The Greatest Sideshow Video Ever Made.

July 13, 2008 5:39 PM

The Greatest Sideshow Video Ever Made. "The Greatest Sideshow Video Ever Made was shot at the Moore theater in Seattle in 1992. The oddball cousin of Seattle's grunge music scene, the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow mixed vintage sideshow acts with novel stunts never before seen. Previously available only on VHS tape or DVD, this mind-blowing collection of feats of human daring is now available online in six parts for your viewing pleasure: 1 2 3 4 5 6 As an added bonus, watch as Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam participates." [via mefi projects]

(I added nothing. All text written by Tube)

posted by stet (21 comments total)

The Eddie Vedder video features mefi's own Tube, btw.
posted by empath at 5:43 PM on July 13

I saw the Jim Rose Circus live when I was 13, it....stayed with me.
posted by fire&wings at 5:46 PM on July 13

Tube's site is also a pretty interesting stop. I liked his theory on Gilligan's Island.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:55 PM on July 13

I saw the Jim Rose Circus live when I was 13, it....stayed with me.

I saw Jim Rose do his thing before PWEI at a NIN concert. Only my love for the Poppies kept me around. (I left three songs into the NIN set. It was the same one he'd been flogging for The Downward Spiral since starting the tour a year before.)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 6:17 PM on July 13

Isn't the bile beer dude a MeFite?
posted by photoslob at 6:30 PM on July 13

Just saw it was Tube who posted the videos to MeFi Projects. Very cool.
posted by photoslob at 6:32 PM on July 13

Hey! I vaguely know some of these people! Hello, vague acquaintances! How've you been? How's the 21st century treating you?
posted by mwhybark at 6:37 PM on July 13

I think it was about 94 a friend of mine brought a tape for us to watch. I was entertained.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:49 PM on July 13

I saw the Jim Rose Circus live when I was 13, it....stayed with me.

17 for me, but similar reaction. Time to get the popcorn!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:55 PM on July 13

I have prayed and genuflected to my heathen god for this day to come, and lo; it has!
posted by Tube at 6:55 PM on July 13

Oh so now I get what this Simpson's episode is referencing.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 7:00 PM on July 13

Congrats, Tube. Nothing quite like watching people drink your bile as entertainment.
posted by MythMaker at 7:04 PM on July 13

Tube, did you blow my valedictorian mind in 1994? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure I remember something to do with tubing at that show.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:02 PM on July 13

No, I left in early 1994, and so didn't tour with NIN. The Enigma took over the tube act. I had built my own absurdly large clear plastic pump using my drill press, as I had no access to a lathe. I used no adhesives, screws, or pins, just old school cooperage to hold the end cap in. The Enigma had his pump-building farmed out to Steve Haworth of body-mod fame.

Recently I learned that my pal George the Giant was on TV, performing a variant of the tube act. The extra bit at the end of his act was also something I also introduced to sideshow, though I read about artist Joe Coleman doing it for shock value alone in the Re-Search book Pranks.

I met Coleman in Seattle at a COCA (Center On Contemporary Arts) event some years back. I told him I was inspired by his stunt, and had utilized it in my act. He said nothing, and deposited ash from his cigar into my hand...
posted by Tube at 10:54 PM on July 13

Yay Tube! and I loved reading all about your adventures in the book Circus of the Scars.
posted by MizMadame at 11:26 PM on July 13

Why does Jim Rose look so familliar? I think I'd remember if I'd seen a show that amazing before, or known a man that crazy before, but I do not. It's possible he's just Iron Man, but does anyone know if he ever did anything else? Or maybe lived in Ohio?
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:50 AM on July 14

Ha! I just watched the X-Files episode "Humbug," featuring Jim Rose and the Engima. Good stuff.
posted by Rangeboy at 12:53 AM on July 14

I saw the Jim Rose Circus in Wolverhampton, of all places... good show. I remember there was some fuss at the time as in the London part of the tour the GLC was making 'Lifto' perform behind a screen, the pussies. No screen for us Midlanders!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:59 AM on July 14

Oh shit! I saw you perform in SF in like '92 or '93!

I'll tell ya... it made quite an impression on me at 17... Thanks!
posted by ph00dz at 6:21 AM on July 14

I've seen the Jim Rose Circus three times. The first time, mitt Tube, was my favorite. Thank you.
posted by eccnineten at 8:12 AM on July 14

I never saw the entire circus, but the Torture King's act came through Anchorage many years ago and performed at the all-ages club I was working at.

After the show -- which culminated with him swallowing a weight on a string, making a small incision just below his sternum, and pulling the string out through the incision, leading to at least a couple kids fainting -- he went upstairs to the club's coffee bar and ordered a coffee from my friend Chad. When he got it, he gingerly took a small sip, then flinched back with wide eyes, exclaiming, "Ow! That's hot!"

Years later, Chad and I were at Laughing Buddha Tattoo on Broadway in Seattle getting Chad a new tattoo. Our artist was one who was friends with and had done work on the Torture King. When we told her the story about him and the hot coffee, she just laughed. "Yeah, that's Tim all right. He's such a wimp!"
posted by djwudi at 9:10 AM on July 14 [2 favorites]