Jake was a very skilled and beautiful trapeze artist who I realised, when his sister asked me to celebrate his funeral, I had seen perform once. His funeral was to take place at the shabby arts centre in which he had rehearsed. It was an old mill with a good bar in which we all met. Most people had drinks in their hands and sat around. The funeral had to be cheap and we settled on a cremation first and had the ashes in an African urn at the ceremony. His ashes would later be taken by those present and scattered in small bits in circus venues around the world. As the ceremony ‘proper’ ended, the doors opened and a fire-eater performed in Jake’s memory. The fellow rope and trapeze artists swooped down in the courtyard. Hugely sad, hugely creative, totally appropriate.”
