Big shoes can be dangerous!

This article from the UK Telegraph is pretty crazy. If people stopped doing dangerous stuff, there'd really be no point to a circus, y'know? Who wants to see a guy step into a ring of docile cows? Or brave the rope on the ground? Clown cannot wear giant shoes due to health and safety A clown has been told he cannot wear his giant comedy shoes due to health and safety. By Chris Irvine Last Updated: 9:14AM BST 23 Apr 2009 Valerik Kashkin, a clown in the Moscow State Circus, was performing in Liverpool's Sefton Park last Saturday when he fell from a three metre high slack wire, injuring his foot. Although he continued to perform for the rest of the show, when he went to hospital later that evening, he was told he had broken the metatarsal bone in his left foot. When he returned to the circus he was told by management he could no longer wear the size-18 shoes because they compromised his health and safety. Mr Kashkin features in the circus' reworking of the Rasputin tale, The Monk's Dream. His routine includes dressing himself whilst walking on a wire, dress himself within a hoop of fire, and playing a drum-kit, trumpet and double-bass all at the same time. But he is now worried performing in his regular sized footwear will lose impact on the audience. Mr Kashkin, 40, from Temruk, Russia, said: "The shoes are an important part of my costume, and I was disappointed to be told I couldn't do this part of my act. "I feel fine, and think I could do it in the shoes – the impact might be lost on the audience now." Rejecting that it was a case of health and safety gone mad, Larry Dewitt, Health and Safety adviser to the circus said: "I'm not a believer in political correctness, or doing things for the sake of doing it however. "You have to take a common-sense approach with these things – if it's stupid, don't do it." Paul Archer, General Manager for the Moscow State Circus, said: "I think it will definitely detract from the visual aspect of the performance. "It's very important because there's a language barrier to the whole performance, as it's in Russian." He added: "But we live in a litigation world, and I guess we just have to follow through these procedures. "It's a real balancing act."