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handeaux · 6 months

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Frank Frayne’s Fatal Shot Echoed Through The Decades In Over-The-Rhine

When Frank I. Frayne’s troupe rolled into Cincinnati back in 1882, there was scant indication that he would precipitate the darkest night in Cincinnati theater history.

Frayne managed an immense production bankrolled by New York impresario Harry Miner. It was really big. Frayne’s show was so big, it was advertised as a “combination.” That was a term the biggest circuses used to describe their organizations. The “circus” meant only the acts in the sawdust ring. Add a sideshow with various freaks and a traveling zoo and you had a combination. That’s what Frank Frayne brought to Cincinnati. An advertisement [28 November 1881] gives a fair inventory of Frayne’s traveling ensemble:

“During the week and Wednesday and Saturday Matinees, Harry Miner’s Frank I. Frayne Combination and Dramatic Artists, and the Wonderful Acting Dog Jack, the African Lion Emperor; also the two Performing Bears Bruno and Chio. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Wednesday Matinee, “Mardo, or, The Nihilists of St. Petersburg.” Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Saturday Matinee, “Si Slocum.”

One year later, in November 1882, Frayne was back in Cincinnati at the Coliseum Theater on Vine Street with the same two melodramas, but this time his menagerie was enlarged by the addition of a small pack of hyenas. Jack the Dog still got star billing. The Coliseum Theater up on Vine Street was the jewel in Hubert Heuck’s chain of theaters here and in various Midwest cities. It was formerly a beer garden but Heuck converted it into a theater and opera house at no small expense.

It appears that “Mardo” was Frayne’s personal adaptation of a play by Oscar Wilde, “Vera, or The Nihilists.” Frayne’s script has not survived, but the newspaper reviews suggest that it was a ton more exciting than Wilde’s drama. Here is the Enquirer [28 November 1882]:

“There are any amount of desperate actions, dastardly threats, fire scenes, murders, &c., and the lovers of this style of drama will see almost a lifetime of sensation in each act of “Mardo.” The dog Jack is a show in himself and acts his part with the best of the cast. During the play we see the Nubian lion, the ferocious hyenas and the wrestling bear, and these, together with a very passable cast, make it impossible for “Mardo” to be at all dull.”

Frank Frayne himself was fairly well known. He was a sharpshooter at a time when that was a popular stage act. Among his contemporaries and competitors were Annie Oakley and her mentor and husband, Frank Butler. Frayne found enormous success incorporating his rifle tricks into the context of various melodramas in which he portrayed heroic men of action forced to shoot their way out of diabolical predicaments.

Frayne’s second Cincinnati offering, “Si Slocum” was written especially for Frayne by Clifton Tayleure, a successful Broadway producer. The plot is inconsequential, but involves Frayne as Si Slocum, a poor but honest rancher whose lands are coveted by the nefarious scoundrel, Vasquez. It is doubtful that Tayleure envisioned all the zoological extravagances and sharpshooting folderol Frayne piled onto his script. In the course of five acts, Slocum kills a lion, gets rescued by his faithful hound, shoots a pipe out of a ranch-hand’s mouth, plugs a half-dozen playing cards, shoots a bear, scatters the stage with random crockery and saves his wife several times. Somehow, the hyenas made an appearance as well. This stuff sold tickets back then. The Coliseum’s 2,000 seats were occupied the entire week of Frayne’s residency.

The role of Slocum’s wife was played by 25-year-old Annie Von Behren, an up-and-coming actress who was at that time Frayne’s fiancée. Brooklyn-born Miss Von Behren had an extensive theatrical resume before she took on the role of Ruth Slocum. She was thoroughly familiar with the Coliseum Theater, having performed for a couple of years among the stock company of that venue. She later joined a traveling troupe that took her to New York, where she met the widowed Frank Frayne, joined his combination as leading lady and won his heart.

At a critical scene in “Si Slocum,” Vasquez has Slocum cornered, with a dozen bandits drawing a bead on him. Vasquez announces that he likes Slocum’s “pluck,” and offers to free Slocum and end their feud if Slocum can shoot an apple off his wife’s head, while facing backward and aiming the shot with a mirror. Frayne had performed this trick shot hundreds of times over the years.

For reasons never fully explained, Frayne’s trick shot failed, and he sent a bullet through Annie Von Behren’s brain. Frayne screamed in terror as he rushed to his fiancée’s side. The curtain dropped immediately as the audience sat in petrified silence. Theater manager James Fennessey sent H.M. Markham, the actor appearing as the villain Vasquez, to the front of the stage to calm the audience. Markham nervously informed the crowd that the dead Annie von Behren had sustained a slight injury and they should collect a refund on their way out the door.

The next day, Coroner John Rendigs conducted an inquest, at which Frayne appeared. Some witnesses claimed Frayne’s rifle malfunctioned and that, in particular, a screw broke as the gun fired, dropping the rifle barrel downward. Some suggested the cartridge was defective. Other witnesses questioned why Annie was not wearing a metal cap under her wig as she usually did. The coroner declared the death accidental, caused by a bullet fired without criminal intent. Frayne announced he would never return to the stage but did so within a year, reviving the role of Si Slocum. Soon after, he married a woman named Margaret Thompson, who wisely refused to go on stage in his act.

Another victim of the Frayne shooting was the Coliseum Theater itself. Robert Heuck, son of Coliseum owner Hubert Heuck, explained [Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio - Volume 20, No. 4, October 1962] that the theater had to be renamed as a result of public opinion.

“The court decision declaring [Frayne’s] innocence was not taken lightly by a great many people in Over-the-Rhine. The show was only closed November 30th and December 1st, however; the receipts for the 2nd and 3rd were light. The court decision was so unpopular that it was thought best to change the name of this new theatre. In fact, it was called just that, "New Theatre," for some time. In 1883, the name of the New Theatre between 12th and 13th on Vine was changed to Heuck's Opera House, and the former Heuck's Opera House at 13th and Vine was re-named ‘People's.’ Of course, it's confusing! Many accounts relating to actors and plays of those earlier show days are in error for lack of understanding of this gobble-de-gook.”

