Cirque du Soleil performers can experience higher G-forces than astronauts

"Apollo and Mercury astronauts in the first days of the space program, they were hitting 8 G. Now we know that a Cirque performer is potentially doubling the G-force of an astronaut who is re-entering Earth. That is [expletive] cool, right?"

"Cirque also has a long performance season, exceeding even the marathon schedule of big league baseball," writes Lemire.

• "Resident shows are staged 380 to 470 times a year, and touring shows perform around 300 times — with training of about 12 hours per week."
• "And while ball clubs have the luxury of deep farm systems, Cirque's specialization means there's little by way of a minor leagues outside of maybe one or two understudies."