This story originally aired on September 30, 2017.
There’s Ms Nimbus, Queen of the Air, and Drake, King of the High Dive. There’s the high-wire artistry of the fabulous Dmitry and Annette.
And then, of course, there’s Marcel, the world’s only “mime flea.”
These are just a few of the cast members of a unique Seattle attraction: Professor Payne’s Phantasmagorical Flea Circus.
Payne Fifeld’s breadbox-sized circus sits squarely in a long and proud tradition of performing fleas, dating back to when 16th-century watchmakers first harnessed Pulex irritans to demonstrate their fine craftsmanship.
“Once they’re harnessed, they’re harnessed for life. So they live attached to their little cart or dress for the rest of their little flea lives,” Fifield said.
Fifield’s own circus belongs to a more humane subgenre, the “humbug flea circus.” He gave Sound Effect’s Gabriel Spitzer a demonstration of his cast’s most astounding feats, from the trapeze act to the flea parade.
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