The rechristened Heuck’s was renamed again in 1930 when it became a movie theater known as the Rialto. The building was demolished and the site is today a parking lot.

#frank frayne #si slocum #coliseum theater #hubert heuck #over-the-rhine

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ash-and-books · 10 months

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Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb:

“Unique and emotionally engaging” (Booklist, Starred Review), a dazzling gothic tale of Faustian bargains, jealousy, and murder set in a spectacular circus, where star-crossed lovers' destinies are forged at an unexpected price: "A wonderfully imagined and fiendishly clever debut" (Colson Whitehead).

In Victorian London, where traveling sideshows are the very pinnacle of entertainment, there is no more coveted ticket than Ashe and Pretorius' Carnivale of Curiosities. Each performance is a limited engagement, and London's elite boldly dare the dangerous streets of Southwark to witness the Carnivale's astounding assemblage of marvels. For a select few, however, the real show begins behind the curtain. Rumors abound that the show’s proprietor, Aurelius Ashe, is more than an average magician. It's said that for the right price, he can make any wish come true. No one knows the truth of this claim better than Lucien the Lucifer, the Carnivale's star attraction. Born with the ability to create fire, he's dazzled spectators since he was a boy.

When Odilon Rose, one of the most notorious men in London, comes calling with a proposition regarding his young and beautiful charge, Charlotte, Ashe is tempted to refuse. After revealing, however, that Rose holds a secret that threatens the security of the troupe's most vulnerable members, Ashe has no choice but to sign an insidious contract. The stakes grow higher as Lucien finds himself drawn to Charlotte and her to him, an attraction that spurs a perilous course of events. Grave secrets, recovered horrors, and what it means to be family come to a head in this vividly imagined spectacle—with the lives of all those involved suspended in the balance.

Review:

Gothic carnivale with a found family and faustian bargains with a dash of murder? This one is for you! The story follows the Ashe and Pretorius' Carnivale of Curiosities, an amazing carnivale that travels in Victorian London. The story is focused on various members POV as well as some antagonist's pov, this is a super heavy character POV kind of story. The story is mixed in with some real historical events, and theres a lot going on. If I'm going to be honest, this one fell flat for me, I really found myself getting bored and disconnecting from the story many times. It felt like a drag to read and I just didn't care all that much for any of the characters which is sad because this book was advertised as being something like a mix between The Night Circus and the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and it felt like neither. Overall, it just was not for me at all, and I would recommend it for fans of gothic historical stories with very little romance but a lot of characters and are into lengthier reads because it sure felt long.

*Thanks Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #the carnivale of curiosities

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mariocki · 1 year

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I posted 1,591 times in 2022

313 posts created (20%)

1,278 posts reblogged (80%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thisbluespirit

@sharlatan-ka

@majortomwaits

@bimbobussy

@basiltheratatouille

I tagged 1,559 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#queue est iste qui venit - 327 posts

#cats are love - 206 posts

#cats are life - 206 posts

#cats are good - 205 posts

#adorable animals - 74 posts

#classic tv - 69 posts

#the saint - 69 posts

#doctor who - 66 posts

#ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ - 62 posts

#itc - 61 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#was a bad time had by all; nativity played a part‚ but there was also difficult cast members‚ escalating costs‚ producer interference‚ and

My Top Posts in 2022:

This one thought has haunted me all the way through Around the World in 80 Days

303 notes - Posted January 24, 2022

Rarely has a headline filled me with such fear

492 notes - Posted September 17, 2022

Seeing a lot of jubilation over the resignation of Boris J, which is all very understandable and correct - I'm as glad as anyone that he's on the way out, albeit disappointed it isn't at the end of a lamppost - but I worry too many people are thinking this is some kind of victory, or that things are going to improve somehow.

On the contrary, the scum-rising scramble to replace him already seems to be focusing quite heavily on trans rights, with multiple contenders coming out swinging with transphobic rhetoric and homophobic dogwhistles, including multiple euphemistic references to 'traditional values' and 'protecting women and children', not to mention the racism and classism that's endemic to the party.

Also something I worry is being lost in the celebration: the next PM will be chosen by tory party members alone, roughly 0.3% of the UK population. This article gives a very good (if distressing) breakdown of that <200k people (the bbc actually suggest 160k, other sources are closer to 180k); they are 97% white, 70% male, nearly 60% live in London, 40% are over the age of 65 (the average age is 57), they are disproportionately wealthy, pro death penalty, anti youth, overwhelmingly suppport brexit (two thirds supported no deal brexit). The next leader of the UK will be decided by a miniscule, but fervently right-wing and bigoted group of people who have paid money for the opportunity. The next general election is potentially 2 and a half years away. That's a long time in which to enact an inordinate amount of damage.

All of which is to say, I too am glad that Johnson is gone; but he will fall into after dinner speaking, and his old 'journalism' jobs, and an inevitable book deal and tv appearances. And his replacements in government are potentially as dangerous, and the fire isn't out it's still raging, and now is not the time to be complacent, particularly in support for marginalised peoples and particularly trans people. Things are still fucked, this hasn't unfucked anything, it's a sideshow to the overall circus which is the current landscape of UK politics and the steady erosion of democracy

717 notes - Posted July 10, 2022

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My #1 post of 2022

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Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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debutart · 27 days

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Showtown: the museum of fun and entertainment, and Blackpool’s first museum, opens its doors on the iconic Golden Mile on 15 March after six years of development.

Across six interactive exhibition spaces, Showtown is an immersive, behind- the- scenes journey through what makes the seaside town famous. A multi- layered and visually rich experience, the museum celebrates and details the unique Blackpool aesthetic and its richly layered cultural heritage; seaside, circus, magic, show, dance and illuminations, and the entertainers who put the town on the map.

