In addition to completing the requirements for the Ph.D. as specified by the Duke University Graduate School, students in the Nowicki Lab also must complete the Circus Trick Requirement before they are eligible to receive their degree. The origins of this peculiar requirement are uncertain, but most scholars agree that it is a relic of "Iconism," a mythological world-view practiced by many students in the earliest years of the Nowicki lab.
Successful completion of the Circus Trick Requirement is judged much the same way that outcomes of gladiatorial contests were judged in a Roman coliseum: an assembled rabble signal their approval or disapproval (now measured accurately with a state-of-the-art applausometer) and the Emperor (or lab head, or whatever) confirms the result with a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Bernie Lohr, the first student to graduate from the Nowicki Lab, set a high bar for the Circus Trick Requirement - and began a sub-theme of "potential death by immolation" - by deftly juggling three flaming clubs. All subsequent Circus Tricks have been deemed successful, although not without controversy. In one famous scandal, Prof. John Mitani of the University of Michigan, in his capacity as External Circus Trick Requirement Evaluator, attempted to revoke Jeff Podos' degree, claiming that Podos had "taken advantage of the late hour and sorry condition of the crowd to pawn off a cheesy trick as a skillful act." Circus Trick Requirement scholars also continue to debate whether the threat of an extremely unsavory combination of marshmallows and smoked snails threatened by a pair of finishing students qualifies as a "trick" or merely as an "incident." The sanctity of the Circus Trick Requirement was restored in 2003 by the death-defying leap, in full tuck, through a flaming hoop performed by Martin Beebee in completion of his degree. History was made on two fronts with Barb Ballentine's 2006 plate-spinning act. First, this was the first circus trick ever that Steve was unable to perform immediately. Second, Jeremy Hyman's participation in this act raised the question - still being debated - of whether the Circus Trick Requirement should be a mandatory for post-docs in the Nowicki lab as well. On completion of her Ph.D. in 2007, Elizabeth Derryberry - thinking outside the box - performed a suite of magic tricks, culminating in pulling a live rabbit out of a hat. The lab's most recent graduate, Kim Rosvall, took the Nowicki Lab's recurring fascination with fire to new and perilous heights in 2009 with her flaming hula hoop dance routine!
Click here for a list of Circus Tricks with visuals!
