10 Strange and Unusual Circus Sideshow Acts

In earlier times — specifically the Middle Ages — disabilities and physical abnormalities didn’t elicit the kind of fascination that would later fuel sideshows. Historically, people with unique physical traits were often seen as symbols of bad omens or evil spirits [source: Grande]. This isn’t to celebrate our progress in medical treatment, but to show how one form of marginalization was replaced with another.

Circus sideshows helped establish a division between the "freaks" — a term that has been reclaimed by some disability advocates — and the so-called "normal" individuals. This was often framed as genuine curiosity, not ridicule or fear, though this interpretation can certainly be debated. Regardless, we’ll explore some of the most bizarre sideshows from history — many of which continue to influence today’s more inclusive and empowering shows.

Let’s begin by looking at a sideshow that highlighted how little it took, other than a medical condition, to turn individuals into spectacles for public viewing.

10: Enormous Tumors

This example fits under the category of a sideshow, though it wasn’t a circus or traditional "show." Hoo Loo’s tale speaks to the 19th century’s strange obsession with turning people with medical conditions into public curiosities, subjects for public display. Tumors were part of this disturbing fascination.

Hoo Loo, a Chinese laborer, arrived in London in 1831 seeking a cure for a 58-pound (26.3 kg) tumor that extended from his lower abdomen to his knees [source: Wishart]. Tickets were sold for the surgery at Guy's Hospital, and 680 men (no women allowed) watched the operation, which was performed without anesthesia, a practice that wouldn’t be adopted for another decade or two. Sadly, he died during the procedure.

Author Laura Grande suggests that Hoo Loo's story is a clear example of how the sideshow culture influenced mainstream society — using the spectacle of "freakery" to engage in conversations about disability while simultaneously reinforcing its abhorrence [source: Grande].

9: The Flatulist Performance

Flatulence is a natural part of life — unless you can control it at will. The next performer figured out how to capitalize on his unusual ability. Le Petomane (born Joseph Pujol) was a French sideshow artist in the late 19th century, renowned for his act based on flatulence. His skill was unparalleled. Much like some other performers, Le Petomane’s success was linked to a unique anatomical trait: He could inhale large amounts of air or water into his rectum, then expel it with remarkable precision.

If that doesn’t seem appealing to you, perhaps you’re not a 9-year-old or haven’t fully grasped the potential of his talents. Le Petomane could blow out candles, shoot water over long distances, and even play wind instruments with his flatus. His act was wildly popular in France, where he performed at the legendary Moulin Rouge. While the mechanics of his act intrigued many, Pujol’s family refused a request by a medical school to examine his rectum after his death in 1945.

8: Two-headed Wonders

If you believe there’s only one fake sideshow on the list, I’ve got some magic beans to offer you. Sideshows have long been notorious for their hoaxes, and in many ways, these frauds are even more entertaining than the real acts. There's a strange comfort in seeing the audience get tricked rather than the performers. Pasquale Pinon — also known as "The Two-Headed Mexican" — was a sideshow performer who occupied an unusual middle ground. Though (spoiler alert!) he didn’t actually have two heads, he did have a medical condition that launched his career.

Pinon was originally a railroad worker in Texas who had a large tumor growing from his head. One day, a promoter saw him and, like any rational person, thought, "Hey, I should definitely pretend that’s a second head and put him on a traveling show." They placed a wax mask over the tumor to make it resemble a (rather obviously fake) face, and basically had Pinon sit still as onlookers stared [source: Pednaud].

While Pinon’s two heads were a hoax, it’s worth noting that there is a genuine medical condition known as craniopagus parasiticus, in which a person is born with a parasitic twin head [source: Lofty].

7: Dwarfism as Entertainment

This entry doesn’t make the list because it’s inherently bizarre. It’s here because conditions like dwarfism were marketed as circus attractions. This is one of the most appalling tales from the history of the circus. Simply put, it’s downright strange that medical conditions were ever considered forms of entertainment.

Let’s not pretend that showman P.T. Barnum was ever content with simply displaying his performers as they were. Take Tom Thumb (real name: Charles Stratton), the dwarf who became an incredibly popular attraction in the mid-1800s. Was it enough for the 2-foot-tall (60.96 cm) Thumb to just perform? Absolutely not. Though Tom was only 5 years old when he began performing, Barnum instructed him to tell the audience he was 11 — a more sensational fact, of course.

But medical conditions were only of interest as sideshows if they were shocking, naturally. So let’s turn our attention to a show that would likely send a modern audience running for an ambulance, rather than buying a ticket.

6: The Fiji Mermaid

Enough of the fake sideshows, let’s dive into the real deal! And by real deal, we mean the totally fabricated spectacle that turned out to be a complete hoax. A collection of bizarre sideshows would be incomplete without a few made-up "wonders," and one of the most infamous frauds was the Fiji (sometimes referred to as Feejee) mermaid.

It all began in 1842, when Dr. J. Griffin supposedly arrived in New York with a mermaid caught off the coast of the Fiji Islands. The press quickly caught wind of the creature, and Dr. Griffin gave them a brief glimpse. However, P.T. Barnum told the newspapers that the doctor wouldn't let him display the mermaid — but perhaps they'd be interested in the woodcut of the beautiful mermaid that Barnum could no longer use for his own publicity? Naturally, they were, and soon the public — lured in by the image printed in all the papers — clamored to see the creature in person.

And guess what? It was a huge success, even though Barnum had orchestrated the whole thing. Griffin was actually a man named Levi Lyman, the entire backstory was fabricated, and the mermaid was (most likely) a monkey's head sewn onto a fish’s body [source: Hoaxes.org].

5: World's Ugliest Acts

This particular "bizarre" sideshow earns its place not because of the performer herself, but because — much like the story of dwarfism we discussed earlier — it highlights the oddity of sideshows featuring such acts. The attraction in question was Mary Ann Bevan, whom the Coney Island Dreamland Circus, and later Ringling Bros., eagerly promoted in the 1920s as the "World's Ugliest Woman." Forget that Bevan suffered from acromegaly, a pituitary disorder causing bone and facial deformities [source: Danzig]. Also, forget that Bevan could never truly be the World's Ugliest Woman, since if you browse YouTube comments, you'll see that many people have made similar claims about various others, with no universal agreement in sight.

The title of "World's Ugliest (or sometimes "Homeliest") Woman" was even contested in its time. Grace McDaniels, who likely had a condition known as Sturge-Weber Syndrome (causing a facial birthmark and tumors), was also dubbed with the title around the same period. While Bevan, after becoming a widow and struggling to support her four children, reluctantly accepted the title and performed in sideshows, McDaniels was so embarrassed by the cruel moniker that she convinced promoters to refer to her as the Mule-Faced Woman instead [source: Pednaud]. (A small win, perhaps, but still hollow.)

4: Drunken Acrobatics

If you'd told me that acting like a drunken fool could be a profitable sideshow act, I'd have made a fortune back in college. I regret wasting my performances on audiences who didn't even throw me a penny. Of course, my routine wasn’t as refined as the ones that became iconic in sideshows. One such performer, Ben Dova (not his real name, not that it’s surprising), made being drunk seem like an absolute blast, while terrifying the crowd with his acrobatic stunts that appeared even more perilous if you thought he was intoxicated.

Most of his stunts were harmless enough: He’d climb a wobbling street lamp to light a cigarette and stagger around with a bumbling style while in the ring. But the sideshow inebriation routine reached new heights — or should I say "56 stories high" — when Dova performed atop New York City's Chanin Building in 1933, without a net or safety measures. His performance was captured on newsreel [source: YouTube]. Some suggest it was more about clever camera work since the building’s "top" was really just a ledge a few feet below, but I don’t think that makes it any less terrifying [source: Russell].

3: The Oklahoma Outlaw Mannequin Mummy

Before his death, Elmer McCurdy was the kind of outlaw that could’ve starred in a spaghetti western. After his passing, however, he became the sort of character you could imagine Alfred Hitchcock or David Lynch crafting. A small-time criminal from the early 1900s, McCurdy was shot dead by law enforcement after a 1911 train robbery. The funeral home in Oklahoma that received his body thought it would be a good idea to embalm him for display. Unfortunately, they embalmed him so thoroughly that he ended up mummified instead.

Five years later, a sideshow promoter noticed McCurdy on display at the funeral home and — posing as a relative — claimed the body for his own exhibition, where McCurdy earned the title of the "Oklahoma Outlaw" [source: Pednaud]. For the next six decades, McCurdy’s body was moved from one show to the next. (It raises an interesting question: Was there really such a high demand for exhibitions featuring dead outlaws?) Eventually, his body was sold to a wax museum as a mannequin, but when a clumsy mishap caused one of the mannequin’s arms to break and reveal a bone, the police were called to investigate. A ticket from a crime museum — one of McCurdy’s many posthumous homes — was found in his mouth, and that’s when his true identity was uncovered. McCurdy was finally laid to rest in 1977.

2: Human Blockhead Acts

Maybe you’re already familiar with the "human blockhead" act, given its long-standing popularity in sideshow culture. In fact, it might be precisely because of its enduring fame that this bizarre routine deserves a spot on the list. It involves determining the exact point where a sharp object can be inserted into the nasal cavity, and then forcefully driving that object into place with exacting precision. It’s certainly strange.

The human blockhead act is made possible by the design of our anatomy. The nasal cavity contains a space where a nail, a drill, a spike, or other similar objects can be inserted without causing harm or pain. (Well, assuming you've practiced extensively. If you try this at home, expect quite a bit of pain and damage.)

One of the most peculiar aspects of the human blockhead act is the danger posed by sneezing. Imagine inserting a nail into your skull, and then sneezing — the consequences could be severe. Unfortunately, the very act of provoking the nasal cavity to perform increases the likelihood of triggering a sneeze. So in this truly bizarre sideshow, the challenge becomes controlling that sneeze reflex, which could literally mean the difference between life and death.

1: Regurgitation Acts

We’ve witnessed all sorts of unusual performances, from inebriated acrobats to flatulists. However, I firmly believe that the most bizarre — and possibly the most entertaining — act is at the top of our list. These are the performances that make us scratch our heads and ask, "How do they do it?" Or perhaps more aptly, "Who would even want to see that?" Still confused? Let’s just say one of the leading acts went by the name of "The Great Regurgitator." Step right up, but be sure to keep your distance.

Indeed, vomiting — and its gentler counterpart, the "water spouts" — were a staple of sideshow performances, with evidence showing they existed as early as the 17th century [source: Pednaud]. Essentially, performers either consumed substances to induce excessive vomiting or they trained their stomach and throat muscles to perform at will. Either way, the result was a rather messy spectacle.

In the 1920s, Hadji Ali gained fame as the world’s most renowned regurgitator, with the astonishing ability to hit a target 6 feet away [source: Pednaud]. His act was even more extraordinary when he combined it with fire-breathing, using kerosene to create a blaze, and then spitting out water he had swallowed to extinguish the flames.