The stars of Samantha Martin’s traveling circus know how to roll up to the night’s venue in style. Certainly not modest or humble by any means, the troupe of seven travels from show to show in a 28-foot RV adorned in all things fluffy and cute, which is meant to appease the high demands of this talented crew and make sure not one of them stomps off in a dramatic fury.

Their need for being spoiled and pampered is not only limited to their classy mode of transportation—that’s only the beginning of their overwhelming list of demands, which runs on for more than 20 pages and includes, but is not limited to, food, beds and personal space. And if these aren’t fulfilled to the high standards that have been laid out, the troupe absolutely refuses to step foot—or paw—on stage.

But none of this extravagance comes at any surprise to onlookers and Martin herself. After all, cats do have a pretty good reputation as demanding divas.

This troupe of performers is nothing short of extraordinary—it’s a group of seven domestic felines, Tuna, Waldo, Darby, Dakota, Itty and Ozwald, known as the Circus Cats of Chicago that is trained by Martin to do tricks designed to overload the audience’s senses with all things cute.

Currently, there are only five live cat acts in the country, and last October when they made an appearance in Chicago, the Circus Cats sold out the day before the event. On Nov. 9, they are returning to Chicago with a show at the Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., which is expected to sell out.

“At a show, the cats know that the pressure is on and they got me, so one demands steak, one wants chicken, one wants tuna from a can and one wants fresh tuna,” Martin said. “I have to keep all the bribery ready to go in case one of them changes their mind and puts up an attitude before the show.”

The act itself consists of the “Acrocats,” which are trained to jump through hoops, skateboard down ramps and walk across tight ropes, and the “Rock Cats,” which are three felines playing the guitar, drums and keyboards. Of course, it may be outlandish to request “Free Bird,” but according to Martin, watching the cats paw at the guitars and slam away at the miniature drum set seems to be a crowd favorite.

“Who am I kidding, I would attend a cat circus because it just sounds so ridiculous,” said Stevie Curl, a junior fiction writing major at Columbia. “Cats are such b—–s. Maybe there will be a cat fight.”

Tuna, the head honcho of the band, plays lead guitar and is perhaps the greatest diva of them all—being the oldest member of the troupe, Martin said he demanded a separate room on the tour bus in order to perform and walks around with an aura of superiority above the other cats.

“Tuna will take breaks during a song, during a set or in the middle of an act to scratch and groom himself,” Martin said. “And it’s always at the most inappropriate moments.”

Martin, the founder and director of Amazing Animals—a private zoo that houses more than 30 different animals—started working with and training both exotic and domestic animals more than 20 years ago. After graduating from Kirkwood College with a degree in Animal Husbandry, Martin first came into the animal business as “the rat lady” 25 years ago.

After training rats and putting on shows, she found—to no great surprise—that people just don’t like rats. She then decided to expand her business to other animals, more specifically, domestic cats.

Although Martin said cats are relatively easy to train, they are the most unprofessional groups of animals to work with. But it’s their finicky nature that makes them so great to watch.

The audience still finds the same enjoyment if the cat does the trick perfectly or doesn’t do anything at all, leaving Martin looking like she just got scammed by her own cats. For Martin, it’s always a win-win situation in her book.

“There have been a few nightmarish shows in the past,” Martin said. “I’ve discovered that they don’t like clowns, they don’t like balloons and they don’t like animal costumes.”

The Circus Cats are returning to Chicago’s theater scene this month and have become a permanent fixture for the Gorilla Tango Theatre, said Kelly Williams, marketing and public relations coordinator for Gorilla Tango. Williams said one of the most enjoyable parts of the show is Martin’s onstage banter with the audience.

“Any cat on stage is adorable—even if it just sits there on stage and meows, people will still love it.” Williams said. “And the great part of it is, she doesn’t make the cats do anything they don’t want to. They want to be there and it’s fun for them.”

Circus Cats of Chicago will be performing Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave.