Cast member profile: Lyndall Merry

Starting out with traditional circus from Norwich to New Zealand, Lyndall became established in modern touring circus in the UK and later branched out internationally. He was highly trained in swinging trapeze by Viktor Fomine in Montreal and Juliette Hardy-Donaldson from Duo Vertigo/High Performance/Circus Space, London. Lyndall began his training at Circomedia in Bristol, where he gained inspiration and first experiences of flying from Mike Wright.

Equal in skill and experience, Freya Watson and Lyndall Merry collaborate to produce a strong and unique style in doubles static trapeze. Lyndall’s other aerial skills include rope, static trapeze, wall running and bungee. He is also a skilled and competent artist in automated flying and performance rigging.

Some of his many harness shows have included The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver, X-Factor for Sony Music, 77 MTA Qatar and ETA with Bassline Circus and Studio de Cirque de Marseille. Often his role as performer has overlapped with rigger, giving an extra dynamic to shows with human counter-weighting, abseiling and traverses.

Q and A

What is your proudest achievement?
Maintaining the discipline, commitment and sacrifice to continue developing as a professional trapeze artist.

What do you enjoy most about performing?
The unstoppable rollercoaster of a show with all the excitement, drama and atmosphere both on and off stage. The intensity of working in the moment, holding and engaging with the audience and the interplay between their response and your reactions.

What is your greatest fear?
Loss of control in a hazardous situation.

What was your most memorable performance?
At the Olympics, flying in front of a 60,000 stadium audience who were being projected on – breathtaking! And in Italy, ripping my trousers open on the static trapeze then nearly bringing the rock and roll rig down!

What are you looking forward to about performing at Eden?
That summer buzz. The sheer size and feel of the place and having to put on a good enough show to do it justice!

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