Sideshow

<h2 id="types">Types</h2>
<p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/List_of_circus_skills/a2yro73v">List of circus skills § Sideshow attractions</a></p>

<p>There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:
</p>
<ul><li>The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten sequential acts under one tent for a single admission price. The ten-in-one might be partly a <a href="/facts/Freak_show/UNW7caYa">freak show</a> exhibiting "human oddities" (including "born freaks" such as midgets, giants or persons with other deformities, or "made freaks" like tattooed people, fat people or "human skeletons"—extremely thin men often "married" to the fat lady, like <a href="/facts/Isaac_W._Sprague/XCQkL8zn">Isaac W. Sprague</a>). However, for variety's sake, the acts in a ten-in-one would also include "working acts" who would perform magic tricks or daredevil stunts. In addition, the freak show performers might also perform acts or stunts, and would often sell souvenirs like "giant's rings" or "pitch cards" with their photos and life stories. The ten-in-one would often end in a "blowoff" or "ding," an extra act not advertised on the outside, which could be viewed for an additional fee. The blowoff act would be described provocatively, often as something deemed too strong for women and children, such as <a href="/facts/Pickled_punks/u44EqGFb">pickled punks</a>.</li>
<li>The Single-O is a single attraction, for example a single curiosity like the "Bonnie and Clyde Death Car" or Hitler's staff car,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> a "Giant Rat" (actually usually a <a href="/facts/Nutria/UeY37aVY">nutria</a>) or other unusual animal, a "What Is It?" (often a convincing but artificial monstrosity like the <a href="/facts/Fiji_Mermaid/EBv3Wqoc">Fiji Mermaid</a>) or a <a href="/facts/Geek_show/Q9AGdxHh">geek show</a> often billed as "See the Victim of Drug Abuse."</li>
<li>A Museum Show which might be deceptively billed as "World's Greatest Freaks Past and Present," is a sideshow in which the exhibits are usually not alive. It might include tanks of piranhas or cages with unusual animals, stuffed freak animals or other exotic items like the weapons or cars allegedly used by famous murderers. Some of the exhibits might even be dummies or photographs of the billed attractions. It could still be truthfully billed with the claim "$1,000 reward if not absolutely real—please do not touch or feed the animals on exhibit". The Single-O and the Museum Show are usually operated as "grind shows," meaning that patrons may enter at any time, viewing the various exhibits at their leisure.</li>
<li>A Girl Show was sometimes offered in which women were the primary attraction. These could range from the <a href="/facts/Revue/op6xXWjc">revue</a> (such as a "Broadway Revue") with fully clothed performers to the racier "kootch" or "hootchie-kootchie" show (a strip show) which might play either partly clothed or "strong" (nude).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li></ul>
<h2 id="legality">Legality</h2>
<p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Freak_show/UNW7caYa">Freak show</a></p>
<p>Sideshows in North America have significantly fewer or no human oddities, and few to no traveling <a href="/facts/Striptease/LHXvCuW5">girl shows</a>, due to both a changing public opinion and local laws prohibiting the exhibition of disabled people or animals, as well as stricter regulation of nude performance and designated locations they can legally occur.
</p><p>In <a href="/facts/Michigan/bCurmfT2">Michigan</a>, since 1931 it has been a misdemeanor to display deformed or disabled humans as part of an exhibit, whether for free or by charging for tickets, except as part of medical education.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>In <a href="/facts/Florida/cF245A3Q">Florida</a>, as of 2024 it is a <a href="/facts/Misdemeanor/pjX78mB9">misdemeanor</a> offense to display deformed animals in any place where a fee is charged.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> There is currently no law in Florida prohibiting human oddity exhibition.
</p><p>Most traveling burlesque dancers now work in dedicated legal venues such as <a href="/facts/Cabaret/n0fKcALB">cabarets</a> or <a href="/facts/Strip_club/BKNXJEUr">strip clubs</a>, rather than as part of a carnival midway as was typical in the 20th century.
