Best circus performing arts books according to redditors

Fat bodies were photographed. They were also exploited as freaks. They would not have been included in side shows if obese people were commonplace. Come see the fat lady! And the people would pay to gawk at how a human could exist at such a size. There weren't many people at that size to photograph. Google image search of "fat lady side show" is great

edit: I also want to point out that these women didn't see this as "shaming", it was their career. The freak show members were often tight like family after being shunned by birth families or worse, sold to the freak show by their birth families. They were quite proud of how they could make a living by letting people stare at them as they move from town to town. This is a good book on the topic

I'm not even close to qualified, a Carney I was in the army with showed me how it was done, I had to bug the shit out of him for a month before he agreed and then he made me spend hours spitting water into the air. For those that just can't wait to catch themselves on fire, a guy named Brian Brushwood actually wrote a book on the matter that's pretty decent. But I'll tell you now no one needs to get into this, its very dangerous and even if you do everything right you can still be hurt horribly . https://www.amazon.com/Professionals-Guide-Fire-Eating/dp/0971364605

Really, it's just the truth vs. propaganda. I'm not an expert, but here's what I understand about it all:

There are a lot of folks out there that are convinced that the animals are mistreated, mostly due to PETA, the ASPCA, and a host of other animal "rights" organizations. There's a history of litigation between the two companies, and they have always been settled in Ringling's favor.

In 2015, the Humane Society paid Ringling $15,000,000 in a settlement for damages incurred by frivolous lawsuits and testimonies against the company that were outright falsified. That settlement, combined with another one in 2012, means that Ringling was awarded $25,000,000 by the courts from these animal "rights" groups. (Source.)

Despite that, though, Ringling pulled its elephants from the shows in 2015 - protesters at your shows look bad, drive down ticket sales, and all that. A number of cities bowed down to the protesters, too, and banned animal performances within their jurisdictions.

After Ringling pulled the elephants from the shows, ticket sales started to really dry up. Turns out, for as many people hate the idea of animals performing, folks still like to go see the guys do their thing. This article is from a current musician on one of their units and sums it up well.

This all has some echo of the recent (2015) legislation in Mexico, where animal performance in circus was banned at the federal level almost overnight. Families had to take their animals to shelters or put them down themselves in order to escape fines of ~$300,000 (source.)

Let that sink in for a second... these animals - whose lineage had been literal parts of these family shows since the 1800s... circus families who had been a part of the Mexican culture since the 1800s... had to either take them to a shelter or kill them, or face a fine that would end their business, which had been in their family for 125 years. Uh... sound familiar? The story of Atayde is very similar to what's happened to Ringling (uh, minus the slaughter thing. Maybe.)

The kicker there is that animal rights groups don't seem to understand how much it costs to keep these animals alive. You're talking hundreds of dollars per day. There are stories about animal rights groups in Australia protesting about elephants at a traditional circus there, got the government to send vets from the state zoo on a surprise audit, and the response was "...are you guys kidding? These elephants are in way better condition than the ones in the zoo! It'd be insane to take them away from the circus." (Paraphrasing a quote from a book called "Clownland" by Judith Lanigan. I'd quote it directly, but don't have my copy on tour with me.) When you're selling tickets to a show, you can afford to treat your animals right. When they're dropped off at a conservation center someplace, they don't always have the overhead to take care of them... so they do the "humane" thing and put them down.

I've only worked in shows with animals a handful of times - not big shows like Ringling, but with freelance trained pony, parrot, and dog artists. The love these trainers have for their animals is really, really incredible. I'm not saying that abuse doesn't ever happen, but that seems to me to be the exception, not the rule. I've never met a former Ringling worker who saw any kind of abuse - hell, the company traveled with vets, but not physios. Animals before people.

So, uh... that's the long answer to the question. Not trying to open up a can of worms or anything... I'm sure we can all agree that the ~800 people that will lose their jobs from this company closing - regardless of whether or not you believe it was the direct result of animal rights groups' misinformation - is not a happy thing.

You are probably making a joke, but if you are interested in understanding circus art better, this is a great read.

So interesting. This type of writing was a side-show / mentalist type of trick, and it can be learned. I don't know if ANYONE can learn it, but a few people did and marketed their ability.

Ricky Jay's "Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women: Unique, Eccentric and Amazing Entertainers" has accounts of some other people who developed this talent. Really fascinating book if you like this kind of TIL.

Ricky Jay covers this in his book Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. You'll find a lot of disabled performers that rose to world fame. David Blaine was born with a stomach composed entirely of frogs.

Book source - Amazon






Album

Thanks for this. Shame, look at all those young ages.

This could have been another Nightclub Fire™ or Hartford circus fire, not that it wasn't damaging enough as is.

The first video made it look a lot smaller and contained than the second. They extinguished it pretty quick, I thought; but the second video shows just what a massive fireball it really was.

What I'm guessing (and would love more info to be released about) is the nature of the powder was an important factor here. Looks like fog or mist you could breathe in, too. Shame, shame.

That would be Circus Techniques by Hovey Burgess https://www.amazon.com/Circus-techniques-Hovey-Burgess/dp/0690014643

I'm currently reading a heartwrenching non-fiction book, The Circus Fire by Stuart O'Naan. I bought it at the Ringling museum gift shop after seeing a small display about the tragedy but reading the indepth account is super depressing, but also fascinating.

This might be off the beam, but there's a non-fiction book by Stewart O'Nan called The Circus Fire.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NJUOF8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

A fire breaks out during a circus in a small town in the 1940s. The tents had been coate wit kerosene to make them waterproof.

After the fire is extinguished, a number of people are unidentified.

Today, only one body is still unidentfied - a little girl.

It was a small town - who was this little girl?

it doesn't exist, spent ages trying to find it when episode aired.

perhaps these-

http://www.amazon.com/Freak-Babylon-Illustrated-Teratology-Freakshows/dp/1840681608

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Oddities-Book-Natures-Anomalies/dp/0806510218

http://www.amazon.com/Mutter-Museum-Historic-Medical-Photographs/dp/0922233284

or seek out medical textbooks covering birth defects, deformities, etc.

There is a new book out called DIY Circus Lab for Kids that includes instructions for a few of these (at least flowersticks and diabolo).

If you are interested in fire eating, check out The Professionals' Guide to Fire Eating by Brian Brushwood.

Though the book is full of helpful DIY info, there is a lot of filler. For example, he uses a large chunk of one of Houdinis' skeptic books to illustrate the history of fire eating.

None the less a worthwhile read.

Carisa Hendrix offers a digital download of her dvd Learn Fire Eating. It covers almost exactly the same things as the Brushwood book with only a small amount of variation. If you are a visual learner that prefers videos over books (or if you enjoy watching cute girls eat fire) go for the video!

TLDR; Follow the links for information about fire eating.

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived

A great, true story about an elephant.

If you have not read the book "Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived" You should. This reminds me of his story.

https://www.amazon.com/Modoc-Story-Greatest-Elephant-Lived/dp/0060929510

Best book that I have ever read. I understand so much about Circuses and elephant life after reading this.

Yesss! I love reading about old disasters. The Hartford Circus Fire of 1944 is one of my favorites (though obviously it was tragic). Stewart O'Nan wrote a fantastic book about it.

The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385496850/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PiBXCbHD0132B

Ok. So not exactly crime in the sense you may be thinking , but this was a really interesting book.

It explains the fire , the reason so many were killed , how they treated those injured , the investigation

All very interesting things in the same vein as a lot of crime books.

No worries. T'was one of my favourite books growing up.

http://www.amazon.com/Modoc-Story-Greatest-Elephant-Lived/dp/0060929510

A Royal Coupling: The Historic Marriage of Barnum and Bailey

Nature's Metropolis by Bill Cronon - fascinating story about how Chicago developed into the urban powerhouse it is today

The Name of War by Jill Lepore - a history of King Philip's War of the 17th century, a profoundly bloody conflict between colonists + Indians

This Republic of Suffering, by Drew Gilpin Faust - history of death and suffering in the Civil War (LOVE this book)

The Circus Age, by Janet Davis - a political and cultural history of the circus during the 19th century

Segregating Sound by Karl Hagstrom Miller - how pop music developed from racial categorization

Is this the book you're talking about?
http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Front-Autobiography-Richard-Dannatt/dp/0552162612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344873674&sr=8-1&keywords=Richard+Dannatt

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's available on Amazon right now, but if you have any other recommendations, they would be appreciated too.

Hey! I haven't read (unless you count reddit) anything while high yet, but some of my favorite books are:

[Alyss Heart (trilogy)](http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Glass-Wars-Frank-Beddor/dp/0142409413/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1410302298&sr=8-3&keywords=alyss+heart(), The Devil in The Kitchen (Marco Pierre White) and Man on Wire (also, if you have't seen 'Man on Wire' I highly recommend this documentary. It is absolutely amazing and beautiful. On Netflix!)

Hope to hear some good recommendations!

Clash of Kings, Circus Fire, and Mark Twain's autobiography.

http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Pigs-Fireproof-Women-Entertainers/dp/0374525706
I'd like to see what horses and pigs could do with the right equipment.

Here is a link to the original submission


http://www.reddit.com/r/HumanPorn/comments/1p1uz1/more_vintage_circus_performers_from_the/


Here is a comment by the original submitter


Book source - Amazon






Album

Elephants are (overused word) awesome. This is one of the best books I've read, and it's about an elephant.

http://www.amazon.com/Modoc-Story-Greatest-Elephant-Lived/dp/0060929510