Circus And Carnival Ballyhoo: Side Shock Circus Freaks, Carnival Jabbers and Blade Box Queens

(Paperback)

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Description

The follow-up to Seeing is Believing (ECW Press, 2002) tells the fascinating story of the carnival in words and pictures. Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo follows the development of the circus sideshow with interviews and stories from sideshow workers that explain the role of freaks, working acts, managers and talkers and explores how important grift was to circuses and how it became located inside the sideshow.

Reviews

"A former circus owner chronicles the colourful history of sideshows. Full of photos from the author's private collection and evocative slang such as 'grifters' and 'lot lice, ' the book links exhibitions of freaks and curiosities past to today's Body Worlds science shows and reality-TV contests involving the ingestion of bugs." -- Globe and Mail

Author Bio

A. W. Stencell owned and operated his own circus for 19 years and is a former president of the Circus Historical Society. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.