Showtown uses eye-catching graphics and large scale artworks by Alex Williamson who was commissioned by Cason Mann to enhance the experience, visually weaving the museum’s interactive exhibits, objects and stories together.

For this project, Alex worked with visual material from the Heritage Collection; fabulous archives of printed ephemera, old posters, postcards and photography, to create a series of large scale collage artworks that reinterpret the archive materials and help bring to life ‘Showtown’ as an immersive, engaging family experience.

Showtown, the museum, depicts Blackpool as a kind of ‘collage’ formed over time by the collision of so many groups of people and activities: holiday makers old and young, punks and magicians, comic fans and ballroom dancers, acrobats and fortune tellers. The immersive environment created is a historically rich and often chaotic collage of competing signs, buildings, stories and events constantly throwing up unexpected juxtapositions for the visitor.

Traditionally a trip to Blackpool offered a release from the fixed nature of everyday life and work and the museum’s mix of stories, characters, imagery, sounds (and even smells) is curated to capture the jumbled sense of fun and the 'chaos' of a walk down the ‘Golden Mile’, where people let off steam and unexpected adventures are to be found on the piers and in the sideshows, entertainments, dance halls and nightlife.

The collage artworks, which feature throughout the museum as setworks or wallpapers, weave in and out of interactive exhibits and historical artefacts, tying together these overlaid narratives and spaces, visualising the atmospheric social and cultural resonance of Blackpool and its origins as a northern English working class resort.

As one of Blackpool’s favourite sons, Eric Morecambe, puts it in his famous piano-playing sketch, in Blackpool we are always ‘playing the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order’. A statement that describes the experience of and creative approach to Showtown perfectly.

Showtown opens in Blackpool on 15 March

Photography by Simon Critchley

www.showtownblackpool.co.uk

You can also read Creative Review's write up on the museum here

Alex's full portfolio can be reviewed here.

#showtown #alex williamson #debut art #collage #illustration #artist #simon critchley #blackpool

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bacchicly · 10 months

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So I have written one song in my life that has been performed (in a show I toured) and I still love it. It opened a solo show called Aphrodite's Turn that I toured almost 20 years ago to mixed reviews (and seriously I got excellent reviews and really really hating reviews and rereading it I see why) about a Fat Lady from a side show... the beginning was not the character though... it was the narrator... and here's the song... and then the weird prose that follows it...and heck...I will throw in the rest of the show...I warn you it is a fever dream...but I think you could imagine Kristen Vangness or Penelope performing it. They are both taller and not as fat as me - but I think either of them would make it something I never was able to... And I did reasonably well.

Content warnings: Freakshow performers, racism and homophobia (both called out but still heartbreaking), prostitution, abuse, idiot savant character, sex descriptions, mashed up myth, sappiness, poetry, fever dream like storytelling. Sapphic love (unrequited? Definately heartbreaking); straight love. Brief child death mention. Alcohol. Hope. Selling Children.

Ps - this came out around the time of Carnivale and has those vibes - but I have never watched the series. There was also a book out which was similar which I skimmed at my last stop of the tour. But any similarities were more the fact that sideshows were what they were and modern takes on them are what they are.

Enjoy? 🤷🏼‍♀️. The plays running time was about 45 mins...so about 16 pages with lots of space?

APHRODITE’S TURN

by me, originally performed by me, directed and dramaturgy by my mother (!)

(1)

Sound of ocean rollers on a beach. THE WOMAN enters costumed as THE FAT LADY in a baby doll dress which shows a lot of bosom. The actor should not be padded. She is made to seem bigger if required by providing scaled down set pieces. THE WOMAN allows the audience to gaze at her body and frankly returns the gaze. Sound of ocean rollers fading. Sound of train whistle fading.

(SINGING)

If you really think about it

The first circus train was really a ship

Razorbacks loading them two by two

As Medusa and the unicorns wept

(SPOKEN)

Are you one who dreams of the Razorbacks? Razorbacks: Circus Men.

Roustabouts loading cages and wagons onto the backs of circus trains? So do you dream of the ones who loaded the trains? The Razorbacks? Sweating and straining, hands calloused and filthy. Building their appetites for late night boozy suppers and for someone's cushy body. A Dream of Men. Working men all around you. Men. A gang of deep Razorback voices in the darkness and the soot.

Razorbacks singing the gospel of the Stowaways:

(SINGING)

Snuck on board in the belly of the ship

Were the fat, the ugly, and the disfigured

The magical, the mythical, and misunderstood

All because of a single love

(SPOKEN)

Sound familiar? You are not alone. (Smile) There are more of us who dream of the Razorbacks than you might think. And we’ve all learned their song…

(SINGING)

With one of Noah’s less than perfect ones

One of the razorbacks was in love

So he made a pact with the Raven and Dove

To ensure the Stowaways’ safety

(SPOKEN)

A fine dream, a soothing dream…Strong-armed men rescuing the weak and unwanted…So comforting….so much love…

(2)

Severe shift: what’s bothering her comes to the surface despite trying to keep it down.

But then the horror begins. You realise that you are trapped inside one of the cages. You are being hoisted onto the circus train, because you are the Razorback’s familiar nightly load. And it haunts you that, without the Razorbacks, you would have been left behind during the flood. Left behind with the ‘less than perfect ones’. For who is ‘perfect?’

(3)

She shudders, and then takes hold of herself.

Last night the dream changed.

The Razorbacks’ song was still in my ears, but their hard sweating bodies were gone.

And I dreamed….I dreamed…

(4)

Sound of chimes.

I dream.

I am standing–naked–on a giant silver ball.

