Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

He is called Azerbaijani Charlie Chaplin, because of his close resemblance to the English comic actor, when dressing for his performances. Forty-year-old circus performer Uzeyir Novruzov became popular worldwide after his participation at Season 10 of America's Got Talent.

With his famous ladder Uzeyir could conquer the hearts of jury and many people who were rooting for him during the famous show. When he participated at the America’s Got Talent last year, he even did not expect such a resounding success.

Performance in the semifinals of the talent show completed embarrassment for Uzeyir -- the acrobat fell down the stairs without completing the number, trying to do a difficult trick.

However, the incident did not affect the voting and Novruzov continued to participate in the show «America's Got Talent», entering the Top 10 finalists and finishing in the Bottom 5.

Also known as the "free ladder man", Uzeyir was born in Azerbaijan’s region of Ganja, but at the age of 10 he moved to Russia. Here the actor tried out many different endeavors at school, including music, art, wrestling, judo and cooking. However, none of these activities felt quite right until he found the circus. Most of his life, he has toured with many famous circuses all over the world.

Considerable energy in "amateur circuses", made him not to give up his circus ambitions and continue his acrobatic training, which he had started from early ages. He studied at Moscow circus school, where he created a free-standing ladder act. He showed a natural gift for balance, and his joyful energy, combined with his musical and dancing abilities, didn’t long go unnoticed.

By the way, his two brothers and a sister are also circus performers.

Uzeyir moved to the U.S. in 2002, where he was featured in the Big Apple Circus’s production of Dreams of a City. He remained in North America and has since appeared with his free ladder act in Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo.

“I moved to America by accident. It so happened that after a long-term contract in the U.S. I began to receive new proposals, and decided to settle there. My children were born in America. At first, for me it was a bit unusual, but over time I adapted to life in the U.S.,” he admitted.

During his exciting career, Uzeyir has suffered many accidents because of his craft. When he was much younger, he fell backwards from a 12 foot ladder. As a result, he broke both arms and was in a coma for three days.

However, the love for the profession quickly restored his wounds, and he again returned to his labor of love.

After the American show, many similar foreign projects and TV shows became interested in the man, who performed unbelievable and exciting tricks with ladder. Uzeyir even participated in Italian talent show the same year.

Novruzov also holds a world record of the Guinness Book of Records this year, climbing to the highest ladder, especially constructed for him in China’s capital Beijing.

“I climbed to the highest ladder in my life. It was six meters high. I stood on it for almost eight minutes. Perhaps I would put even more complex record, if it was my ladder. The Chinese are specially manufactured it for me,” he said.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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