I've been going to see Circus Oz since I was a teenager, and lots of my friends have been in the company too. I love them because they have amazing anarchic energy. They were doing in Australia what Archaos and those other mad companies were doing long before we saw them. The idea of a circus without animals, a circus for the 21st century, has always been their thing.
What I love about them is that they're really witty. They're politically aware and make political comments within their work. Every trick has a story, so nothing is just a skill that exists on its own - it's always linked to a scenario which makes it a lot funnier. For example, if it's a plate-spinning/juggling-type routine, it will be woven into a scene about a stressed-out waiter. And like any circus, it has that great cross-age/cross-cultural appeal because it doesn't rely on words and tries to find the essential humour in the physical.
Circus Oz always has fantastic, wild music, and you never know what will happen next. It's very democratic in the circus, so the guys who rig the tent will have their own little act as well. There's no hierarchy, so you never know where a performer will jump out from next. It might be the guy who sells you the tickets.
Lots of Circus Oz people come from acting backgrounds. We've got this amazing thing called the Fruit Fly Circus - a school where children do regular classes in the morning, then practise circus skills in the afternoon. It's been going for a few years and now lots of Fruit Flies are turning up in Circus Oz. These guys are now in their twenties, but they've been throwing plates since they were five. So they're seriously good, as well as being seriously funny.