The giant silver ball is floating on a discharge of hot air. I lean over slightly so that I can gaze down, past my -naked- belly into the space between my feet. I gaze down into how the flesh of my thighs protects my center and how my belly rounds out the picture. Perfect curvature of my fleshy self. Grounded not a profile. An expanse of -naked- truth reflected on the silver sphere beneath my feet.

Gradually, my fleshy reflection flattens into a sepia circus yard. It's June [July, August, September - based on month of performance] 1934. And amid the budding tents, cages, and wagons I see the Fat Lady. The humongous, gi-normous Fat Lady.

And the Fat Lady is running across the sepia circus yard.

Running?

She’s Running?

She is RUNNING!

(PAUSE to watch, and, then, to the audience: )

She moves fast for a big lady.

(PAUSE - then she starts to sing again)

Snuck on board in the belly of that ship

Were the fat, the ugly, and the disfigured

The magical, the mythical, and misunderstood

All because of a single love

(6)

As she sings the woman slips behind the tent curtain. starts to accompany her voice; once she disappears, the music morphs from mythical folkish into a crescendo-ing rendition of the mythical circus song. Song stops abruptly. A second of silence.

The Fat Lady bursts into the room through the canvas flap (same actor new character). She is frantic. Her eyes open wide, then in a final attempt to make herself invisible, she huddles her bulk into herself, and squeezes her eyes shut.

A recorded voice, kind, slightly reverberating, comes from behind the flap.

MAN: (coaxing) Darlin’? You li’l cock tease! Com’on my darlin’ woman…? Y’know Lenny sent me. Darlin’?

FAT LADY:

Not tonight! It ain’t proper no more.

Don’t care what Lenny said!

It ain’t proper now.

Don’t care if you are looking oh so kind tonight. Just like you know I like ya best with straight teeth and them soft whiskers all around a smilin’ mouth…

Just because you wore them eyes tonight…

Them eyes…

the kind ones…

Dear Lord on a Toothpick do I ever love those eyes.

Funny. Last time you wore them in brown but tonight they are the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Can’t believe I didn’t tell you how nicely them kind eyes suit, last time you wore ‘em. I’d kick myself - if I could bend that way. Figure me not saying anything that night is the reason that you never wore them again. But we were having such a grand time…you actually wanted to chat, and your arms - so strong - covered with that beautiful curly hair - those arms felt so much gentler than the arms you sometimes wear - I didn’t even care that your right hand didn’t work that night. After all- everything else worked just hunky-o-dory… (lighter than later) -push, push, push- Remember I tried to tell ya how great you had been the next night but your kind eyes were gone. And, instead of bein’ brown they were all yella and bloodshot… and when I started talkin’ you shut me up with a good smack in the mouth. Lenny was so mad remember? And Celia had to hold that raw steak to my jaw all night.

(7)

Remember, I told you about Celia? Celia, my best friend? (Fondly) You hardly ever remember anything do ya? She’s the “Hottentot” of the show but when we’re “off” you hardly notice she’s a darkie at all! She really is the most ‘refined” person I’ve ever met in Show Biz. Sticks out her pinkie when she drinks her tea out of the tin mugs. Always wipes the jelly off the sides of her mouth and I have never heard her curse or belch. Like I said…VERY refined. At least as long as she’s not in front of Lenny. He don’t like her “fancy manners” says she’s “playing white”. Then he cuffs her and says that she just proved that she’s the ape that folks see - cuz that’s all she can do - ape white folks. Celia always cries when Lenny says that.

But I take her in my arms and I rock her and rock her. Her snake hair, rows and rows of tight braids, tickles my chin when I tilt my head to kiss her.

Her body is soft and padded like mine - her belly presses against my thighs. Her belly balloons - round and tight- like there’s a baby in her - NEVER coming out.

Sometimes, sometimes when I’m holding her, when her snot, tears and hot breath make wet spots on the front of my pinny.

She holds where Celia’s head would be and suddenly it is as if she is really holding Celia.

…I imagine that there really is a baby in your gut…and that the baby is ours, Celia. A pretty little girl - white and black like a milk cow - round and beautiful like us. She has curly, long blond hair. I pretend there is a pink bow in her hair even though she is still INSIDE. I think about how she will slither out from between your thighs -Push, Push, Push - I can feel the push. But yes…yes…she slithers out in a gush…right into my arms. The little piggy girl roots around then

is greedily sucking the sticky milk from my tit. I am feeding our wonderful little girl… (she remembers where she is and who she is really talking to) Hey are you listening? This is my favorite part. She jumps from my arms, all round and in a little blue dress, with little pink chubby legs sticking out from under her skirt, and she does a little bit of soft shoe. Just like mamma. So perfect my little girl and Celia and I love her like we love each other.

(Panicked look) Oh no! I don’t mean that I love Celia like that! (She spits.) No! no! no! You know you’re my man! Listen to me blabbering on like this … (Makes a move to go out) you look so nice tonight oh! Those eyes… whatever am I doing over here when I should be….

Wait! No I can’t. Not tonight. Gotta think of my EVERAFTER.

(8)

See… I’m going to marry Kite. Kite the skeleton man? Lenny said. Told me this morning! (Sing song) Skin and bones. Skin and Bones. Skin and Skinny Skinny bones… Lenny says we gonna get married next month. Next month. Once the press men stop fawnin’ over Jocko’s ‘mazing Side Show Spectacular’s bizness weddin’. Lenny hates Jocko cus he always spits on him and calls him half a man.

Pah! All excited ‘bout that mangy snake lady and that picture show gettin’ hitched. As if a couple dozen snakes or tattoos make you a legit act. Lenny’s sure that the press’ll go boffo once they find out that me an’ his ‘skeleton man’ are tyin’ the knot - after all Kite sure can sing and I sure can dance!

