What's disgusting, looks like a peanut and tastes (vaguely) like a banana? A
Circus Peanut! They are so reviled, they merit
a page on bad-candy.com. Strangely, though, Circus Peanut sales are up, at least
according to "USA Today" (most interesting link of this post). How can this be? I've never met anyone who likes them (except for one person -- see [more inside]).
Margaret Husfelt of Houston, Texas is equally confused. SOMEBODY must like them. The little suckers have a
Facebook fan page, and they are, perhaps, palatable in a
Jello recipe (here's an
alternate recipe) or
dipped in chocolate. Heck, Jolene Sugarbaker likes them in
her salad. And if you're really brave, you might want to try a
Circus Peanut Margarita. But don't be surprised if you get ostracized.
Some people will
never understand. Where's the love?
[more inside]
posted by grumblebee
on Apr 1, 2010 -
138 comments
J. Tithonus Pednaud herein presents for your edification and enlightenment a
curious collection of human marvels. You may call them oddities, freaks or monstrosities—whatever you will—but I call them incredible, persevering, resourceful and marvelous human beings. I chronicle their inspirational stories of triumph over nature, fate and the judgment of man.
[Previously seen here. See also.]
posted by parudox
on Jan 3, 2009 -
9 comments
Every trade has a history, a culture and secrets, all most vividly expressed in the special terms used by its workers. The circus is, of course, no different
as this handy dictionary of circus slang shows. It contains entries for both American and European circuses, and has a handy list of vaudeville slang words as well. These unique words used on the carnival lot around the world demonstrate a language that defines a world of wonders, and now you can use them to impress your friends and insult your enemies!
posted by Effigy2000
on Sep 25, 2008 -
14 comments
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]
[more inside]
posted by stet
on Jul 13, 2008 -
21 comments
Tod Browning's 1932 cinematic masterpiece
Freaks tells the story of a close-knit group of circus sideshow workers who are wronged and take revenge. The film's use of
real-life freaks so disturbed audiences that some ran screaming from theaters, distributors refused to handle the film, and it was banned in Britain for over 30 years.
[more inside]
posted by flug
on Jul 8, 2008 -
22 comments
Under the
Big Top: Shhhhhh! The Show's about to
start*... quick, take your
seat, sit down, and
don't make a move. It's been going on for
centuries, and now--lucky
you will be able to be a part of
it, if you haven't
already as a child
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Honestly, who hasn't thought of
running away from home and
joining the Circus (but I'd suggest you wait a couple of years, until you're a little
older, and a little
wiser, to make these
decisions). It is tempting though, when they
roll into town with their fancy wagons, and their loud music. Although, the circus may not be as
prevalent as it once was, there are
new acts being created to
entice crowds around the world.
[previously]
posted by hadjiboy
on Mar 31, 2008 -
14 comments
The diminutive but intensely powerful Lillian Leitzel was known for her fiery temper, her
flirtatious banter, and her ability to
spin her entire body in the air while supporting herself by only one hand upwards of 200 times in a row, much like a human pinwheel. She was one of the
Ringling Bros. brightest (and most petulant) stars, famously firing and re-hiring her maid several times a day. She married 3 times - (the second marriage ended after she cut off her husband's finger) but her last marriage was to the purported love her life, trapeze artist Alfredo Codona, a master of the triple back summersault off the flying trapeze who also enjoyed success as a
Hollywood stunt double . Their passionate (if mercurial) relationship was cut short when, during a performance, Lillian's
ring broke, and she fell 45 feet onto a concrete floor. Two days later she was dead. Alfredo, devastated, became reckless and was injured in a fall of his own, cutting short his career. His subsequent marriage to another performer failed, and while meeting with a lawyer to finalize their divorce, he shot her and then himself. Alfredo and Lillian are reunited in death,
buried under a marker of their lives and love.
posted by serazin
on May 9, 2007 -
22 comments
Alexander Calder's Circus. A movie by
Carlos Vilardebo, in four parts:
one two,
three,
four, [YouTube]. Calder developed his own one-man circus, with tiny performers made of "cork, wire, wood, yarn, paper, string, and cloth," carefully engineered to walk tightropes, dance, tame lions, lift weights, and engage in gymnastics and acrobatics in and above the ring. Acting as omniscient ringmaster, Calder would manipulate the wire performers while his wife wound circus music on the gramophone in the background.
via [more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Jun 29, 2006 -
17 comments
Quick change artists David and Dania, who got her start in the Moscow Circus, entertain crowds at NBA half-time shows by performing quick changes of clothing. They've performed on
numerous other shows around the world. You can even buy one of David's quick change
tophats... (!!!).
posted by saketini99
on Mar 29, 2006 -
31 comments
LA-DEEEES AND GENTLEMEN! STEP RIGHT UP! THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! The Strange and Unusual, the Freaks of Nature, the Shocking and the Bizarre! YOU won't BELiEVE your EYES!
posted by crunchland
on Oct 26, 2005 -
7 comments
Expensive clowns. Some Wisconsin senators want to "save Milwaukee's Circus Parade by giving $1.5 million in tax dollars to the Baraboo-based Circus World Museum."
posted by Tubes
on Dec 9, 2003 -
22 comments
The Circus Trees of Axel Erlandson: In the 1920s Erlandson observed the natural grafting of two sycamores, became inspired, and then fused 4 sycamore saplings into his first successful experiment - a cupola that he named "Four Legged Giant". Using his own techniques, Erlandson went on to fashion zigzags, birdcages, chairs, towers, hearts, loops, baskets, rings, lightning bolts, towers, picture frames, ladders, and spiral staircases by painstakingly threading saplings together. His trees appeared often in Ripley's Believe it or Not during the 40s and 50s.
Click,
click,
click.
posted by iconomy
on Aug 27, 2003 -
21 comments
So you want to join the circus. Well, it helps to have a speciality. Learn how to
swallow swords, twist
balloon animals, crack a
bullwhip, ride a
unicycle, spin
plates, breathe
fire, go to
circus school, throw
knives, or get started by
street performing. You may make it to the
big time, but beware of the
consequences, and careers gone
awry.
posted by Stan Chin
on Oct 6, 2002 -
10 comments
The
Hottentot Venus is
going home. An African woman named Saarjite Baartman, apparently EXTREMELY overendowed in the buttock/labia department (second floor, next to men's shoes, watch the doors), she did the freakshow thing in Europe for five years in the early 19th c., was edited down at death to her relevant bits and pickled for posterity. Ever been to an actual state-fair freakshow? I saw the alligator lady in the late 70s somewhere in Kentucky. A morally complicated experience.
posted by luser
on Feb 21, 2002 -
19 comments
It isn't the circus YOU remember... Why would the head of Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey hire a former top CIA honcho to torment a hapless freelance writer for eight years? Plus, some goodies on the Felds family - makes for a
long but interesting read...
Interesting... I always knew there was a reason people
feared clowns but now it seems you need to fear the circus??? What has the world come to, I ask you???
posted by gloege
on Aug 30, 2001 -
7 comments
See this movie. Cirque Du Soleil's Journey of Man in 3D IMAX. See this movie. Do whatever it takes. The most beautiful, jaw-dropping thing I've ever seen is the underwater segment. Simply amazing. See this movie.
posted by MrMoonPie
on Dec 15, 2000 -
0 comments
If this happened in the US, then the owners of the circus would be guilty of Manslaughter, at the very least, due to their negligence in not feeding the lions.
Of COURSE a starving lion is going to grab a kid; to a lion a human looks like lunch.
posted by Steven Den Beste
on Apr 11, 2000 -
12 comments
