new heights while bringing clarity to what his job actually entails.
“Labels are both a curse and a blessing. Without a title, people might not understand what I do, yet the title doesn’t fully encapsulate all the different roles I do. However, having the word ‘artistic’ there does highlight the fact that we are an arts organisation.”
Now, with the faintest of lights shimmering at the end of this long Covid tunnel, the future looks bright for Circus Factory and Cormac is eager to get back to basics and continue to expand Cork’s circus community.
“Our big vision at the moment is to share with people how great circus is, and that there are huge social and personal benefits from doing circus arts. Constantly picking a juggling ball off the ground builds resilience and learning how to act like a clown is basically remembering how to play like a kid again. Remember what that was like? When you’d call around to your friend’s and ask, ‘are you coming out to play?’. We all desperately need human connection, and play is the most normal thing in the world that as adults we forget.”
Circus Factory has just launched its new Artist Support Programme and is also running Zoom juggling classes and a host of other initiatives. For more information visit circusfactorycork.com.