(Sing song) Jack Sprat… (she hums the rest and does a little bit more dancing)

Plus…! (in a tone implying a secret) An’ here’s the good part–: Kite and I are in love! That’s what Lenny says. That’s what Lenny’s tellin’ the press. That’s why we’re getting married. We're IN LOVE! (She hugs herself with delight. Then her face falls.) ‘Course Kite’s wife ain’t too pleased. (Beat.) And (very low) Celia cried when I told her.

(9)

So you see, that’s why I ran away from you tonight. See, married ladies get the world at their feet…so I gotta do this right. I can’t see you this week or next week or the week after. From now on I’m a virgin. (Panicked look) But don’t you worry! You’re still my man! And as soon as I’m married I can see you again.

Just don’t tell Lenny I ran away, k? I told him I can’t see you no more, but he just laughed. Said: “the show must go on” and looked like he wanted to kick me.

Funny look for a man with no legs. Said I’m an ‘artiste’, so he don’t want no complaints from the customers. But I’ve thought about it and even ‘artistes’ should be virgins when they marry. So screw Lenny and his “show must go on!”

I’ve taken a bath and like it or not I ain’t gonna see you no more… You understand right? Right?

You mad? You’re real quiet.

Don’t be mad. “the show must go on.”

(10)

That’s what Lenny always says: “we’re in the biz, and the show must go on.”

Lenny may have no legs but his cock sure works. 50% hands, 50 % heads. Just what you need for the show biz and the love biz a.ha.ha. That’s what Lenny says.

What Lenny says must be true too, cuz does he ever got a lot of bucks and a lot of broads!

He’s the only other man to have poked me, you know? Just you and him. That’s it.

(Suddenly nervous)

He only done it once though - when Dalia had the stomach flu.

(11)

I once saw him and Lily going at it. O! You shoulda seen it! She’s lying on the table, legs over the edge, her sister Dalia -you know, her Siamese twin? -well, Dalia's lying stiff as a board beside Lily, stayin’ as far away as the join between them’ll let her. And Lenny’s holdin’ himself up by his hands, pumpin’ like an oil well. His face is red and his breath is HARSH and -push, push, PUSH- then he falls on her. Lily scoops him up so he don’t slip down ‘tween her thighs onto the floor. Lily says that when she grabs him like that it’s like the baby’s come early - cus he’s just about the right size.

Good story, huh? Up your alley? Not mad anymore?

Still not talking, huh? I don’t want you to be mad. You smiled when you caught me lookin' at you tonight. Smiled like you'd been waiting for me. You ambled over – kissin' me with your eyes – and asked if you could sit with me a while… I… I told you ya had to ask Lenny… an' when you got back…

…you looked so sad when I ran away tonight…dinna expect that…you looked just like Kite did when his baby died last year…

(12)

Dalia don’t want no baby - thinks the whole thing is sick. Says she’s already attached to enough bodies without another one swimming inside her or Lily. So Dalia won’t have nothin’ to do with Lenny an’ Lily. She just lies there beside them, rocking with their movements -eyes squeezed shut - she told me once that she always imagines herself on a boat - rocking on the great blue ocean - wind and sea - seagulls and salt - an organ grinder standing on a spit of sand jutting up from the jetty, grinding a tune that you’ve never heard - so magical and mystical that the Unicorns and Mermaids and Centaurs come out and dance.

Dalia loves Centaurs. Says that they’re half people half animal just like her an’ Lily.

She always talkin’ bout that man - the really wrinkly one with chin like a chicken? The guy who travels with Jocko’s show? Ha! Don’t we always have such laughs when Lenny’s and Jocko’s shows are both in town. You always dress up like Jocko’s strong man - what a scream! Or every once in a while you come lookin’ like Jocko’s kid - all scrawny and monkey like - but with the best jokes.

You never come lookin’ like Dalia’s wrinkly old man though. Don’t know what makes you choose what…you certainly have come lookin’ meaner them him!

Even though I tell ya it ain’t my favorite way… no you’ve done worse then him..

After all, the wrinkly man's always real smart. But he stinks: never changes his clothes but says it’s worth it cuz his whole trunk can be filled with books.

He gave Dalia one of his books 'cuz she loves centaurs so much. See, Dalia an’ Lily were sitting with that old man one day and Dalia told him all about how she dreams of meeting a half-man half-horse. Lily snorted and Dalia tossed her head and said: “that horse snort just proved my point”. The old man laughed and that’s when he gave Dalia one of his books.

(13)

I only know cuz I found it the morning I woke up in Dalia an’ Lily’s bed!

It was after the night where Lenny gave me two big bottles of gin to myself and all those gentlemen sat around yelling and groaning and passing money around each time I filled up my mug. Remember it was the night you didn’t come - ‘less you dressed up like I’ve never seen you before and hid amongst the men, doing that watchin' thing you say you sometimes like to do. Well, I fell asleep and Lenny wanted to use the stage, so he got five Razorbacks to carry me to bed, but they wuz lazy so they only got me as far as Lily and Dalia’s bed.

When I woke up I found the book in the sheets.

(14)

Moment of savoring the memory then switches to complete fear.

I can’t tell you this…. (To herself) I still hopin’ Ma and the Man Upstairs don’t never find out… but maybe if I tell ya…!

(Whispers) Look I gotta secret I can share - so you really believe me that you’re my man! Will that put you in your good mood - let you keep your kind eyes?

See, when I was little, Ma taught me how to …read. She wanted me to read the holy book see… an' I wuz real good too. I could read anything an’ everything we could find…I could even read things she couldn’t! Then, just a week after I turned eleven, the man with the pork pie hat came to our house. Ma took him into the parlour, an' when she came out she was all pink and twirly. She sat me down on the biggest wooden chair in the kitchen an' her eyes got real hard and then she started saying what a lucky girl I was. Saying that the man had heard of my…dancin’ and that I got to go with him so I could dance every day for people.

