Cirque Berserk: The greatest show on Earth

"Now don't put your arms up or out . . ." warns the beautiful and dazzling Ana Paula as we step into the Globe of Terror. She places a gentle hand on my head to stop me from bumping it and we clamber into the horrifyingly small ball. It seemed bigger from outside, with the huge Cirque Berserk signage flashing above it.

I clutch on to the Portuguese show girl for dear life, and turn my mind to counting each of her eyelashes rather than face the realisation of what I'm about to do.

In the eight years they've been wed, they've travelled the world performing. Lucio has been riding the Globe of Terror for 28 years. He says: "I'm not from a circus family, I've just loved bikes since I was born.

"I started in the Globe of Terror when I was 15 with one motorcycle. The adrenaline and control you have is what makes it so good." But the globe, also known as the Globe of Death, is not without its high risks, and that includes mortal danger.

The Globe of Terror, I'm told, is also known as the Globe of Death. In it, up to four motorbikes whizz around in all known directions like agitated hornets at speeds of up to 60mph. Here I was, a girl that once went into shock on a rollercoaster at Alton Towers, throwing myself right into the middle of it all. My uneventful life flashed before my eyes and I grasped ever tighter to Ana Paula, aware that I had not been this close to a stranger possibly ever in my life. I was trying to disappear into her by osmosis. It wasn't working.

Back in the globe, two Brazilian bikers from the Lucius Team enter, engines roaring. The team leader, Lucio Zafalon, smiles and teases me from his bike. He's Ana Paula's husband, and the pair are wonderful and warm for a pair of death-defying super-humans. Seeing my pallid face, Lucio laughs and revs his engine more.

"Don't worry!" he shouts from behind the helmet. "If you die, I die too. We'll go down together!"

I lose all control of my senses and set about crying for my big sister.

"I'm running away to join the circus!" I'd told my boss earlier that day after a particularly stressful one.

"And I'm never coming back!" I threatened, as I grabbed my ludicrous leopard print coat and left the office in a whirl of cheap fur and red lipstick.

Now here, with the smell of petrol fumes in my nose, I longed for my office chair, so reliable and grounded. What I wouldn't give right now for the calm of the water cooler or the tap of someone's keyboard.

All I could hear were the engines of the bikes begin to circle us. Ana Paula told me that when she gave the word, I absolutely must move a step to the side, to avoid a speeding motorcycle. Then I must step the other way, quickly, to avoid the other.

Basically, my own life was in my hands, and I wasn't confident I was responsible enough for it.

• A Dome of Terror, Dome of Death or the Globe of Death is a circus and carnival stunt that sees as many as eight performers ride their motorbikes simultaneously inside a metal sphere.

• Clad in leathers, the death-defying stuntmen loop vertically as well as horizontally, reaching terrifying speeds of up to 60mph.

• The Wall of Death is a very similar stunt performed at circuses and carnivals, seeing motorcyclists whirl around a motordrome.

• Elvis Presley rode the Wall of Death in the 1964 movie Roustabout.

• The youngest person ever recorded to ride a motorcycle inside the Dome of Terror was Maximus Garcia who was four years, six months and 28 days old.

• The Varanne family was the first group to perform the Dome of Terror stunt in Europe. They are the oldest ‘cycle daredevils’ family in Europe with roots back to early 1920s and are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.[/breakout]

Then, as the men zoomed around faster and faster, I lost my mind. They whirled overhead, then so close to me that my skirt moved. I have visions of getting caught in the wheels and Lucio reached over from his speeding bike and whipped the hair off the back of my neck. Again and again he tormented me, and I entered some sort of weird standing up trance. It was fight or flight, and I couldn't do either as the bikes moved around me.

Once I'd successfully moved my concrete legs the two steps that would save my life, I left the Globe of Terror quicker than either of those bikes had whirled around the cage. Even the Cirque Berserk team are shaking their heads. "I'd never do that . . ." one says and I vow nor will I ever again.

Their biggest stunt to date was six riders performing in the Dome of Terror with one person standing in the centre.

At that, I'm whisked away to another part of the stage, where the Cirque Berserk performers are preparing for a night on the stage. They're going to throw knives at me next. Great.

Cirque Berserk is unlike any other circus I've ever experienced. The brain child of Martin 'Zippo' Burton – the founder of Zippo's Circus – the 'Berzerkus' is a contemporary production. There are no sad looking animals or drafty benches in a big top – it's a West End style show that combines all of the wonderment of traditional circus entertainment and brings it to us in a much more glamorous and comfortable way.

I say comfortable, but the Berzerkus is anything but. Visitors can't expect to sit back in their seats – none of the 30 performers use safety devices and the performers are risking life and limb to put on the most exhilarating show possible.

Revered as 'one of the best knife-throwers in the world' by Martin 'Zippo' Burton, Toni has never had a mishap while flinging the razor-sharp weapons.

I was about to do the same. I meet Toni Novotny and his wife Nikol. In his hand, Toni brandishes a number of shining silver knives that he is about to throw at me. I say hello and realise that this man has the power to kill me today if he just so fancies it. I throw caution to the wind and stand in front of a board. More quickly that I can think, the expert knife-thrower flings the weapons at me and they land just centimetres away from my face and body. I extend my lips into a big pout and they touch the knife that has landed so close to my face that I feel my eyelashes quiver.

That's the final straw – I've had enough. I can't remember what it was about work I was ever moaning about. I don't want to risk my neck at the circus anymore – I'm ready to go home.

I pack up my things and shout a speedy goodbye to the performers I'd met. Acrobats, jugglers, dancers, musicians and death-defying stunt men from countries such as Kenya, Brazil, Cuba, France, Bulgaria and more wave me off and I run back to the newsroom.

Next time I'll watch from the stalls and hide behind my very clammy hands. It's one of the greatest shows on earth!

The Cirque Berserk will be at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Thursday until Sunday. For tickets and information, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk