Emergency Circus

Emergency Circus Bringing the best medicine to under-circused communities around the world in refugee camps, hospitals

The Emergency Circus is a nonprofit organization that uplifts the hurt and healing with entertainment, inspiration, and empathy. Our all volunteer run coalition of circus artists/mechanics/musicians visit children's wards, senior centers, homeless shelters, prisons, and even the streets of under-served communities in order to administer a shot of pure joy into places where health and happiness struggle.

We’re at it again! Please share the good news!Since 2012, the Emergency Circus has been delivering smiles to the underci...
09/29/2025

We’re at it again! Please share the good news!

Since 2012, the Emergency Circus has been delivering smiles to the undercircussed all over the world. From refugee camps to post-disaster zones, this troupe of all-volunteer clowns brings circus arts and revelry to where it’s needed most.

In light of recent deportations and divisions of families, we have been called once again south of the U.S.-Mexico border to share our unique brand of unification through circus spectacle.

This October, we are answering that call, and you can support us in bringing multiple shows and needed supplies to thousands of recently deported humans, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied minors. Of course we can’t do this without your support. Link in bio.

All funds raised will go to food, lodging, and travel for our performers as well as necessities for migrant shelters in Tijuana. All our housing costs will go to support a center in Tijuana that serves the trans and q***r migrant community.

Support can be sent to our link in bio, Vmo , our Patreon, or through our website www.emergencycircus.com. To make a larger tax deductible donation reach out through our website or call 1-(NOW)-CIRCUS-1.

Thank you so much for your continued support in bringing the best medicine to the undercircussed. This getter we can make a difference!

Believe it or not, the Emergency Circus made it into Ripley's Believe It or Not! Nearly 10 years ago a small group of ci...
09/14/2021

Believe it or not, the Emergency Circus made it into Ripley's Believe It or Not! Nearly 10 years ago a small group of circus artists decided to start an organization that could bring love and laughter to people displaced by natural disasters, war, poverty, and other under-circused individuals across the globe. Since then we’ve traveled through most of the United States and 22 countries delivering joy and inspiration through circus spectacle. We’ve produced so many cherished moments, made memories to last lifetimes, and provided a recharge of hope for people in the depths of hardship.
Thank you so much to the many many performers and patrons who made this a reality. It’s been an enormous group effort that has truly sparked wildfires of fun in some of the darkest spaces.
Now there’s an Emergency in New Orleans, our home base. Next week we will begin bringing shows and supplies to those effected especially in southern Louisiana. We’ll be teaming up with many grassroots organizations, NGOs, and governmental orgs to bring cleaning supplies, tools, tarps, food, and of course CIRCUS to those without power, shelter, or even Netflix 🙀. You can help by V e n m o i n g or reach out if you want to make a larger tax deductible offering. Our operating costs are minimal since we live there so the money goes to essential supplies and smiles.
If you have a circus emergency dial our hotline 1-(NOW)-Circus-1 and let us know how we can help or how you can help us help others. Thanks for believing in us, believing in yourselves, and believing in love. And thanks Believe it or Not for this awesome acknowledgment and for spreading something positive.
Good photos by Christen Noel Photography. Special thanks to all the EC superhumans who’ve made this dream come true!

Now that the election season has officially come to a close we want to once again thank everyone who made Cirque d'Vote ...
01/22/2021

Now that the election season has officially come to a close we want to once again thank everyone who made Cirque d'Vote possible. This was an insane endeavor activating early voting polling locations with circus show, parades to the polls, and ambient performance outside polling locations in Philladelphia, Wisconsin, Phoenix, Tucson, Austin, Portland, And Asheville. We also enlivened lines on Election Day in many more cities across the country.
We were able to counteract voter suppression with voter inspiration and really put the fun back in fundamental rights. We made it on national news morning shows twice and countless local news organizations covered the story. We supported artists financially during a pandemic for using their talents to ensure the survival of democracy. Here is a huge huge thank you to everyone involved. We can't mention or tag everyone who is responsible for pulling this together because there were far too many people involved. Leave a thank you note for these folks if you believe in the power of joy, love, and circus to change the world.
First We'd like to thank our funders the Center for Artistic Activism and the Project.
The co-directors of Cirque d'Vote Clay Mazing and Maya Pen. Super shout out to the captains of each city Crissy Jung Natalie Brewster Nguyen Jon Dutch Professor Pinkerton Xyloma Kelly Greenheart Geoff Marsh and again.
And then the scores and scores of performers that we don’t have all the tags for.
David Lichtenstein
Leapin' Louie
Anngela Burt
Tyler Spades
Kate Makkai
The Curt Show - Curtis Carlyle
ARC In Movement LLC
Wegner
Patricia Charms
Orchidea
Hoop Royale
Dresden Abstruse

