Off with the circus
Many children dream of running away with the circus. At the age of 5, Martin was enchanted by the smell of the liniment, sawdust and canvas. The roar of the crowd became food for his soul. WWII was on the doorstep with the Japanese bombing Darwin. Fuel rationing and the manpower law had left a small circus stranded in an even smaller outback town. The circus performers had to work in the mines. The trapeze artists, the Nicklesons, came to live in the mining company shack next door. The Cadinis, Italian musicians, acquired the house at the back. The homes of these families became Martin’s sanctuary away from his tyrannical stepfather's beatings. Young Stan was inoculated with music, Italian food, sports and entertainment. He was encouraged to sing in a concert to help raise funds for the war bonds as the town prepared to be evacuated fearing a Japanese invasion. The buzz and acceptance of his circus family provided just a brief reprieve from his usual world. Young Stan saw his first train soon after. In the early hours, it appeared scary and alien. A week later, the exhausted family arrived in Norsemen, another mining town on the edge of another desert… but the call of the circus was strong.

Martin was never an ace student. In his day dyslexia was not known, but he feels he has coped with it all his life. He also feels his trouble with the three Rs – Reading, Riting and Rithmatic - has shaped his thinking and encouraged an unconventional approach to life which has taken him on an unconventional path. Today Martin is an avid writer. He has authored several books, but can not write in long hand, he still prints every word by hand.

Martin passed his formative years on the edge of the Nullarbor, biding his time until he could follow the call. Eventually he would do what most boys only ever dream of – He ran away with the circus. It was a small run down circus. He was to be a tent hand, a rouseabout, a singing cowboy and assistant to a hypnotist named Lee Saxon. Lee Saxon went on to become famous and well respected both as a showman and a psychologist. He became one of the original sports psychologists for leading football clubs and lectured in universities. Martin and Lee stayed friends and kept in touch until Lee passed on. Lee would commence his university lectures by saying: "In a God forsaken town in the outback desert of Australia, I met a long haired, unshaven, young man. He was filthy dirty from weighing potatoes – at the time I would vote him the most unlikely person ever to succeed, and now he is on TV in America wowing them with his act. His name is now Martin St James – The World's Greatest Hypnotist"

Martin St James.