Rob Mermin bio
Director, Producer, Playwright, Lecturer, Author, Circus performer, Mime, and Raconteur.
Rob ran off to join the circus in 1969. He clowned with European circuses, including England’s Circus Hoffman, Sweden’s Cirkus Scott, three years with Denmark’s Circus Benneweis in the famous Circus Building by the Tivoli, the Hungarian Magyar State Cirkusz, and circus buildings throughout the former Soviet Union. Formal training includes mime with masters Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux, and a degree in Drama and Literature from Lake Forest College.
Rob has toured a one-man show, founded a children’s theater company, and worked in TV and film in Scandinavia. He was a Dean of Clown College for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, was President of the all-youth Blackfriars Summer Theater, and is Artist-in-Residence for the Vermont Arts Council, creating Vermont’s “Circus Residency” program for the state’s public schools.
In 1987 Rob founded the award-winning professional touring company Circus Smirkus. Based in Vermont, Smirkus is America’s only youth circus touring under a big top, showcasing talented youth from across the country. Having cultural exchanges with 32 countries, Smirkus was named the “United Nations of the Youth Circus World.”
Rob was a guest instructor in movement and theater on US campuses and has lectured at such diverse places as the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Executive MBA Program, The Lake Forest College Entrepreneur Club, the Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Gallaudet College for the Deaf, Copenhagen University, Dartmouth College Theater Dept, Circus Schools, Historical Society Conventions, and universities in several countries. He is a consultant for arts organizations, nonprofit businesses, and youth circus groups worldwide.
Rob created the Parkinson’s Pantomime Project in 2016, exploring training methods adapted from the techniques of pantomime and circus to modify symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Rob has given workshops and keynote talks for neurologists, physical therapists, and people with PD across the country, using mime as an effective movement strategy for dealing with his own first-hand experience with PD.
Rob has written three books on his circus experiences, the latest being Circle of Sawdust, A Circus Memoir of Mud, Myth, Mirth, Mayhem, and Magic. He also wrote and directed two productions of his full-length play, Act 39, based on true events involving a friend who utilized Vermont’s medical aid in dying legislation. The play has been highly praised in media for “taking a joyful, playful, and adventurous approach to life, while facing its fragility and human mortality.” “Engaging, informative, fun, creative, heartful and moving!”
Rob’s many awards include Copenhagen’s World Star-Time Clown; Russia’s “Best Director Prize” at The International Festival of Creativity on the Black Sea; Lund Center’s “It Takes A Village” Award; the Vermont Arts Council Award of Merit; and the 2008 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
“A fascinating tour de force that displays the enduring, unique appeal of the circus.”
– Kirkus Reviews
BOOK REVIEW
CIRCLE OF SAWDUST
BY Rob Mermin • POSTED ON May 28, 2024
A personal history of the modern circus by a circus performer and owner.
Mermin, who “ran off to join the circus” in 1969 and founded his own circus, chronicles life under the big top. The author recounts having to convince his skeptical mother of the worthiness of his ambitions; her dismissal inspired the name of Mermin’s own show, Circus Smirkus. This memoir begins with stories of Mermin’s participation in late-20th-century European circuses, such as Circus Benneweis and Circus Hoffman, and includes photos at the beginning of each section and Gersch’s sketches of clowns, tents, and other circus elements. Throughout, Mermin highlights his relationships with well-known performers, especially his mentor, the renowned mime Marcel Marceau (who never performed with a circus until Mermin persuaded him to perform in Circus Smirkus). The author catalogs the early years of building Circus Smirkus, a small Vermont-based affair that followed the model of traditional European circuses and employed young performers. One of the most interesting elements of the book charts how Mermin fostered a glorious multicultural stage, inviting “coaches and circus kids from Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Georgia, Moldova, Canada, China, Cuba, Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, Palestine, Ethiopia, Great Britain, New Zealand, states from all around the US, as well as ten First Nation tribes, the Sioux, Yakama, Hunkpapa, Cree, Santee, Dakota, Oglala, Navaho, Azteca, and Cherokee.” Mermin also includes his own “coming out” as Jewish to an antisemitic fellow performer. One glaring oversight—the memoir pays scant attention to controversies over circuses, particularly the abuse of animals. Circuses continue to evolve, however, and Mermin reassures readers that the circus as an art form is very much alive, noting that his own circus will continue on after his retirement.
A fascinating tour de force that displays the enduring, unique appeal of the circus.
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
Sign in with Google