“We are all ladies and gentlemen, and we act so. None of us are frights.” -Charles Tripp
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Featured
‘Freaks’: Respecting the Performer
Today, we’re going to talk about sideshow in film. There have been dozens of films and television shows to depict circuses and sideshows, but many of them take a rather ungenerous approach to the performers, either pitying them like the exploitation film Chained for Life or demonizing them like Something Wicked This Way Comes. Art… Read more
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The Hairy Folk: Hypertrichosis in the Sideshow
The sideshow was a place where people could see all kinds of rare disorders and deformities on display. From achondroplasia to microcephaly to neurofibromatosis, all kinds of conditions were present, albeit with less technical names for the performers (dwarves, pinheads, and knotty men respectively). One disorder was unique in that it produced two different kinds… Read more
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Prodigies! A Sideshow History Blog 