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The Freakless Sideshow
Ballied live on stage …by Lee
Kolozsy
THE SIDESHOW IS THE LAST EXTENSION
OF VAUDEVILLE…
In the early 1970s, there were
noticeably fewer sideshows on the road. World’s Fair Freaks and
Attractions was the biggest outfit at the time. Fielding multiple
units, which hopscotched around the country, they covered a lot of
territory, and had the best people under contract. Ward and Chris
were the masterminds behind the syndicate. Other outfits included
the Walter Wanous family, the Kelly and Sutton Sideshow, Sam
Alexander, Peter G. Hennen, and only a handful of others. Big
Bertha
had eliminated the sideshow everywhere but the basement of the
garden.
The only touring circus under canvas then with a full time
sideshow was the Beatty Show, and there were no freaks, only
working acts, all performers from the big top, doubling in the
sideshow.
THE FREAKS WERE THE PROBLEM…
There weren’t enough of them. Changing
social conditions, old age, and the deaths of many bona-fide
sideshow feature acts had left promoters with no alternative but
to close up shop for lack of attractions.
THIS LEFT A VOID WHICH CREATED A
GREAT OPPORTUNITY…
My Dad saw an opening and jumped right
in, dragging the rest of us with him. I have mentioned in previous
articles that he was a great illusionist, a master prop builder,
and an outstanding Showman. He was well aware of the money
potential at the right fairs, not to mention that the conditions
created perfect deal making opportunities.
THE FAMILY FREAKSHOW…
A decade before, my Dad had created a
family circus with only three people performing ten acts. He had a
knack for organization, and a penchant for tackling the apparently
impossible. This time, he outdid himself. He created a trailerized
sideshow with an eighty-foot aluminum panel folding showfront with
painted on artwork reminiscent of a bannerline, with each banner
surrounded by chasing lights. A folding bally stage under a
theater style marquee complete with chasing lights, in the center
of all this scenic art was another innovation. A larger folding
stage on the backside of the trailer show was the performance
area. There was no tent. The stage was under a canvas canopy and
surrounded by a canvas sidewalled enclosure reminiscent of the
Wild West shows of a century before.
IT WAS BILLED AS “THE GREATEST
HOAX ON EARTH”…
Right on the faces of the twin pulpit
style ticket boxes, complete with the globe logo symbol made
famous by the Wait brothers,
was the disclaimer that no one ever saw. The traditional freaks
and working acts of the sideshow had been replaced with similar
clever illusions that simulated freaks and were billed in a
confusing manner so as to be easily mistaken for a freak show. We
built an illusion to cover every banner.
ILLUSION MEANS HOAX, HUMBUG, AND
CHICANERY…
Our kind friend, Jack Waller, jumped
in and worked fire and ballied long enough to teach my brother
fire eating, and taught me the arts of the bally and the inside
pitches. My Mom and Dad performed the bulk of the show, and with a
couple of bally beauties, the cast was complete. The acts
performed were billed, bannered, and ballied as follows…
METAMORPHOSIS…
“HALF AND HALF, IS IT A MAN? IS IT A
WOMAN? WHO CAN TELL? FIRST IT’S ONE, THEN THE OTHER”…
This was my parents performing the
fastest sub trunk in the history of magic. Ask anyone who’s seen
it. As acrobats and flyers, they had the physical ability, and as
an expert prop builder, my Dad created the perfect cabinet, tuned
up like a racecar, and tailored to fit their needs.
THE HINDU MYSTIC…
“FEELS NO PAIN… FEARS NO
WOUNDS…SURVIVES ON A DIET OF RAZORBLADES…NOT FOR THE WEAK OF
HEART”…
Yours truly, performing the Houdini
threaded needle gag (and often I did) with a sharp new edge to the
presentation.
THE DISEMBODIED LADY…
“WILL ALLOW NOT ONE, NOT TWO OR THREE,
NOT THREE OR FOUR, BUT OVER A DOZEN, RAZOR SHARP SWORDS, SABRES,
AND BAYONETS, TO BE INSERTED, INTO THE MOST DELICATE PARTS OF HER
BODY”…
A bally beauty in the blade box…
THE HALF GIRL…
“NOT WHOLE BUT HALF, COULD YOU LIVE AS
ONLY HALF A PERSON?”…
Was the sawing a woman in half
illusion…
THE MYSTERIOUS CABINET OF PROF.
LASZLO…
“WHERE A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY CROSSES
OVER TO THE PHANTOM WORLD, AND ACTUALLY DISAPPEARS AS VAPOR BEFORE
YOUR VERY EYES”…
An upright vanishing effect cabinet…
THE LIVING DISCONNECTED HEAD…
“ NOT QUITE HUMAN, FROM THE REALM OF
THEINHUMAN, AND THE UNDEAD, NOT FOR THOSE WHO FEAR NIGHTMARES”…
Was the family pet, as the bodiless
head. Even the dog got into the act…
THE MYSTERIOUS MIND READING MENTALIST…
“DOES THE SPIRIT WORLD HAVE A SECRET
MESSAGE FOR YOU?”
A terrific mentalism routine from my
parents night club show…
INFERNO THE INFERNAL…
“MASTER OF THE FIRES OF HADES”…
My little brother, who thirty five
years later is still setting the audience aflame and burning up
territory for shows everywhere…
THE ESCAPE KING…
“STRAPPED INTO A REGULATION
STRAIGHTJACKET, BY A COMMITTEE OF VOLUNTEERS, SHACKLED AND
MANACLED, HOISTED HIGH INTO THE SKY, AND DANGLING UPSIDE DOWN FROM
A BURNING ROPE, WITH ONLY MINUTES TO ESCAPE BEFORE THE ROPE BURNS
THROUGH, OR PLUMMET TO HIS DEATH”…
They tried and tried to kill me, but I
outsmarted them every time…
I’M STILL HERE…
SADLY, THE SHOW IS GONE…
It appeared for a few seasons along
the routes of carnivals that also have become only memories…
Gooding’s Million Dollar Midway… The
Thomas’ Joyland Shows… Deggeler’s Magic Midway… Bobby Cohn’s West
Coast Shows… The Buck-Page Exposition… Rocky Dell’s Great American
Shows… Johnny’s United Shows… The David B. Endy Shows… Dell and
Travers Shows… The William T. Collins Shows… and others I shall
forever miss.
“Big Bertha”
Ringling Bros.& Barnum and Bailey Circus. Origins have to do
with the Pullman berths on the train.
Madison
Square Garden in New York City.
“Wait bros.”
Ringling Bros.& Barnum and Bailey Circus. Origins have to do
with the advance paper, which said “Wait for the Big One”
I intend to
write an article on the “Gillette Diet”.
I hate to
follow him, as he can’t be topped. He must close the show
because when he’s done, the audience is disabled. With his
midway shows, other showmen, if they’re wise, see him setting
up, and look for a different spot.
I was told
that a photo of this classic showfront was published in a
carnival fan magazine a number of years ago, but I have had no
success in digging up an issue.
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