Read about the 2013 edition here.

It’s spring and that means the circus -- Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, to be exact -- has arrived, and with an improbable title you never would expect for a three-ring extravaganza: Zing, Zang, Zoom. There’s been no shortage of “Big Top” magic throughout the years, but with this 139th edition, encamped at Madison Square Garden through April 13th, there’s a cutting-edge magician and the type of illusions usually synonymous with Las Vegas shows.
   
The circus remains one of the city’s best family bargains, filled with enough thrills, laughter and magic to last a lifetime. But this Ringling Bros. isn’t your Mom and Dad’s circus.

   

“What’s unique,” says “zingmaster” Alex Ramon, an award-winning illusionist, “is how we [connect] the audience to the circus through magic. From top to bottom, Zing, Zang Zoom is a total departure from the norm.”
   
Ramon and his alluring assistant, Levitytia, lead audiences through a kaleidoscope of exciting acts and fantastical imagery that celebrates the circus’s uplifting spirit.
 
In addition to high-flying and upside-down acrobats, wild animals, magnificent stallions and Brazilian showgirls, you’ll see an individual transformed across species into a ferocious tiger, and a human put through a shredding machine. Plus, as producer Nicole Feld points out, “within the first five minutes, you see a four-ton elephant disappear and, later, children are selected from the audience to levitate their parents.”
  
“There are no camera tricks because we’re live!” says Ramon, “You’re right there when it happens.”
 
Between Alejandro Vargas’ largest-ever performing herd of Asian elephants, Taba’s Bengal tigers, Arabian and Friesian horses, miniature horses, zebras, dogs, and even performing doves, there are 97 performers from 11 countries. These include China’s Qi Qi Har Troupe, who swing on logs, dive through hoops, juggle jars and perform contortions; the Romashov/Skokov double Russian swing trapeze act; the Lopez Brothers’ jaw-dropping high jinks on the tight-wire; and the Fernandez Brothers on the dual “Wheels of Death.”

In addition to the merriment spun by members of RBBB’s Clown Alley, the show has a slapstick nemesis, Mr. Gravity, who, with his team of heavies straight out of the Three Stooges, wrecks havoc like the Joker did in The Dark Knight. Alex co-stars with his performing elephants in a tribute to the Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire in a Bollywood-themed production number.
   
Taba’s back with gorgeous Arabian horses and his “tabbies” -- not the ones that go “meow,” but the ferocious ones from India that snarl and growl. You might wince when he kisses his tigers, and rightly so: The maternal fourth and paternal second-generation Chilean animal trainer says, “It takes up to a year to gain a Bengal tiger’s trust. You keep testing, getting closer and closer. Then one day, she lets you kiss her.” And don’t try this at home: Taba does a handstand as two tigers jump through his legs. “It’s all about forming a unique bond with the animals,” he says.
   
That blur soaring across the arena faster than a speeding bullet isn’t a bird or plane but, and for the first time ever, two females, Tina Miser and Ekaterina Borzikova, shot from a double-barreled cannon with a force of seven G’s at 65 mph. Bing, bang, boom and it’s over in two seconds!
 
Have you seen an elephant paint? If not, arrive one hour early to enjoy the free interactive pre-show where you meet artists, try on costumes, receive juggling lessons from clowns, get an up-close look at the animals, watch acrobats tumble, and witness Ramon’s magic up-close.
   
A RBBB tradition continues: awarding 2009 babies born in the U.S. a ticket for a future show. Sign up by clicking here.

Tickets for Madison Square Garden are $15 up to $50 (VIP), $70 (Gold) and $150 (Circus Celebrity, where you’re up-close and part of a production number); available at the MSG box offices, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.