Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus
by Gerry Cottle with Halen Batten
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ISBN Number: 978-1905745166
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages:
288
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Vision

The sensational memoir of Britain's greatest circus impresario.

Gerry Cottle, a stockbroker's son, ran away to join the circus when he was just fifteen. He started learning his trade by cleaning up after the elephants in small family-run shows and, when he wasn't chasing girls, he progressed to erecting tents and being a very bad clown. Within a few years he had married into one of the oldest circus dynasties and started his very own circus, moving towards his ambition of owning Britain's biggest circus.

With a nose for publicity second only to P T Barnum, Gerry's circus grew and grew. At its peak he hosted Seaside Specials on TV, learnt to hypnotise a crocodile for the Emir of Sharjah, led spectacular tours of Hong Kong and Singapore, and hosted the Circus World Championships. But during this very public success Gerry hid an addiction to both sex and drugs, which was exposed when he was arrested for possession of cocaine. The heady world he had created seemed about to crumble.

Ever the 'Comeback King', Gerry cleaned up his act and went on to thrill hundreds of thousands with the Moscow State Circus, the Chinese State Circus, the infamous Circus of Horrors and the first truly successful British non-animal circus.

Packed with irrepressible stories of circus acts gone wr
ong, girls chased and family feuds, Confessions of a Showman tells the extraordinary life story of the ultimate showman.

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Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus Hardback
 

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