But then she said that I had to make a big promise or I couldn’t go…and if I didn't go she’d hate me. She said I had to promise that I'd never ever read again! She said I could never ever read again! An' that I was to look away fast if I ever saw writin’ anywhere! She said that if I ever read another word or let anyone know I used to read she’d wollop me with Pa’s belt. An’ if she wasn’t there, the man in the pork pie hat would wollop me. An' if he wasn’t there, the Man Upstairs would make sure I was punished real good.

So, I promised… went with the man in the pork pie hat…and since then I haven’t read a word….

…until I found that book in Dalia’s and Lily’s sheets. At first I was scared…but then I thought…

“Well, Dalia and Lily ain't here, an’ there ain’t even an upstairs in this tent, so how could there be a Man Up There?”, so I figured it was safe enough to…to…read…READ Dalia’s biggest treasure. Story after story of Centaurs and Unicorns and Gorgons…

(15)

She mimes opening a book and gets lost in it.

Sound of Chimes. Sound of Ocean Rollers come in low. She begins to speak very quietly. Sanely.

Once there was a very small island in the middle of a very warm sea. This island was ruled by a young King who was very proud of his people. He was so proud that he would never let a man or a woman who was not born on the island marry any of his subjects. This made the people very proud; so they held all the weddings of the year on a special day in the summer. It was the most beautiful celebration you have ever seen - such a feast - everyone danced and sang - so beautiful with chains of flowers looped around their necks. Soon, they believed that they had the most beautiful weddings - even lovelier than those of the gods.

The gods did not agree and, in particular, Aphrodite became very angry and cursed the island people. Their children began to be born weak and stupid and sick. The king was now a very old man - and he wept to see his people suffering.

He climbed to the top of the cliffs which looked out over the sea and cried out to the goddess “what can I do to save the children of my people? I will do anything.” Aphrodite saw kindness in his eyes and honesty in his heart and took pity on him. ”Build a harbour. Ships will dock in your port each summer carrying my sailors. Welcome them to your shores. And each year before the wedding day send all the maidens about to be married down to the shore to feast, and dance, and lie with my sailors in honour of me.

The next day, wash the brides in the sea and I will give them back their virginity. If you do this, all your people’s children will be blessed - especially those who are born nine months after the maiden's wedding day.” The king was filled with joy. “I will build you a harbour - I will welcome your sailors - and each year I will send our maidens down to the shore.” And the King did as he said he would, and the maidens swelled and laboured and brought forth the loveliest, the most perfect, children in the world…….

(16)

Sound of ocean rollers up, the down and fade. Chimes sound.

The Fat Lady starts out of her storytelling stillness, and closes the book.

Dalia hit me when she caught me with her book. Thought she’d go off looking for a belt next… But then she realized that I wuz READING it and she got all nice! She patted my hand and begged me to whisper her the stories. Whisper to her, so that “her beast” -y’know Lily- wouldn't hear. So I did. I whispered her the whole story about the Centaur.

(17)

I forgot how much a body can love a story…I never shared a story with nobody but Ma before… An' want to know somethin’? I can’t stop thinkin’ ‘bout how nice it would be to share a story with you… Ever since I saw you tonight - doesn’t happen often that I see you first does it? You were just sitting there talkin’ to the childrens - and even though you looked like I’ve never seen, I knew it was you - whittlin’ an’ whistlin’- …yeah I just wanta share a story with you… does that make me bad? (Whisper) maybe Ma was lyin’ 'bout the Man Upstairs?

After all, I’m still dancin’ and nothin bad’s happened to Dalia. She’s still talkin’ bout her centaur and how we’ve only heard of one centaur trawlin’ the circuits.

We’re hoping our shows cross paths soon, so that - as Dalia says- Lily can screw her eyes up tight and think of the ocean. (Laughs with a snort of disbelief.) My job is gonna be to sit on Lily - cuz Dalia swears that her beast ain’t gonna touch her man. An' now, whenever Lily's bragging that she always gets the men - cus she’s the be-u-ti-ful one, Dalia just winks at me and points 'tween the legs of one of the show’s ponies. (Giggles)

Sometimes we sure have fun when you wear your big one, huh?

Though sometimes I sure like your clever little one too…

(18)

She giggles madly then stops abruptly -

the next part starts with a trance like tone.

You still there? You still there behind the door? There’s one more thing I gotta tell you. Something real strange happened tonight. (Beat) George was sober. No kidding! That's the third time he's been sober this week. It’s hard to watch cuz he starts to shake and scratches at the skin around his mouth. Like he’s really really the Rabbit Boy. It’s funny, he’s always liquored up during the show - lookin’ so un-rabbit-like - just a small man with split lip and a furry face. His day to day plastered to him like wet fur - wife, kids, laundry, dinner, too long train rides from town to town…y’know the biz. It’s when he’s sober that people would love to see him.

Then, his eyes start to roll around in his head - like he’s terrified and he talks - yeah I know! George talking?!? But it’s like his tongue gets unhinged when it gets dry and just claques on and on. Blasphemy falls from his lips and his big ears seem to grow before MY eyes with every role of HIS. And he just talks and talks…

(19)

Weird things, ‘perposterous’ things. Like…like…

He says there ain’t nothing special ‘bout Celia. That she ain't no freak and that Lenny don’t have no business showing her off. (Low) An' that there ain't nothing wrong with her lovin' me…

He says that Lenny thought of Lily when he poked me. An' that Dalia ain’t ever going to meet no centaur. Cuz there ain’t no such thing…

An' he says that the Biz is a crime.

He says that some day a flickerin’ black box will be built and it will be more of a crime. Some box thing that will make the rubes shun the carnivals, ten-in-ones, and dime museums, the bear baiting and cock fights, the trained tigers and punk shows with their pickled babies. Some box thing that’ll make knives that oughta be thrown and swallowed and juggled - make knives cut into women’s flesh…an' make men into careless killers or foolish fathers…

Some Box thing that reflects the world like the mirrors in Monty’s tent. That’ll take away our show - and I won’t get to dance no more..

