Get your popcorn and take your seats, ladies and gents – the big top is coming to Buckley.

Making its second appearance on the Plateau in recent years, the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus is arriving at the Buckley Eagles lot on June 4, with showtimes at 5 and 7:30 p.m.

While some traveling circuses sport huge rings, dozens of performers, and multiple shows, Culpepper & Merriweather take a different tack. According to lead clown Leo Acton, circus founders Robert Johnson, Jim Hebert and Curtis Cainan broke off from one of those large shows to play for smaller audiences in 1985.

It’s “a much more intimate experience. You’re closer to the action,” said Acton, who himself used to perform in a multi-ring circus. “It feels like [an] old-school circus, in a lot of ways.”

Acton started clowning around since 1998, and is a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College graduate.

If the phrase “clown college” makes you laugh, you may want to reconsider – while students did practice comedy, the semester-long course was grueling; Acton recalled classes were up to 13 hours long, six days a week, in order to prep for graduation day and have a shot at performing with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“Even on our days off, we’re working on stuff with our roommates,” he continued (he and the other students all lived in the same apartment complex while in school). “It was boot camp, with bigger boots.”

Acton wasn’t born into the circus life. In fact, he thought he was going to be an artist, but after he saw a poster for the Clown College in his high school guidance counselor’s office, he decided to give it a whirl.

But others in the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus have been at this for a long, long time, perhaps none as long as the Loyal family, which has been performing their bareback horse acrobatics in America for more than 90 years (and the dynasty appears to stretch back even further in Italy).

“The Loyals are an institution,” Acton said. “Their family has been performing in shows all over the world.”

Photo courtesy Culpepper & Merriweather Circus Big cat trainer Trey Key with the three-year-old Wendell.

Culpepper & Merriweather also has a bother-sister act: Delilah and Solomon, Golden Tabby Tigers that came into the circus’ employ after being rescued from a roadside show when they were just cubs.

They’re joined by Wendell, the lion, who was taken in when an exotic pet owner could no longer properly take care of him.

Just don’t expect flaming hoops and pistol shots; trainer Trey Key instead showcases his relationship with the big cats

“They act like housecats for him,” Acton said (though he noted that 350-pound housecats are certainly still very dangerous).

Other acts include juggling, unicycle, trapeze, and the ominous-sounding Wheel of Destiny – plus the before/during intermission/after midway activities like the bounce house, pony rides, and face painting – but the circus is so much more than just the performers.

There’s the dedicated tent crew, for example, without whom there would be no tent to perform under, other support staff, and even family members who travel with the circus for the eight months they’re on the road; Acton said if you’re lucky and look closely, you may be able to see a young baby being cared for by performers while Mom is on stage.

This is why Acton gives a free show before the action at 9:30 a.m. to show off how the tent is raised, meet the big cats and other performers, and learn more about circus life.

“It’s not just the hour and a half of sawdust and fancy costumes and cotton candy and lights that they see at the show,” Acton said. “It’s a whole day thing.”

Tickets bought in advance are $13 for adults, or $8 for kids and seniors, and can be purchased in Buckley at the Main Street Bistro, The Scoop on Main, and Wayman’s Vintage Market, or in Enumclaw at the Enumclaw Stationers.

Tickets will also be sold at the door; adults for $16, kids and seniors for $9.

For more information, or to buy tickets online, head to cmcircus.com/home.html.

Photo courtesy Culpepper & Merriweather Circus Two of the horses performing with the Loyal family used to be work horses, but were sold to the circus when they didn’t work out.