Get ready, folks! There’s a new networking site hitting the web for circus performers of all kinds. The Circus Hub was recently launched by fellow performer Shea Freelove as an attempt to connect comrades of the circus arts. Today, Shea takes a moment to explain the nature, scope and future of this site. But first, [...]
Today I would like to feature some original 1940s footage from Coney Island, which includes the beach, the freakshow, the roller coasters and more. In news reel fashion, there’s some excellent bally talking, and the quality of both the audio and the video is surprisingly high for the time. What makes this clip most remarkable, [...]
Discussion Time In the wake of recent human trafficking scandals involving children, India’s Supreme Court has order all circuses to stop employing children: Until recently, circuses were exempt from Child Labour Act that banned employment of children under 14. Then an amendment removed the exemption but circus owners ignored the change. Now the apex court [...]
Many a historical circus fiction spin tales of warring circus troupes, competing for rubes’ wallets and tearing down each others’ advertising. For the clashing troupes in Circus Dan, for example, tents were incinerated, wagon wheels were loosened and fists were exchanged. While we don’t hear of this hostile competition much anymore in the US, two [...]
Author and illustrator Jane George has recently published The Mumbo Jumbo Circus, a fictional novel following the adventures of a young girl as she journeys into the magical underground world of a traveling circus. Today, Jane has been courteous enough to share some of her illustrations from this book with HeyRubeCircus readers: Jane describes The [...]
Often times, carnie slang makes it’s way into pop culture, and of course the reverse is also true. “86′ed” is one such piece of lingo that has pervaded several linguistic subcultures; we hear it in reference to mobsters, bartenders and of course, carnies. According to Carny Sideshows: Weird Wonders of the Midway by Tony Gangi, [...]
What’s a circus to do when one of their exotic animals passes away? Today, there’s infinite legal complexities involved in the disposal of such a carcass. But not so back in 1848! According to WalesOnline, A beer garden is being dug up to search for a legendary Victorian circus elephant. The garden at the [...]
Sand animation is a captivating form of performance art that usually, at least for contemporary artists, involves projectors and light boards to ease the viewing experience, but the roots of this art form date back thousands of years. Sand mandalas are present in Tibetan Buddhist rituals, as are sandpaintings in the Australian Aborigine tradition. What [...]
The logistics of a traveling circus are nothing short of awe-inspiring, and many a fanatics (not to mention Armies, with a capital A) have been moved to study the intricacies of such an operation. When engaging in a conversation on the topic, the more commonly cited stats refer to the early 1900s Ringling Circus-style operation, [...]
The Invisible Man Corporation has recently returned home from our Spring tour, which imprudently spanned April Fools’ Day. On the fateful evening of March 31, the devilish crew decided to alleviate some touring tension with an epic prank: When we set sails from Austin, TX and headed into the uncharted territory known as the Midwest, [...]