Whistling and Circque du Soleil

My whistling friend Robert is currently performing as the Ringmaster in a Cirque du Soleil production in Japan. I saw the show last year in Portland and got to spend some time with Robert during the show's six-week run. His predecessor in the Ringmaster role is Sean Lomax, another whistler. This evening, Robert called me on SKYPE and introduced me to Sean Lomax. Sean told me an interesting tidbit about Fred Bradna, the longtime ringmaster in Ringling and Barnum and Bailey circuses. His book, The Big Top, was required reading for Mr. Lomax when he undertook the role. And whistling was very relevant to old-time circus ringmasters, too. They used a system of whistled signals to coordinate the different rings or components of the circus, much like a sheepherder whistles a system of commands to the sheepdogs in maneuvering the sheep. Like the sheepherders, Robert and Sean both use pucker whistling, while the old-time Ringmasters used a golden whistle on a gold chain.