</p>
<p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Ugly_law/uMCPvjky">Ugly law</a></p>
<h2 id="early-history-and-acts">Early history and acts</h2>
<p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Circus/7flRQANa">Circus § History</a></p>
<p>By the 1830s, "outside shows" began to be established alongside travelling circuses.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>: 9  Initially, the circuses distanced themselves from the sideshows, but in 1850, a relationship was established between them.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>: 9 
</p><p>"Working acts" often exhibited a number of stunts that could be counted on to draw crowds. These stunts used little-known methods and offered the elements of danger and excitement. Such acts included <a href="/facts/Fire_eating/0KsXxs6v">fire eating</a>, <a href="/facts/Sword_swallowing/gUAJmHY1">sword swallowing</a>, <a href="/facts/Impalement_arts/bEtskDuj">knife throwing</a>, <a href="/facts/Body_piercing/ECHodBSI">body piercing</a>, lying on a <a href="/facts/Bed_of_nails/lnjyQlwp">bed of nails</a>, walking up a ladder of sharp swords, and more. 
</p>
<h2 id="decline">Decline</h2>

<p>Interest in sideshows declined as television made it easy (and free) to see the world's most exotic attractions. Moreover, viewing "human oddities" became distasteful as the public conscience changed, and many localities passed laws forbidding the exhibition of freaks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> The performers often protested (to no avail) that they had no objection to the sideshow, especially since it provided not only a good income for them, but in many cases it provided their only possible job. Emmitt Bejano, a man with <a href="/facts/Lamellar_ichthyosis/z1joh0bF">lamellar ichthyosis</a> who performed as “The Alligator Boy”, said: “[Sideshow work] keeps me off the relief line.”<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="revival">Revival</h2>
<p>With legal restrictions on human oddity exhibitions, most modern sideshows feature performances of trainable stunts and <a href="/facts/Body_modification/vkhH7P7A">body modifications</a>, which can but do not necessarily require <a href="/facts/Birth_defect/ESfzQhTx">congenital</a> abnormalities.
</p><p>In 2013, <a href="/facts/Garry_Turner_(sideshow_performer)/6d5tqemS">Gary Turner</a>, born with <a href="/facts/Ehlers%25E2%2580%2593Danlos_syndrome/UyXa1bJ5">Ehlers-Dalnos syndrome</a>, performed as Gary Stretch with <a href="/facts/The_Circus_of_Horrors/adgHQGtP">The Circus of Horrors</a>, alongside other performers such as Jesus Aceves, a man born with <a href="/facts/Hypertrichosis/kJ03lXxJ">hypertrichosis</a> billed as “Wolfboy”, who walked on swords as part of his act.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p><p>John Haze, owner of the show, said of their sword swallower with body modifications Hannibal Helmurto:
</p><p>"He wore a normal suit and had no tattoos. Ten years later he turned up at the Hackney Empire and he had completely changed his body."
</p><p>In modern times, sideshow performers are often individual professionals or groups. A greater number of "Single O" attractions still tour carnivals.
</p><p>In the 1940s, Ward Hall began the World of Wonders Amazement Show, which is still running today. It is the oldest carnival sideshow organization in America and is currently owned and run by Thomas Breen.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> 
In 1970, John Strong Jr (son of John Strong of The John Strong 3 Ring Tented Circus)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> began a 47-year continuous run of traveling sideshow, The Strong Sideshow.  Several acts and artifacts toured over the years such as the 5-legged dog, Chupacabra, a 2-headed cow, and a mummy. John Jr. performed all the live acts himself for several years including sword swallowing, fire eating, bed of nails blade box and electric chair.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a>  After living the lifestyle for a lifetime, The Strong Sideshow is now in residency at "The Sideshow Museum", in <a href="/facts/Uranus%2c_Missouri/3MdTLt2b">Uranus, Missouri</a>.
