Clown Can't Wear Oversized Shoes Due To Safety

A clown has been told he cannot wear his oversized shoes due to health and safety concerns.

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, at the hospital later that evening, he was told he had broken the metatarsal bone in his left foot.

When he returned to the circus, management told him he could no longer wear the size-18 shoes because they compromised his health and safety.

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 now he is worried performing in his regular sized footwear will lose impact on the audience.

"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," says Kashkin. "I think it will definitely detract from the visual aspect of the performance."

"It's very important to the whole performance, but we live in a litigation world, and I guess we just have to follow through these procedures."

"It's a real balancing act."

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