He says that the folks don’t care about my soft shoe.

He says that I don’t love Kite! He says that you don’t love me!

He says that THERE IS NO YOU!

(20)

In a frightened voice.

NO YOU? Perposterous! SURE there’s you. You’ve come almost every night for the last two years. Come to the second show. Saving me from havin’ to be with a different man every night. (Shivers) Saving me from all those different men. I did not imagine that. I did not imagine it. You may not have always been in the happiest mood, but you always came…came to me…came to me after what must have been hours of dressin’ up in Clown Alley….getting ready for our night.

Puttin' grease paint to change your face, changin' your wig, choosin' your arms, your legs, your chest, your cock. Changing the colour and the mood of your eyes. Green, yella, brown, blue. Mean, lusty, dazed…kind. Every night. Just for me. All for me.

Doing such a good job that you’ve fooled everyone else into believing that you’re actually a different person every night.

Nervous laughter dies to fear.

(Shyly.) Y’know, sometimes I’ve wanted to ask you to leave off your disguise, show me the real you. But…but I haven’t. ‘Been nervous…cus you’re always so touchy when I bring up the night before. What are you trying to hide? What are you trying to forget? Don’t you know that I will love ya no matter how you look.

That I love you. (Moment) Love you? Love YOU.

Maybe it’s those kind eyes tonight. And your listening…that make me want to kiss and kiss you, take away the sadness pooled in those eyes. Tonight I want to see who you really are. Tonight. Right now…I’m…I’m…I’m asking you to show me yourself. Tellin' you, you can stay as you are forever. We’ll meet my friends. And we can go and do whatever, wherever you want. Together. K? I won’t marry that skeleton man - I’ll stay with MY ‘sailor’ - and every single night we can find the beach and honour Aphrodite. An' if Lenny don’t like it we’ll run –no! - we'll SAIL away.

(21)

She straightens her dress.

I’m coming out now. No more running away from you. Are you ready? We’ll

be perfect together. Our babies will be the loveliest in the world.

We’ll be happy ever after.

Forever and a day.

‘Till time stops and the ship docks and the tent is put away.

She stands and waits by the canvas flap. Breath is held.

Will she be saved? Will she save him?

She unties the flap. She peeks through.

Sees her love. Relaxes and smiles.

Music comes up. It is the kindest (but still rough) male voice you’ve ever heard, singing a verse of the Razorback’s song.

Man: (SINGING)

Snuck on board in the belly of the ship

Were the fat, the ugly, and the disfigured

The magical, the mythical, and misunderstood

All because of a single love

She turns back to the audience, does a little soft shoe, then when the song is ended, bows, turns and exits through the flap.

In the darkness of the circus ship

The Stowaway loved her Razorback man.

Aphrodite smiled, as a new life began

Ensuring their Everafter.

Sound of a train whistle fading.

Sound of ocean rollers on the beach.

#my art #my theatre #sideshow #from almost 20 years ago #aphrodite's turn

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morgan--reads · 5 years

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Geek Love - Katherine Dunn

Summary: The Binewski children were bred by their parents to be the perfect carnival sideshow; tyrannical Arturo has flippers for limbs, Olympia is an albino dwarf, Iphy and Elly are siamese twins, and the youngest brother Chick has a mysterious power that makes him both useful and dangerous. Years afterwards, Olympia reflects on the family’s days as a traveling circus and the tragic events that ended them, as she pursues an obsession with a tenant in her apartment building.

Quote: “These are written by norms to scare norms. And do you know what the monsters and demons and rancid spirits are? Us, that’s what. You and me. We are the things that come to the norms in nightmares. The thing that lurks in the bell tower and bites out the throats of the choirboys—that’s you, Oly. And the thing in the closet that makes the babies scream in the dark before it sucks their last breath—that’s me. And the rustling in brush and the strange piping cries that chill the spine on a deserted road at twilight—that’s the twins singing practice scales while they look for berries. Don’t shake your head at me! These books teach me a lot. They don’t scare me because they’re about me. Turn the page.”

My rating: 4.5/5.0 Goodreads: 3.98/5.0

Review: A whole cast of distasteful characters dominate this book and Dunn is unsparing in detailing their grimy, surreal flaws. Still, I couldn’t put it down. The story is as creatively compelling and grotesque as a sideshow. The magical realism was not starry-eyed but just as mildly disturbing as the realistic psychological drama which unfolds in surprising and captivating ways. The story never stays in one place for long, which kept me turning the pages hoping to find out what happened next. The only thing that didn’t fully work for me was the pacing of the two timelines. The story abandons the present-day timeline for the flashbacks for nearly the last third of the book but the circus flashbacks were more interesting, anyway. This isn’t a fun read, exactly, but it’s endlessly fascinating.

#geek love #katherine dunn #book review #book reccomendation #circus #book rec #sideshow #magical realism

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oblivionfilmclub · 2 years

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Nightmare Alley may present itself with your typical sideshow/freakshow circus story, but there are many layers, filled with a really great cast of actors, and a cast of characters. The story follows Bradley coopers mysterious drifter who finds himself working for a freak show circus, but ends up conning a couple of mindreaders, what follows is a plot full of twists and turns, the movie did run a bit long, but I assure you it was well worth it. Del toro delivers great atmosphere, a wonderful and great backdrop. a must watch for sure.

Rating: ★★★★

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croneboulder · 3 years

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New Deck! LeGrande Circus & Sideshow Tarot

I got this on ebay for less than half the selling price. I was expecting some wear, even a little shelf wear, but nope! It’s basically new, besides a lack of plastic packaging. So that was a great little surpise!!

I’m definitely considering taking off the white border- I like the look of just the red border- but I’m not sure how well I can (or want to) round off the red corners. From experience I don’t like decks I’ve modded to have sharp corners, so I’ll think on that for a while. The cardstock isn’t half bad- I’m not a fan of stuff as thick as others in the tarot community seem to like, but obviously I don’t want the cards floppy- this is a good middle-ground thickness.

