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Secrets of the Sideshows
The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals. Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the performances, and the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds. He also traces the history of such spectacles, from ancient Egyptian magic and street fairs to the golden age of P.T. Barnum's sideshows. With revealing insight into the personal lives of the men and women billed as freaks, Nickell unfolds the captivating story of the midway show.
Secrets of the Sideshows
The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals. Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the performances, and the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds. He also traces the history of such spectacles, from ancient Egyptian magic and street fairs to the golden age of P.T. Barnum's sideshows. With revealing insight into the personal lives of the men and women billed as freaks, Nickell unfolds the captivating story of the midway show.
American Carny: True Tales From the Circus Sideshow
Step right up and come on the inside! - beyond the banners and into the morbid curiosity that is the American Sideshow. In this in-depth documentary you will join Carnival Maestro Todd Robbins and award-winning filmmaker, Nick Basile, on a journey into a world of circus freaks, fire eaters, human blockheads, magicians, contortionists, professional lunatics, and much, much more. Narrated by Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller.
American Sideshow
You've probably heard of Tom Thumb. The Elephant Man. Perhaps even Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. But what about Eli Bowen, the legless acrobat? Or Prince Randian, the human torso? These were just a few of the many stars that shone during the heyday of the American sideshow, from 1840 to 1950. American Sideshow chronicles the lives of truly amazing performers, examining these brave and extraordinary curiosities not just as sideshow performers but as people, delving into the lives they led and the ways they were able to triumph over and even benefit from their abnormalities.
American Sideshow discusses the rise and fall of the original sideshows and their subsequent replacement by today's self-made freaks. With the progress of modern medicine, technological advancements, and the wonderful world of body modification, abnormalities are being overcome, treated and even prevented: Siamese twins can now be separated, and in addition to this, tongues can be forked, horns surgically implanted, and earlobes removed. There are also, of course, modern-day giants, fire eaters, sword swallowers, glass eaters, human blockheads, and oh, so much more.
These fascinating personalities are celebrated through intimate biographies paired with stunning photographs. Approximately two hundred performers from the past one hundred and sixty years are featured, giving readers a comprehensive and sometimes astonishing look into the history of the American sideshow
Sideshow General Ulysses S. Grant 12 inch Figure
Perhaps one of the most famous generals of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant was instrumental in the Union's triumph over the South. Grant, who would go on to be the 18th president of the United States, led the Army of the Potomac to victory against Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The 12" figure includes officer's sack coat, breeches, boots, officer's slouch hat, cigar, flask, 2 maps and map case.
Asus AiGuru S2 Skype Phone
Features: Wireless Skype Phone with Color Display. Wireless Music with iTune and Windows Media Player. Support Microsoft Vista Sideshow Application. Skype full function support. Operating distance: Indoors 30M Outdoors 50M. Wireless Standard: IEEE 802.11b+g with Auto-Fallback and Auto-Channel-Selection
General Calendars: Sideshow Banners - 12 Month - 11.7x11.7 inches
Sideshow
The Cure Side Show - Digipak US CD single
Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination
Sideshow U.S.A. begins by revisiting the terror and fascination the original freak shows provided for their audiences, as well as exploring the motivations of those who sought fame and profit in the business of human exhibition. With this history in mind, Adams turns from live entertainment to more mediated forms of cultural expression: the films of Tod Browning, the photography of Diane Arbus, the criticism of Leslie Fiedler, and the fiction Carson McCullers, Toni Morrison, and Katherine Dunn. Taken up in these works of art and literature, the freak serves as a metaphor for fundamental questions about self and other, identity and difference, and provides a window onto a once vital form of popular culture.
Adams's study concludes with a revealing look at the revival of the freak show as live performance in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Celebrated by some, the freak show's recent return is less welcome to those who have traditionally been its victims. At the beginning of a new century, Adams sees it as a form of living history, a testament to the vibrancy and inventiveness of American popular culture, as well as its capacity for cruelty and injustice.
"Because of its subject matter, this interesting and complex study is provocative, as well as thought-provoking."—Virginia Quarterly Review
Posted on 2012-09-26 04:12:30
