Secrets of the Sideshows

Secrets of the Sideshows PDF Author: Joe Nickell
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813123585
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
"Joe Nickell - once a carnival pitchman, then a magician, private detective, and investigative writer - has pursued sideshow secrets for years and has worked the famous carnival midway at the Canadian National Exhibition. For this book, he interviewed showmen and performers, collected carnival memorabilia, researched published accounts of sideshows and their lore, and even performed some classic sideshow feats, such as eating fire and lying on a bed of nails as a cinderblock was broken on his chest. The result of these varied efforts, Secrets of the Sideshows tells the captivating story of the magic, tricks - real or illusory - and performers of the world's midway shows."--BOOK JACKET.

Secrets of the Sideshows

Secrets of the Sideshows PDF Author: Joe Nickell
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813123585
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Joe Nickell - once a carnival pitchman, then a magician, private detective, and investigative writer - has pursued sideshow secrets for years and has worked the famous carnival midway at the Canadian National Exhibition. For this book, he interviewed showmen and performers, collected carnival memorabilia, researched published accounts of sideshows and their lore, and even performed some classic sideshow feats, such as eating fire and lying on a bed of nails as a cinderblock was broken on his chest. The result of these varied efforts, Secrets of the Sideshows tells the captivating story of the magic, tricks - real or illusory - and performers of the world's midway shows."--BOOK JACKET.

Side Show

Side Show PDF Author: Henry Krieger
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
ISBN: 9780573651410
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Based on the true story of siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton who became stars during the Depression, Side Show is a moving portrait of 2 women joined at the hip. Whose extraordinary bondage brings them fame but denies them love.

American Sideshow

American Sideshow PDF Author: Marc Hartzman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781585425303
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A fascinating look into the history of the American sideshow and its performers. Learn what's real, what's fake, and what's just downright bizarre. 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

Side-Show Siren

Side-Show Siren PDF Author: Edward D Wood Jr
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781071149058
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
When Karl the Abominable Snowman escapes from a carnival, a series of gruesome murders ensues.

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney PDF Author: Dawn Raffel
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1524744964
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
“A mosaic mystery told in vignettes, cliffhangers, curious asides, and some surreal plot twists as Raffel investigates the secrets of the man who changed infant care in America.”—NPR, 2018's Great Reads What kind of doctor puts his patients on display? This is the spellbinding tale of a mysterious Coney Island doctor who revolutionized neonatal care more than one hundred years ago and saved some seven thousand babies. Dr. Martin Couney's story is a kaleidoscopic ride through the intersection of ebullient entrepreneurship, enlightened pediatric care, and the wild culture of world's fairs at the beginning of the American Century. As Dawn Raffel recounts, Dr. Couney used incubators and careful nursing to keep previously doomed infants alive, while displaying these babies alongside sword swallowers, bearded ladies, and burlesque shows at Coney Island, Atlantic City, and venues across the nation. How this turn-of-the-twentieth-century émigré became the savior to families with premature infants—known then as “weaklings”—as he ignored the scorn of the medical establishment and fought the rising popularity of eugenics is one of the most astounding stories of modern medicine. Dr. Couney, for all his entrepreneurial gusto, is a surprisingly appealing character, someone who genuinely cared for the well-being of his tiny patients. But he had something to hide... Drawing on historical documents, original reportage, and interviews with surviving patients, Dawn Raffel tells the marvelously eccentric story of Couney's mysterious carnival career, his larger-than-life personality, and his unprecedented success as the savior of the fragile wonders that are tiny, tiny babies. A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title A Real Simple Best Book of 2018 Christopher Award-winner

The Last Sideshow

The Last Sideshow PDF Author: Hanspeter Schneider
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781904688020
Category : Abnormalities, Human
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
As an internationally acclaimed fashion photographer Hanspeter Schneider's professional life focuses on the artifice of beauty, so it's natural for him to challenge surface assumptions about model humans. For this collection he has chronicled an American community of travelling circus performers and found himself charmed and enlightened. His empathy with his old and often unusual subjects shines through the portraits as the circus folk present themselves to the camera as open books of humour, dignity and vivacity.

A History of Japanese Theatre

A History of Japanese Theatre PDF Author: Jonah Salz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316395324
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 1066

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Book Description
Japan boasts one of the world's oldest, most vibrant and most influential performance traditions. This accessible and complete history provides a comprehensive overview of Japanese theatre and its continuing global influence. Written by eminent international scholars, it spans the full range of dance-theatre genres over the past fifteen hundred years, including noh theatre, bunraku puppet theatre, kabuki theatre, shingeki modern theatre, rakugo storytelling, vanguard butoh dance and media experimentation. The first part addresses traditional genres, their historical trajectories and performance conventions. Part II covers the spectrum of new genres since Meiji (1868–), and Parts III to VI provide discussions of playwriting, architecture, Shakespeare, and interculturalism, situating Japanese elements within their global theatrical context. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and prints, this history features interviews with key modern directors, an overview of historical scholarship in English and Japanese, and a timeline. A further reading list covers a range of multimedia resources to encourage further explorations.

Carny Sideshows:

Carny Sideshows: PDF Author: Tony Gangi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
ISBN: 0806535989
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Step right up, Ladies and Germs, and feast your eyes on the incomparable wonders of a hidden world! Be astonished! amazed! disgusted! by brazen acts of self-destruction that no natural human body should be able to withstand! Tony Gangi, professional magician, lifelong sideshow devotee, and card-carrying graduate of Coney Island's famed Sideshow School, guides you through the stupendous techniques and proud traditions of this shocking and fascinating realm of entertainment. • Learn the secrets behind Breathing Fire! Sword Swallowing! The Bed of Nails! Pounding Spikes into the Head! • Enter the mysterious worlds of the Snake Lady, the Human Blockhead, and more! • Meet sideshow greats like Melvin Burkhart and Ward Hall. • Discover today's dedicated entertainers, like Todd Robbins, Harley Newman, Tyler Fyre, Thrill Kill Jill, Donny Vomit, The Black Scorpion, and more! • See what it takes to enter this underground yet welcoming world as a performer. Features interviews with Penn Jillette and Todd Robbins and Penn Jillette's ode to the sideshow, the "10 in 1" monologue as performed by Penn & Teller Editors's Note: Not for the faint of heart, weak of stomach or easily grossed out. So go ahead, how can you resist?! Tony Gangi, a Philadelphia native, never actually intended to make his living by shoving nails up his nose. He left the corporate world to become a professional magician and proprietor of one of the few flea circuses remaining in the world ("Live fleas do, in fact, perform circus tricks," he says. They just need to be "trained the right way and treated with kindness.") He's now mastered straightjacket escapes, fire-eating, and napping on a bed of nails. He is currently working on his presentation for walking barefoot on broken glass. This is his first book. He hopes it is not his last.

Side Show

Side Show PDF Author: Cathy Buburuz
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 059526087X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Welcome to Side Show: Tales of the Big Top and the Bizarre. Be warned that this is not a medley of happy clowns, rainbow coloured carousels, and cotton candy, but rather an assortment of highly unusual characters and oddities, a sinister smorgasbord of eerie delights intended for those who love the dark and all that dwells there. The writers showcased here are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Switzerland and Brazil. Cover art by Chad Savage; cover design by Cathy Buburuz Funded by Tyree Campbell, editor-in-chief, Sam's Dot Publishing http://samsdotpublishing.com

VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows

VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows PDF Author: Gerald Gliddon
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750957654
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
The thirteenth and final volume of the VCs of the First World War series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war – or ' Sideshows', as they became known – beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli. Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the Austro–German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the Balkans. Each VC winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their lives after the war – if they survived.