Alicia Doerrie
Serena Tang
Kelsey Erickson

Brenna Bean




dee.7






Nichole Nance

Backup Brass Band






.biz
Jarmél By Jarmel
David Darwin - One Man Sideshow


Spiral Q
Milwaukee Flyers
cammarano

Cirque Roots
Flam Chen
CIRCUS PICNIC
Circus Sanctuary
Kinetic Arts Tucson
Will Franke
And way more!
🎪🚨🗳✅

Swipe left and try to read this gorgeous article in VANISH - International Magic Magazine about last month’s tour to the...
12/23/2020

Swipe left and try to read this gorgeous article in VANISH - International Magic Magazine about last month’s tour to the Mexican/American borderlands written by our very own performer and organizer Katrina Kroetch . You may have to zoom in and out and strain your eyes but it contains some interesting tactics we use to stay safe in these circus scarce times.
Thanks to our post election extravaganza grant from the Center For Artistic Activism we were able to bring safe laughter and joy to so many unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers just south of the border and homeless youth on this side. It’s been such a rough few years for refugees and the increasing population of people without housing. The rhetoric and policy changes from our leaders effect these families in very real and often disastrous ways. But we are moving ever forward and believe that in showing how we all laugh in the same language we can amplify the aspects of ourselves that bring us together as humanity and dissipate the ignorance of fear and mistrust due to our insignificant differences.
Thanks also to our clowns Catalina Paz Lucy Ray Clay Mazing and Julia Cerrud for being the sweetest little fixer south of the border.
🤣😂😅😄🥳

12/05/2020

Here is yet another News blurb on Cirque d'Vote form our Austin Chapter. What a pleasure it was to bring enthusiasm to this momentous moment in history. I'm proud that we seemed to activate more clowns on stilts and jugglers than other groups could activate scary dudes with riffles outside polling places. Thanks to the Center For Artistic Activism's project for funding 7 Emergency Circus teams across the country to enliven the voting process. Kelly Greenheart and a bunch of awesome folks from CIRCUS PICNIC

It’s . And we have brand new T-shirts! We aren’t always very good at capitalizing on this day to give to non-profits bu...
12/02/2020

It’s . And we have brand new T-shirts! We aren’t always very good at capitalizing on this day to give to non-profits but if you are looking to make a tax deductible donation today you can! For every donation over 100 dollars we’ll send you at least one t-shirts per 30 dollar donation! Green, Blue, Black, and Purple. S,M,L,XL Just go to emergencycircus.com and click on donate! Then we can iron out the details. Pun intended! This deal lasts till New Years. You can help us deliver circus joy while looking like a fly superhuman at the same time. We’ll send you a tax receipt and a thank you letter and you can give the gift of laughter this holiday season. Help us out by sharing this to your stories.
Cheers mazing models @ Giving Tuesday

We had the pleasure of working with one of our favorite organizations for folks without homes in LA again. For about 5 y...
11/25/2020

We had the pleasure of working with one of our favorite organizations for folks without homes in LA again. For about 5 years now we’ve been visiting Safe Place for Youth (S.P.Y) every year or so. Yesterday we were able to pull the ambulance in to their new bridge home and perform our superhero schtick atop the ambulance with our new famous magician Katrina Kroetch. They had a pizza party with a dinner and a socially distanced circus. The laughter was the most contagious aspect today. We were thanked by so many after the show. What a fun afternoon of joy between us and this glorious-hearted yet vulnerable population. With times being so extra difficult these days it feels great to provide some circus as a side of pizza. Thanks S.P.Y. For the smiles and Center For Artistic Activism for the funding.
#2020 @ Safe Place for Youth (S.P.Y)