</p><p>In the early 1990s, Jim Rose developed a modern sideshow called "the <a href="/facts/Jim_Rose_Circus/UIez7eqg">Jim Rose Circus</a>", reinventing the sideshow with two types of acts that would attract modern audiences and stay within legal bounds. The show featured acts reviving traditional sideshow stunts and carrying some of them to extremes, and "fringe" artists (often exhibiting extreme <a href="/facts/Body_modification/vkhH7P7A">body modification</a>) performing bizarre or masochistic acts like eating insects, lifting weights by means of hooks inserted in their body piercings, or stapling currency to their forehead. The show drew audiences at venues unknown to old-time sideshows, like rock clubs and the 1992 <a href="/facts/Lollapalooza/K81SW6o5">Lollapalooza</a> festival. The Jim Rose Circus held its last known performance in 2013 at The London Burlesque Festival. The impact of the Jim Rose Circus on pop culture inspired a new wave of performers. There are now more sideshow performers than at any other time in the genre's history. At the same time in Canada, Scott McClelland, grandson of itinerant showman N.P. Lewchuk, formed <a href="/facts/Carnival_Diablo/HdmrR2g5">Carnival Diablo</a>, a show that performs frequently to this day. The success of these shows sparked a growing number of performers to revive the traditional sideshow arts, taught by sideshow veterans, and many now perform in spot engagements from rock clubs and comedy clubs to corporate events.
</p><p>"Sideshows by the Seashore", sponsored by <a href="/facts/Coney_Island_USA/z2NFIHl1">Coney Island USA</a> in Brooklyn, NY has performed since 1983, and tours under the name "Coney Island Circus Sideshow". Circus historian and collector Ken Harck ran the Brothers Grim Sideshow, which toured with the <a href="/facts/OzzFest/H7X65rBJ">OzzFest</a> music festival in the summer of 2006 and 2007. Sideshow celebrity and multiple world record breaker Chayne Hultgren 'The Space Cowboy' owns Australia's largest traveling oddity museum 'The Mutant Barnyard' and along with his partner Zoe Ellis 'AKA: Zoe L'amore' they run 'Sideshow Wonderland'.
</p>
<h2 id="notable-sideshow-performers">Notable Sideshow Performers</h2>
<p class="note">See also: Category:Sideshow performers</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Al_Tomaini/vPPRrp5Y">Aurelio “Al” Tomaini</a> — Once the world’s tallest person</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Daisy_and_Violet_Hilton/rHSpM9fl">Daisy and Violet Hilton</a> — Conjoined sisters and musicians</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Frank_Lentini/9hwcCvjp">Francesco “Frank” Lentini</a> — “The Three-Legged Man”</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Jeanie_Tomaini/vPPRrp5Y">Jeanie Tomaini</a> — “The World’s Only Living Half-Girl”</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Johnny_Eck/kWXzUXUG">Johnny Eck</a> — “The Half Man” / “The Amazing Half-Boy”</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Melvin_Burkhart/LESAY8EX">Melvin Burkhart</a> — <a href="/facts/Human_blockhead/P2XjQYMh">Human blockhead</a>, sword swallower, magician</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Percilla_Bejano/LWnekkwT">Percilla Bejano</a> — “The Monkey Girl”</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ronnie_and_Donnie_Galyon/ssuWqrux">Ronnie and Donnie Gaylon</a> — Oldest-living conjoined twins</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Sandra_Reed/6DASy2aA">Sandra Reed</a> — Sword swallower with <a href="/facts/Albinism/o2FAg1UN">albinism</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Sealo/jo8faNTr">Stanislaus Berent</a> — “Sealo the Seal Boy”</li>
<li>William “Bill” Durks — “The Man With Three Eyes”</li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/The_Circus_of_Horrors/adgHQGtP">The Circus of Horrors</a></li>
<li>Category:Sideshow performers</li></ul>

<h3>Sources</h3>
<ul><li>"A Pictorial History of the American Carnival," by Joe McKennon (Popular Press, Bowling Green, Ohio. Copyright 1972 by Joe McKennon.)</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sideshow.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.showhistory.com/">Showhistory.com: History of the Sideshow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://goodmagic.com/carny/index.htm">Dictionary of Carnival and Sideshow Slang</a></li>
<li><a href="http://houseofdeception.com/Carnival_Sideshow_Bibliography.html">House of Deception</a> bibliography of sideshow history</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"The 'Warren Car' aka 'The Bonnie and Clyde Death Car'". Texas Hide Out.tripod.com. Retrieved 2008-07-27. <a href="http://texashideout.tripod.com/warrencar.html" target="_blank">http://texashideout.tripod.com/warrencar.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Robinson, John. "Hitler's Car or should I say the real Hitler's Car please stand up!". Sideshow World.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-07-27. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081201142203/http://www.sideshowworld.com/atshitler.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081201142203/http://www.sideshowworld.com/atshitler.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"History Page year 1948". Strates Shows.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-07-27. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070927075237/http://strates.com/history4.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070927075237/http://strates.com/history4.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"MCL - Section 750.347 - Michigan Legislature". www.legislature.mi.gov. Archived from the original on 2025-05-05. Retrieved 2025-06-03. <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20250505083803/https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-750-347" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20250505083803/https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-750-347</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine". www.leg.state.fl.us. Retrieved 2025-06-03. <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0800-0899/0877/Sections/0877.16.html" target="_blank">http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0800-0899/0877/Sections/0877.16.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Nickell, Joe (2005). Secrets of the sideshows. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-7179-2. OCLC 65377460. <a href="0-8131-7179-2" target="_blank">0-8131-7179-2</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Nickell, Joe (2005). Secrets of the sideshows. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-7179-2. OCLC 65377460. <a href="0-8131-7179-2" target="_blank">0-8131-7179-2</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Fordham, Brigham (2007). "Dangerous Bodies: Freak Shows, Expression, and Exploitation". UCLA Entertainment Law Review. 14 (2). doi:10.5070/LR8142027098. Retrieved 23 February 2019. <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1g32z0dx" target="_blank">https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1g32z0dx</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Rivera, Doc. "Percilla Bejano The Monkey Girl". Doc’s Midway Cookhouse.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: url-status (link) <a href="https://www.docsmidwaycookhouse.com/historical-circus-carnival-videos/percilla-bejano-the-monkey-girl/" target="_blank">https://www.docsmidwaycookhouse.com/historical-circus-carnival-videos/percilla-bejano-the-monkey-girl/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>"Freak show revival as attraction heads to West End". BBC News. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2025-05-30. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-23812971" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-23812971</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>"Ward Hall King of The Sideshow and his World of Wonders". Carnival History| Old Circus Photos| Sideshow History| Showmen's Museum. <a href="https://showmensmuseum.org/ward-hall-and-the-world-of-wonders-sideshow/" target="_blank">https://showmensmuseum.org/ward-hall-and-the-world-of-wonders-sideshow/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>"Sideshow World, Sideshow Photos, Sideshow History, Memories and Stories about Jeanie Tomaini and Al Tomaini at Sideshow World". www.sideshowworld.com. <a href="http://www.sideshowworld.com/28-BJ-Strong/thstgod-JStrong-G.html" target="_blank">http://www.sideshowworld.com/28-BJ-Strong/thstgod-JStrong-G.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:13"><p>Hall, B. (February 2013). "Forty-Three years of continuous performances". Carnival Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2018. <a href="http://www.sideshowworld.com/71-View/46-Carnival/John-Strong.html" target="_blank">http://www.sideshowworld.com/71-View/46-Carnival/John-Strong.html</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Sideshow open-in-new

Sideshow