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‘Nerveless Nocks’ bring big thrills to P.A. Summer Fair

Aug 1, 2017 | 5:00 PM

Watching your son ride a powerful motorcycle upside-down inside a steel globe isn’t everyone’s idea of a family business, but for Michelangelo Nock it’s all part of the show.

Nock and his family, known professionally as the “The Nerveless Nocks,” have been dazzling crowds with high-flying, death-defying performances for eight generations, and this year they’re bringing their thrill show to the Prince Albert Summer Fair.

The show has a history going back to 1840, Nock said, when the group got their start as Switzerland’s first circus club. Their name originated after Nock’s father gave a 1963 command performance for Queen Elizabeth. Nock said the monarch described his father as “simply nerveless,” and the name has stuck ever since.

Nock said the Prince Albert performances will feature two of his children, who are considered the best in the world in their respective fields. His 19-year-old son Cyrus rides a motorcycle inside the “Globe of Death,” and dazzles crowds on the sky-pendulum, while his 26-year-old daughter Angelina announces the show and performs atop a perilously-bendy sway-pole without the safety of a net. Joining Cyrus inside the steel sphere will be Australian stunt-performer Brad Keogh.

“They see their parents doing it, so to them they think it’s normal,” Nock said with a laugh.

There is still great public appetite for live thrill-shows in today’s era of computer-generated special effects and video games, he said, because Hollywood effects can never duplicate the feeling of witnessing death-defying stunts in-person from the front row.

“It’s years of training, it’s an art form, and people respect that,” he said. “[They want to] see what the human body can do, mentally and physically.”

Although the show incorporates very real danger for the performers, Nock said they have never had a fatal or career-ending accident. He credits their success to long hours of practice and no small measure of good luck.

“We’ve had some broken bones and all that, but nothing serious,” he said. “We’ve been pretty lucky so far.”

While the performers have an excellent safety record, Nock said the show still carries a big warning for all the fans – whatever you do, don’t try this at home.

You can catch the Nerveless Nocks Thrill Shows every afternoon at the Prince Albert Summer Fair. Daily performances are scheduled for 2:30, 4:30 and 7 p.m.

 

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews