A Different Kind of Circus

What do you get when you task leading figures from different genres of action sports, and their friends, to travel around the world performing outrageous stunts? You get the series Nitro Circus; an appealing combination of Jackass meets X-games style television. The series has similarly dim-witted stunts as Jackass but on a much larger, more death defying scale. Talent is definitely more of a requirement on the show. To provide a better mental picture just imagine you are calmly drinking a Red Bull (maybe it will give you wings) on an airplane only to have the emergency door ripped open, forcing you out of the plane, and throwing you into a plunging free fall towards earth without a parachute. All this and more takes place on the show.

Nitro Circus is a reality television series, created by Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville (both of Jackass fame), following Travis Pastrana and his friends who are mostly professional athletes from various sports. As stated before, their goal on the series is to travel around the world performing extremely reckless and creatively designed stunts. Don’t expect any award winning commentary; Nitro Circus is all about vicariously experiencing the adrenaline rush that these athletes endure on a daily basis set to electrifying music. Watching the series makes it blatantly known that in the eyes of these competitors adventure sports are more than just a job, it’s a lifestyle. Here is a quick run down of the main characters on Nitro Circus:

· Travis Pastrana: Travis is the unofficial leader of the Nitro Circus team, and has dominated the action sport world and has won X-Games gold medals supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. Travis has endured dozens of broken bones and still show no fear when he is faced with a new challenge. The guy is a friggin’ beast. Travis’ competitive nature really helps him out on the show as he is usually the one going the biggest… and first.

· Andy Bell: Andy is referred to as the “Washed-up motorcycle rider” on the series. He is a former FMX rider and holds a rivalry with Travis Pastrana over who can do the crazier stunt on a tricycle.

· Jolene Van Vugt: Jolene is a Canadian Female Motocross Champion. She joins Pastrana in many stunts involving dirt bikes. She is definitely a dominant woman and an often time goes bigger then the guys competing with her. In the second season she broke her arm and had to take on a cheerleading role throughout most of the season.

· Jim DeChamp: DeChamp is a professional mountain bike downhill race as well as a freestyle rider, and is childhood friends with Pastrana. On the last episode of the first season he became the first person to ever land a front-flip on a motorbike.

· Erik Roner: Eric is a pro skier and BASE jumper. Most of the stunts that involve parachutes involve him and his expertise on the subject.

· Tommy Passemante: “Street Bike Tommy” as he is known on the show is a former street racer who provides most of the comic relief on Nitro Circus. He usually the guy sent in to partake in the more dangerous stunts that require little actual talent. Tommy is also the only non-pro among the core members of the team.

Nitro Circus in some respects re-establishes the notion of the American dream by filming these action stars pushing the limits of what is thought to be humanly possible. Cast members are shot out of cannons, wing walk on bi-planes without parachutes, hit jumps on rocket powered tricycles, and even drive motorcycles off the rim of the Grand Canyon. The series is different than most reality shows because it does not focus on the bickering and drama cast between members of the show. Viewers never actually learn much about the characters except for the fact that they love to live life on the edge. The series could surely go into detail on how each stunt is created and why it is so dangerous but that is not the focal point of the series. To this close group of friends it is all about having fun and pushing personal limits. The show is really testament to a sub-culture of adrenaline junkies who will sacrifice anything (including their lives) to take pleasure in all of the possibilities that the world offers them.