Comedy Circus Show Gets Big Top Festival Slot

Tonino Scalia performs at the online Brighton Fringe Festival throughout June.

Glasgow based Tonino Scalia is a French-Italian performer who has successfully converted his one-man circus show into an online mime and theatre experience for young audiences. 

Now, Tonino’s comedic reach is about to be catapulted to a world-wide audience when he performs at the prestigious online Brighton Fringe Festival – the largest open-access arts festival in England.

The Webcam Circus Show was born following the first lockdown in 2020, when Tonino was no longer able to perform to a live audience.

He devised and performed a live interactive online performance for families and children with himself playing the parts of two characters, ringmaster Mr. Loyal and Ninetto the clown. The show uniquely combines live performance with video to create an engaging and interactive family entertainment experience keeping young audiences digitally engaged with improbable jugglery acts, unforgettable drama games and family orientated fun.

Tonino trained at one of Italy’s leading acting schools – Paolo Grassi Drama School in Milan and has worked with major names in the world of drama and theatre all over Europe and the UK. He has performed his own shows in theatres as well as festivals including the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

His passion lies with comedy and making people smile and his grounding in his craft couldn’t have been better having studied clownery with leading figures including Vladimir Olshansky, Leris Colombaioni and Nola Rae.

 ‘I’ve been trained by the very best in the world of drama and clownery and I’ve used my skills and my art to bring laughter into the hearts of young people and their families. Laughter is such an important thing for everyone but for children it has so many benefits,’ said Tonino.

 ‘Laughing with family and friends creates bonds, it can reduce anxiety and also improves self-esteem. Above all, it allows then to be themselves and escape into their own world of make believe and imagination. I get a lot of pleasure from the feedback I get from my audiences and love to make people smile.‘

Tonino’s ability to make people laugh has been used extensively in schools in the UK, Canada and Italy, for the Government organisation Discover (Edinburgh), various youth charities and for families all around the world in his regular weekend online performances. His forthcoming appearances at the month-long Brighton Fringe however holds a special place in his heart.

‘This is an amazing festival with both in person shows and online performances too. It is a huge festival, with very famous performers and experts in their field preforming. I am honoured to perform my show there. My show is very different to any others you will see as part of it is live performance coupled with video technology which makes the unbelievable believable.‘

Tonino Scalia’s Webcam Circus Show introduces its audience to the magic of circus through comedy and runs at various times from Friday, May 28 until Sunday, June 27. Find out more here.