The Extreme Stunt Show 2015 Review
The Extreme Stunt Show
Doncaster Racecourse
26 April 2015
Reviewed by Emma Lydon
The Extreme Stunt Show 2015 came to Doncaster Racecourse on Sunday 26th April and me and my family were looking forward to some breath-taking stunts and monster trucks. Billed as a ‘Big Air – Air Battle’ with tricks and stunts that would defy gravity, we couldn’t wait! Given that this tour needs an outdoor arena to perform, luckily the sun was shining although it was fairly windy (which apparently did play a part in the production – more to come).
The show kicked off at 3pm, with an ex-stuntman MC in the middle of the arena introducing the drivers and riders and their wheels. We had BMX riders, quad bikes, motorbikes and two HUGE genuine monster trucks. They rode round the arena, performing wheelies and getting the crowd involved – my girls enjoyed giving them a big cheer and a wave as they whizzed by. A few two-wheel quad tricks followed, along with the MC getting involved with some 2-wheeled jeep driving and a motorbike rider smashing through a pallet which had been set alight. All good, but I was waiting for the gravity defying, heart-in-your-mouth stunts I’d seen on tv…
As a relative novice to extreme sports, with my only experience being occasionally catching the odd trick on tv from arguably the best stunt riders in the world, I think I had set my expectations for this show a little too high. The BMX riders who came next, although undeniably talented, performed their tricks on a fairly small track, with the jumps only resulting in them coming a few metres in the air and allowing only a couple of spins. One did manage a full back flip which was impressive.
Before I continue, the MC did mention a good few times that all the riders were struggling with the strong side-wind which I absolutely appreciate and perhaps more risky stunts could have been attempted had the weather been more in their favour.
The motorbikes came next and, again I was expecting bigger, higher and more impressive stunts. It’s not that it wasn’t good, it’s just that I felt as though there was an anti-climax to the build-up. The first half wrapped up after about 45 minutes and the MC informed us that we had ten minutes or so before then second half. Great, we thought, let’s go grab an ice-cream and stretch our legs (the arena was standing only but we managed to find ourselves a spot on a small hill to sit on to try and get a good view). Unfortunately not. No ice-cream van to be seen and the only catering van had a queue so big we would probably have missed the rest of the show. Inevitably my girls then decided they needed the toilet (being 5 and 3 when they need to go, they really need to go!) – had a look around to find the queue for the 3 Portaloos (I hate Portaloos) which once we’d finally made it to the front were not in the most hygienic condition and had run out of toilet roll (thank goodness for my ‘mum’s handbag’ of tissues and antibacterial gel!).
The second half definitely picked up pace, the ramps for the motorbike riders were significantly bigger and I really did enjoy some of the tricks the riders performed. The wind hadn’t eased off and this seemed to add to the danger and riskiness of the jumps, the culmination being a full back-flip from one of the riders. Following this was a random stunt whereby a man (in full protective gear I might add) was set alight and attempted to walk across the width of the arena in flames. My eldest girl wasn’t too sure about this at all (my youngest had long since given up and was too busy picking weeds out of the grass) but it was performed all very professionally with the fire extinguishers at hand!
The culmination of the show were the two impressive looking huge monster trucks. They were big and loud and my daughter loved them. The trick they performed was crashing over a number of crushed cars, bouncing up into the air as they went. Great, but they only did it twice. Before we knew it, the show was over, with the second half lasting only 30 minutes.
Advance tickets for this show are £12 for adults and £6 for children (under 3’s are free). On the day gate tickets are £14 and £7 respectively. On reflection, and with the knowledge that this would have cost up to £42 for me and my family to attend I think it is over-priced given that the actual showtime was only about 75 minutes. Combined with the disappointing facilities available I can only give this show a rating of 3/5. Maybe I just expected too much… but I can’t say that I would go again, nor would I recommend paying that amount of money to someone other than a big fan of extreme sports.
Rating: 3/5
The Extreme Stunt Show is currently on tour around the UK. For more information, tour dates and venues or to book tickets at a venue near you visit www.extremestuntshow.com.
