This article is about a Manhattan nightclub. For other uses, please see Electric Circus (disambiguation)

Electric Circus (disambiguation)

The name Electric Circus can refer to:* Electric Circus, a Canadian television program* Electric Circus , by the rapper Common* Electric Circus , a nightclub in Manhattan* A single released by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant...

The Electric Circus was a nightclub and discotheque located at 19-25 St. Marks Place between Second

Second Avenue (Manhattan)

Second Avenue is an avenue on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan extending from Houston Street at its south end to the Harlem River Drive at 128th Street at its north end. A one-way street, vehicular traffic runs only downtown. A bicycle lane in the left hand portion from 55th...

 and Third

Third Avenue (Manhattan)

Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. Third Avenue continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at...

 Avenues in the East Village

East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 neighborhood of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, from 1967 to September 1971. The club was created by Jerry Brandt

Jerry Brandt

Jerry Brandt is a club owner, promoter, and manager, active since the 1960s. He is known chiefly for discovering Carly Simon and serving as her first manager, as well as for his work with Lori Petty...

, Stanton J. Freeman and their partners and designed by Chermayeff & Geismar

Chermayeff & Geismar

Chermayeff & Geismar is a prominent New York-based branding and graphic design firm. It was founded in 1957 by Yale graduates Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar...

. With its invitation (from one of its press releases) to "play games, dress as you like, dance, sit, think, tune in and turn on," and its mix of light shows, music, circus performers and experimental theater, the Electric Circus embodied the wild and creative side of 1960s club culture.

Flame throwing jugglers and trapeze artists performed between musical sets, strobe lights flashed over a huge dance floor, and multiple projectors flashed images and footage from home movies.