"Has your dream always been to run away with a cat circus?"
That's the first line in a recent Craigslist ad from Acro-Cats, a Chicago-based cat circus that is looking for a tour assistant. So if you really, really love cats and want to travel around the country in an RV with a stranger, then you're in luck.
Headed up by ringleader Samantha Martin, the Acro-Cats have been garnering a lot of attention from media this year. They were featured on CBS News in June, and in The New York Times in advance of a New York City performance in July.
The cats are trained to leap around a miniature circus set, ride skateboards, push shopping carts and even pretend to play the guitar. One cat holds the world record for longest jump by a cat (six feet, which doesn't exactly seem like a tremendous accomplishment).
The cats next tour dates are in Rochester, New York from September 10–13 and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from September 17–27. If you're considering applying for the tour assistant position, you better be prepared to spend a good amount of time in the Northeast. The cats will also appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on November 17.
Though the concept of a cat circus sounds like something out of Miss Havisham's diary, the Acro-Cats are seeing a good deal of success. The group is planning a West Coast tour for 2016 and is poised to become a nationally known act. There's never been a better time to get on the ground floor of the cat circus.