The back is! so much fun!!!! I feel like this could’ve been a lot more boring/a lot less colorful, but this is super evocative of what the deck represents.

This deck is strongest on the cards where they incorporate the personalities of the expected characters into the meaning of the card- Queen of Swords, Two of Cups, and Knight of Coins especially stand out to me- Two of Cups might be my favorite, because the trust and intimacy inherent to trapeze artist pairs plays into the meaning of the card beautifully.

The deck is weakest when it tries too hard to look like the Rider-Waite. There are ways to match those meanings without matching the imagery, but this deck doesn’t always seem to want to put that effort in. This is most egregious in the wands suit- the wands themselves usually represented by (I think) poles that hold up the tents, which just doesn’t make sense in some (most, really) of the wands cards. You’ll note that there’s no wands in the favorite cards above.

#tarot review #legrande circus & sideshow tarot #tarot

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nordinor · 2 years

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Movie Review: Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley is a film about deception. Manipulation. Illusion. The blurred lines between the truth and the lie. Staged in 1940’s New York, down-on-his-luck Stanley Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) finds himself working for a sideshow circus. He befriends a clairvoyant (Toni Collette) and her alcoholic husband (David Stratham) and begins to learn their trade – which is telling people fortunes and…

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#bradley cooper #cate blanchett #film #film review #guillermo del toro #movie #movie review #nightmare alley #rooney mara #toni collette

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fearsmagazine · 3 years

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AN AMERICAN SATAN - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Omnibus Entertainment

SYNOPSIS: In 1966 in California a former organist and lion tamer named Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan. Over the years it has often been surrounded by mysteries, scandals and moral panics. In this documentary some of today’s active members of the church and other free-styled Satanists share their views, memories, ritual practices and personal stories about how they got involved with Satanism. They discuss the false myths that still surround the movement. It is an immersive journey into one the most fascinating phenomena of American religious pluralism.

REVIEW: As a New Yorker, a horror fan, and a member of several literary genre organizations you would assume that I most likely would be aware of the Church of Satan, “The Satanic Bible,” and Anton LaVey. In fact I am. However, I first encountered “The Satanic Bible” as part of a world religion class that I was taking my junior year at an all boys Catholic School. Later on I became acquainted with Peter H. Gilmore, who was the head of the New York Chapter for the Church of Satan and was editing a small press horror journal at the time. Through our friendship I came to know other members of the church. In the late 80’s I had the opportunity to interview Anton LaVey, once live on air and the second pre-recorded and edited, for the radio station I was working at. So I was eager to view AN AMERICAN SATAN.

Aram Garriga’s documentary does an excellent job of painting a well developed portrait of LaVey through archival recordings and interviews of people who had direct contact with him and knew him well. The film also lays out the founding of The Church of Satan, the splinter groups that formed, and where the church stands today. It’s interesting to see how it evolved from its Californian roots to now have its foundation on the East Coast in New York.

The film helps put LaVey’s life in context. Still many of the things LeVay claims about his past as shown in the archival footage is not disputed. Many researchers have tried to substantiate his claims of working for a carnival/circus, as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department, or working as an organist at the Mayan Theater during burlesque shows, but none of it could be substantiated beyond a reasonable doubt. While the film offers no rebuttal to his claims, it is clear from old footage and the interviews that he was “quite the showman.” Not only did he create flair and theatrics to his rituals. He was a charismatic character that could muster an audience.

The film does a nice job of placing the founding of the church within the historical context of the 60’s and 70’s, and you can understand it as a reaction to the philosophies of free love and American puritanism creating so much noise that LeVay was reacting to. If the following years of hysteria caused by “Rosemary’s Baby,” The Exorcist,” and the rise of so called secret satanic cults and child abuse that plagued the talk shows had never happened he very well might have gathered a larger following. LeVay took to the stage and defended his belief system. The showman was in the right place, but at the wrong time. He became the public’s poster child for what they want to believe. Still, it did not inhibit him.

Garriga does an excellent job of contextualizing the man, the events, and the current state of the church he founded. It’s interesting how the Church of Satan is still out there in the world but is not so much in the public’s zeitgeist. In some ways the film serves as a reminder of its existence. That there are still practicing members and other splinter groups. In examining where things stand now, it seems that the church has almost returned to its founder's roots of his self claimed experiences with the carnies and sideshow performers.

AN AMERICAN SATAN is an entertaining and thought provoking look at a period in time which gave rise to a more self fulfilling belief system born out of a frustration with the Catholic religion and church goers with double standards. It’s interesting that years later the 1987 film “Wall Street” gave us the clean cut Wall Street trader Gordon Gekko who uttered, “Greed is good!” One of many beliefs of the Church of Satan, but it received a different reaction. AN AMERICAN SATAN offers viewers a challenge to understanding what we believe in light of who is delivering the message, its packaging, and branding. It might just be that the Church of Satan isn’t what we ever needed to fear.

CAST (Interviewees): Peter H. Gilmore, Stanton LaVey, Aden Ardennes, Adam Cardone, David Harris, Heather Harris, Michael Antony Mandrake, Ruth Waytz, Peggy Nadramia, Raul Antony. CREW: Director - Aram Garriga; Screenplay - Aram Garriga & Xavi Prat; Cinematographer - Benet Román; Score - Erisian, Aram Garriga, & Xavi Prat; Visual Effects - Abel del Castillo & Laurent Pallarès. OFFICIAL: N.A. FACEBOOK: N.A. TWITTER: N.A. TRAILER: https://youtu.be/ER8nyYPO11o RELEASE DATE: Digital Platforms April 27th, 2021

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike) Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #an american satan #aram garriga #omnibus entertainment #anton szandor lavey #church of satan #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri

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