How much do you know about Ringling Bros. Circus XTREME? Test your knowledge with Ringling Bros. circus trivia and fun facts and learn a few new things about The Greatest Show on Earth! Hop on over here to win a family four pack of tickets to see the show! Enjoy the Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts with the entire family!

Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts Part 1

1. How many train cars are on the Circus XTREME train?
a. 60 cars

2. What is the length of one RBBB train car?
a. 86’ for coach, 95’ for flat car

3. How many miles does the Circus XTREME train travel in a year?
a.  About 18,285 miles

4. RBBB is the longest running show in show business history, how many years has RBBB been continually touring?
a. 145 years (Circus XTREME is the 145th edition)

5. How many pounds of greasepaint for make-up does a RBBB clown use each year?
a. 2 pounds of greasepaint for make-up, is the same as 4 cups of play dough!

6. How much water does an Asian Elephant drink each day?
a. Elephants drink 100 times more water than humans do – that is like drinking 800 glasses of water a day!

7. How much does an Asian elephant’s tooth weigh?
a. A full-grown elephant’s tooth weighs about the same as a nine-pound bowling ball!

8. How much does an Asian elephant eat each day?
a. They eat 150-200 pounds of hay, along with an assortment of local fresh fruit and vegetables each day

9. How many hours a night do Asian Elephants sleep?
a. Average of 6 hours a night, but they don’t sleep for more than an hour at a time. They can take catnaps standing up, but their deep sleep happens when they are lying down.

10. Fun Fact:
a. Elephants are intelligent and respond to verbal commands about 80 percent of the time. The guide reinforces our verbal cues through touch.

Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts Part 2

11. How many times a week do tigers eat?
a. Tigers eat 6x per week (having a fasting day once a week) and are always fed first thing in the morning

12. What is the difference between a Bengal and a Siberian tiger’s stripes?
a. Siberian tiger stripes are brown, Bengal tiger strips are black
b. No two tigers have the same stripes, their stripes are like fingerprints, each one is unique

13. Are tigers more dangerous than lions?
a. Yes, tigers have unpredictable mood swings and are considered more dangerous than lions

14. How do tigers communicate with one another?
a. The communicate by holding their ears in different positions, through body language, and flicks of their tails

15. What is the average span of a tiger’s swipe?
a. 5ft, that is the same height as a Monster Jam truck tire!

16. In Circus XTREME, you will see 2 hump camels, what is their proper name?
a. Bactrian

17. How many hours does it take to set up a RBBB show?
a. 16 hours

18. How many hours does it take to tear down a RBBB show?
a. 6-8 hours

19. How many unique different pieces of music are used in the Circus XTREME production?
a. About 120

20. Approximately how many times has Gemma been shot out of her cannon in a year?
a. Over 300 times!
b. Over 500 times total!

21. How fast does Gemma fly out of her cannon?
a. About 66 mph over 100 feet
b. She experiences a G-Force of 7, about half the G-force an astronaut uses when launching into space and the same force a pilot feels when flying an F16 fighter jet!

22. How high can the performers in the Art on Trampoline act jump?
a. 30 feet

23. What is another nickname for the final sequence in the SkySratchers Art on Trampoline act?
a. “Popcorn” – since they all bounce so fast and frequently off the trampoline as to appear like popping corn

24. How many rotations does the Wheel of Steel make during the Circus XTREME show?
a. Over 50 rotations, which if measured out equals about 10 football fields

25. On average, how many performers does it take to put on a Circus XTREME performance?
a. There are 107 in Circus XTREME, this includes the 9 person band

26. How many countries do the performers of Circus XTREME represent?
a. 13 countries: Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States

27. How many costumes appear in the pre-show and show for Circus XTREME?
a. Over 400 costumes
b. Other costume facts:
i. 1,000 costume pieces
ii. Over a million rhinestones
iii. 800 shoes
iv. Takes over 100 technicians to create everything
v. It will take over 50 people on site in 9 days to deliver everything to the tour
vi. 2 costume designers
vii. 2 shoe assistants
viii. It will take 2 weeks and 8 people/40 hours a week for refurb after the 1st year on tour

28. How many costumes does the Circus XTREME ringmaster wear in one show?
a. 3

29. How big is one ring/curb?
a. 42 feet in diameter

Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts Part 3

30. How many types of bikes are in the BMX performance in Circus XTREME?
a. 7 different brands and colors

31. Are there brakes on the BMX bikes?
a. No, they use momentum and turns to adjust their speed

32. Which RBBB BMX performer has competed in the X-Games?
a. Aaron Kraft has competed in the X-Games since 2000 and has 3 silver medals. He is also the second person in the world to land a double back flip in completion on a bike!

33. How high is the transparent trampoline tower in Circus XTREME?
a. 15 feet high

34. The Mongolian Marvels in Circus XTREME play an instrument that looks like a guitar while singing, what is the name of that instrument and type of signing?
a. The double-stringed instrument is called a Morin Khuur while throat singing

35. How heavy is the barbell used by the Mongolian strongmen?
a. 150 pounds

36. Fun Facts:
a. One of the Mongolian strongmen, Otgonjargal, will lift 551lbs with only his teeth! And can lift 198lbs in only one hand!
b. The Mongolian Marvels will attempt a feat that has taken two years to perfect. And the only place on the planet where you can see it is here in their secret inner circle. It begins with a three man bridge, the first of its kind, with three strongmen balancing upside-down on their heads. They will then take on the weight of five additional performers, plus a 150 pound barbell. The only human pyramid like it in the world, with a combined weight of 881 pounds.

37. How wide is the high-wire The Danguir Troupe performs on?
a. Only as wide as a human thumb!

38. How far can The Danquir Troupe’s leader, Mustafa, jump over the members of his team?
a. He can jump the length of one car, over four troupe members!

39. Fun Fact:
a. The Danguir Troupe will perform a 4 person Tower of Power on the high-wire, standing 39 feet in the sky!

Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts Part 4

40. How many consecutive times will you see Irina Emelin jump rope with her dog in Circus XTREME?
a. 3 times

41. Fun Fact:
a. Within Circus XTREME’s slack line performers, there is a set of twins and a set of triplet brothers

42. Fun Fact:
a. A typical rig for a bungee performance holds 4 bungees; in Circus XTREME our rig holds 6! We use the same equipment as a skydiver would use while jumping in tandem.

43. Fun Fact:
a. Alex and Irina Emelin love American movies so much, they named all of their dogs after famous actors!

44. Fun Facts:
a. Troupe leader, Mustafa Danguir, holds many high-wire world records;
i. He crossed the Santiago Bernabeu soccer stadium in Madrid, Spain
ii. He kicked off a high-wire bike tour in Benidorm, Spin that started from the top of the Gran Hotel Bali Benidorm and ended at the top of the Church of St. James, a distance of one mile and more than 540 feet in the air
iii. He crossed a distance of 1,150 feet between two mountains in New York
iv. He crossed Alexanderplatz, the large city plaza in Berlin, Germany

45. Fun Fact:
a. In 2011, five RBBB clowns traveled to India to perform for children in orphanages, churches, on roof tops, and in the streets.

46. Fun Fact:
a. Tabayara Maluenda uses the catch phrase “Azucar!” in his tiger act, which means “sugar” or “sweet”
b. Taba’s son is named Gunther, after Tab’s hero and inspiration Gunther Gebel-Williams

So, how did you do against the Ringling Bros. Circus Trivia and Fun Facts? How much did you already know and what cool facts did you learn? Learn more about the care of elephants at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation.