These five entertainers used their conditions to their advantage and reached sideshow superstardom. In the sideshows of yore, people with rare medical conditions took to the stage to display their bodies to ogling spectators. Their disabilities were touted as amazing "oddities," but what's the real science behind the show? We're a lot more respectful of disabilities and medical conditions nowadays, but once upon a time they were much more widely exploited for entertainment and profit.
Check out these 10 bizarre circus sideshows! Yes, the circus gets weirder than clowns cramming in tiny cars and aerialists hanging by their hair. Delve into the bizarre history of the Big Top. Thought circus acts couldn't get more daring than fire-breathing? Guess again. Death-defying stunts are all in a day's work for some circus performers. Magic's about making the impossible possible, but for these magicians the impossible remained out of reach — sometimes with deadly results.
By Becky Striepe. Daredevils testing the laws of physics and the outer limits of bikes and bodies. That's what the Globe of Death act is all about. It's a breathtaking performance, no doubt; but how do they do that? By Kristen Hall-Geisler. There's nothing quite like the circus, is there?
The exotic animals, death-defying stunts and funny clowns have entertained folks for generations. But how did modern circuses get started? You have to go back to the s.
By Laurie L. Other illusions include making something appear to defy gravity, making a solid object appear to pass through another object, or appearing to predict the choice of a spectator. Other aspects of the role can include dancing or acting sometimes for simple aesthetic purposes and sometimes to misdirect audience attention.
The figure of the glamorous female assistant has become a stereotype or icon in art, popular media and fiction. The bad things are: you will have to get used to the smell of the animals.
If the circus books you for the whole season in Southern Europe the circus season starts in April and ends in November-December and then in the circuses that have heated winter big tops - the season is 1 year it can get boring as hell, you will start hating your own act that you will mostly perform twice a day. In some big circuses good illusionists are closers of the show - like a star of the whole show which sounds nice, except for the fact that you will probbably be the only one without a day off except for when you travel.
If the circus is in a huge city Berlin for instance it will stay there for months or so, and you'll have to work every day without a day off.
Then, the circus will often go to small towns and there's nothing to do there. You will do your 2 shows daily each show having a minute illusion spot over and over again and you might get bored. Another bad thing is that rain might ruin some of your illusions.
You have to make sure that the illusions you will be using are made of waterproof materials. You also need to make sure that they are well covered when not in use and that the tent is not leaking in the storage space area usually in the backstage area. You may ask them to load and unload your illusions onto the truck every time after the show but if it's raining outside before the show when they are brought back to the big top, they will get all wet.
I used to do this when I was young and I ebjoyed it a lot , but now I don't think I could do it again. It was a nice experience and I have a lot of nice memories from that period. Don't look for work in small circuses. They are usually ran by families. Most of the performers are members of those families, so they run a circus and perform in it. Those families of course take the bigger part of the cake when it comes to fees.
Also, being an outsider you won't be the privileged one. Small circuses are just bad. In Europe there are several big entertainment agencies specializing in circus acts only. It is true that a lot of circuses book from inside And these are really good circuses.
If you are lucky to get employed by any of these circuses, and the audience and the management likes your act, you will keep getting work - every year in another circus or a variety theatre owned by the same company and this way you would probbably solve your existential problems until retirement.
It is very hard for an "outsider" to get into the world of big and famous circuses. There is an alternative way you can do this For this you have to have an act ready. In Europe, if you tell them at the entrance that you are a performing artist, you will most likely get free tickets to watch the show and you will get the chance to talk to the owner of the circus.
The owners of big circuses are often very nice people. Circus people are very sensitive to the fact that circus is dying nowadays and they are always happy to help young people who want to perform in a circus one day. Now, 2 things can happen. If your act is really ready and if it is a good one, it might happen that you would be invited to join the circus in the next season, or as it was the case with me, I got invited to start performing right away - on the same evening I rehearsed my act.
I was very young 16 and I couldn't tour with the circus, but as I live in a big city, circus was here for like 2 and a half months, and I performed only while they were here. They were also happy to have a "stronger" show in such a big city like mine.
Later on, when I got older I toured with the same circus twice. If however your act is still "under construction" you can still come and perform what you have and you will get a lot of valuable advice and they will help you develope your act for circus. The Royal Polytechnic Institution was inaugurated in with the purpose of educating the public in matters of science.
The Polytechnic offered a range of attractions from exhibitions to lectures and demonstrations of the latest mechanical and scientific innovations, such as photography and working machinery. The Polytechnic became known specifically for its spectacular magic lantern shows, particularly after and under the management of John Henry Pepper.
By the s they were the premier magic act in the United Kingdom, presenting a mixed bill of magic and illusion alongside ventriloquists, quick-change artists and up and coming conjurers they were promoting. Ironically they refused the young American magician Harry Houdini a place on the bill at the Egyptian Hall in , two years before his triumphant London show in Magic found key allies in science and physics and became intrinsically linked and dependent on them.
Professor Pepper conjured up his famous Ghost in for an audience at the Royal Polytechnic, which was described as the "greatest scientific exploratorium of the Victorian Era". The presentation drew upon the methods of the magic lantern phantasmagoria popular from the s. Fairground showmen were quick to pick up on the Pepper's Ghost illusion, and the fairground Ghost Show emerged around with Randall Williams exhibiting at the Agricultural Hall.
By the late s the Ghost Show was a popular theme on the fairground where it flourished for over 20 years.
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