COME ONE! COME ALL!!!
The Great American Sideshow is alive and well across the United States.
It is a uniquely American phenomenon. Borne from the roots of PT Barnum, the Sideshow fell into disrepute in the 1960s, as television, more advanced political views and medicine marginalized it to the point of near death.
However, the American Sideshow has, in the past few years, enjoyed an enormous resurgence, as it heads into the mainstream as an art form all its own. Much like tatooing, American Sideshow is now not only acceptable, it is absolutely fascinating.
From State Fairs in Mississippi to performance artists in NY to a resurrected carny in Venice Beach to the boardwalk in Coney Island, the Sideshow is back in a big way. Instead of the old school ‘freaks’, the carny attractions are now artists in their own right, and their acts, as well as their lives, are absolutely mesmerizing.
Our guide to the world of the American Sideshow is Todd Robbins.
He is the modern day P.T. Barnum, the Robert Ripley of our times, the postmodern master of the sideshow, the Chairman of the Board of Coney Island USA, the world’s greatest purveyor of amazement…Todd Robbins. Besides being an award-winning performer with more than one hundred TV appearances under his belt and the star of the off-Broadway hit Carnival Knowledge, Todd is the perfect guide through the dark back alleyways of unorthodox entertainment because THIS IS HIS WORLD.Though on the surface he seems the epitome of class, authority and refinement; underneath it all is a twisted soul that has made a career being the world’s foremost glass eater! Chances are that if you have seen someone on TV biting into a light bulb and gleefully consuming the jagged glass, it was Todd doing it.In addition to chowing down on over four-thousand light bulbs, Todd has become well known for such acts of intimate dare-deviltry as walking over broken bottles in his bare feet, swallowing and regurgitating live cockroaches, hammering a huge nail into his nose, sticking his hand into an animal trap, blowing up a hot water bottle until it bursts with only the power of his lungs and much more. And all of this is wrapped up in a cutting edge sense of humor. There is a reason that Howard Stern has said, “This is an amazing talent” We’ll say it simply – Todd Robbins is a god!Todd is a consummate showman. He mixes wit, intelligence and classic carnival bombast together with reality at its most shocking and amazing.
Todd is going to take us across America in search of the Great American Sideshow. From Memphis to Dallas, from North Platte to New Orleans, we’re going to cross the length and breadth of the United States in search of American Sideshows, and the people who live the life.
WHAT ARE WE GONNA SEE?
WHO ARE WE GONNA MEET?
The world of American Sideshows has changed a whole lot since the days of the ‘bearded lady’ or the ‘python man’ (but rest assured, they still exist). Today it is as much about performers as it is about oddities.
Fire eaters, sword swalowers, knife throwers, amazing feats of flexibility, people who walk on burning coals or broken glass or beds of nails (they say its in their heads. body/mind control). Its a kind of performance art.
To show you just how far this has come, how mainstream this kind of perforance are is today, Ripley’s Believe it of Not is at the dead center of the New Times Square in New York (right next to Madam Tusseaud’s Wax Works and across the street from The New York Experience.)
But instead of going to New York, we’re going on the road, all across America, in seach of The American Sideshow.
Youtube Focus Groups the Concept:
Many of our prospective talents have already posted their work on Youtube, and the number of hits tells us that there is already an enormous pre-built audience for this.
Rubber Boy (see below) has gotten more than 1 million hits on Youtube
Lizard Man is around 500,000.
The appetite is there.
Here ’s a look at some of our stars:
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James Mullet – famous Rubber Skin Man
And here’s our host himself in action:
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The Human Blockhead
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Todd Robbins eats a light bulb
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Rubber Boy
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George the Giant
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Wolfboy
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Lizardman
This is but a small small sampling of the rather bizzare yet terribly intriguing world of American Sideshow.
We have incredible access to thousands of people across the country like this who will not only demonstrate their acts, but also tell their stories and let us into their private as well as public lives.
What makes this so compelling is that this is all done with the greatest of dignity.
This is not a ‘freak show’ but rather a Sideshow. And the performers are all proud of what they do. Many have honed their craft for years and years. It is also a culture. Much like Big World / Little People, it is a world all unto themselves, but one to which we now have unique access.
This is a uniquely American phenomenon.
Penn and Teller , close personal friends of Todd, will also participate in the shows.
We are going mainstream.
What MIAMI INK did for the world of tatoo, AMERICAN SIDESHOW will do for the sideshow world.
Hurry.
Step up.
Showtime begins in a few minutes.
If this has piqued your interest.. and I hope it has…
get in touch.
I want to put Todd Robbins in front of you.
A few minute with him will convince you, as it surely convinced me.. that this man will rocket to the top.
He is a natural.
The Tony Bourdain of the Sideshow world.
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