During a global pandemic a brightly colored sh’zambulance pulls up to Espacio Migrante in Downtown Tijuana, Mexico. The ...
11/24/2020

During a global pandemic a brightly colored sh’zambulance pulls up to Espacio Migrante in Downtown Tijuana, Mexico. The asylum seekers sheltered there step onto their balconies to see clowns pop out, frantically setting up ladders and sound systems. They climb onto the roof and proceed to juggle, perform magic, clown acts, dancing, lasso, whip cracking and bumbling comedy. The audience is all grins, love, and laughter even from a safe distance everyone feels the connection. Strangers from different realms united through joy that dissipates so much of the sea of struggles at least for a moment. We become again reminded we exist in this together and our struggles can be lessened with a few helping hands and a bit of empathy from some silly clowns. A day in the life of the Emergency Circus
Thanks to Center For Artistic Activism for the funding. The Template for organizations the winter donations we were able to give. Katrina Kroetch Catalina Paz Clay Mazing Lucy Ray for performing. And Julia Cerrud for the photos and the fixing.

The squeals of glee from these kids fills our hearts up to our tear ducts. Times are hard for everyone everywhere but th...
11/21/2020

The squeals of glee from these kids fills our hearts up to our tear ducts. Times are hard for everyone everywhere but this little orphanage in the hills of Tijuana seemed like it’s been holding laughter for months. The kids released a deluge of giggles as soon as 4 clowns popped out of the brightly colored sh’zambulance to play with magic, circus, and dancing on the roof. They haven’t been able to go to leave the orphanage for so long but on this day they were some of the luckiest kids around when a full hour of circus showed up at their door. They were such good hecklers. We love that. Although not all of us could understand everything they said we shared some safely distanced joy. Thanks Catalina Paz Lucy Ray Katrina Kroetch Clay Mazing for clowning your hearts out. Thanks Center For Artistic Activism for the funds and thanks Julia Cerrud for these beautiful photos and being our favorite fixer. We can’t wait to come back!
🚨🎪🤣😂🤣😂🤣😊☺️😆😁😄😃😀🥰

11/12/2020

More Tucson Cirque d’Vote news. Cirque d’Vote Tucson was a rousing success. So many people cheered and laughed and took videos from their cars as they voted. Only one guy honked and gave us a big thumbs down. 👎 Guess he doesn’t want people to vote 🤷‍♂️. A number of us even saved our ballot and marched right up to the polls to the sounds of the . Then the library politely told us to go back to the park area because well we were loud near the library. 🤫 but wow was that fun. Performers from and we had a pole, a Lyra lollipop, an aerial rig, and a sh’zambulance stage. Acro, roller skates, juggling, stilts, you name it. About 30 freaking performers showed up throughout the day. Who knew Tucson had such power! Thanks for captaining the show. Here’s a smattering of folks we could find tags for. Add the rest in the comments if you can. Too much to keep track of. .mazing .dee.7 and way too many more. Thanks for Cirquing d’Vote so well!
🎪🚨🗳✅

11/12/2020

Cirque d’Vote Tucson was a rousing success. So many people cheered and laughed and took videos from their cars as they voted. Only one guy honked and gave us a big thumbs down. 👎 Guess he doesn’t want people to vote 🤷‍♂️. A number of us even saved our ballot and marched right up to the polls to the sounds of the Backup Brass Band . Then the library politely told us to go back to the park area because well we were loud near the library. 🤫 but wow was that fun. Performers from Cirque Roots Circus Sanctuary Kinetic Arts Tucson and Flam Chen we had a pole, a Lyra lollipop, an aerial rig, and a sh’zambulance stage. Acro, roller skates, juggling, stilts, you name it. About 30 freaking performers showed up throughout the day. Who knew Tucson had such power! Thanks for captaining the show. Here’s a smattering of folks we could find tags for. Add the rest in the comments if you can. Too much to keep track of. .mazing .dee.7 and way too many more. Thanks for Cirquing d’Vote so well!
🎪🚨🗳✅

Address

246 Old Highway 99n
Bellingham, WA
98229

Telephone

(520) 405-7814

Website

http://www.gofundme.com/ec-off-ice

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