Raffaele De Ritis' Novelties and Wonders

The Dior Dancers

2011-03-20T13:49:00.007+02:00

Further investigations in the bygone night-club era

In our investigations of the bygone nightclub era, we hope our followers remember the unveiling of the miraculous Charlivels from our vaults.
In the current times of spandex vestuary, canned new-age music and skilled understudies from the athletic world, we are pleasant to remember once again the era when acrobatics, music and theatrics werea blend of pure art.
The Dior Dancers, a prestigious variety act lived between 1958 and 1963, was the master example.
They inherited the aesthetic of the remote “apache dance” (a specialty you’ll soon face on this blog) with the vocabulary of “adagio” acrobatic dance. Dior Dancers was produced by Bob Ganjou, who made famous the act of Ganjou Brothers (between late 20s and 1947), and starred his wife Merian Ganjou.

Dior Dancers starred in the British variety circuit, and in the opening show of Las Vegas Tropicana Hotel with the “Folies Bergeres” French imported production, where they starred for two years.

For you today, a selection of the lobby pictures of Merian and her boys, and their 1960 tv appearance in ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’ hosted by Bruce Forsyth.

Please, take the necessary 9 minutes to enjoy the act. Appreciate the drama and pre-Actor’s Studio innocence in interpretation; the quality and timing of the musical selection and the quality of the live band; be amazed at the ease of skills that nobody in this world is likely supposed to see anymore, forever.

"The World's Great Magician"

2009-11-04T12:44:00.008+02:00

An adieu to Carl Ballantine (1922-2009)

As Orson Welles wisely stated: "every magician is the greatest magician in the world".
The Great Ballantine (born Meyer Kessler) presented himself as such at the beginning at his act. Just to follow seven minutes of the worst possible exits for a magician's act. And in doing that, he consecrated a star on the stages of dying vaudeville and rising television: the rubber chicken.
As a zen priest, he dedicated 60 years of his life doing every day the same act: until his fictionary character sculpted himself on his face, body and voice, becoming more believable than truth. Until every smile and laugh from the audience became a sure-fire turning point of a little piece of art through the minimalist craft of the repetition in front of the most unpredictable audiences. Of his generation, only giants as Mac Ronay and George Carl can be compared to him.

When a magicians passes away, a wand is traditionally broken by colleagues on his grave.
What is broken here is not just the prestige of a glorious magic wand. It is also another link to an era and style of perfection in performing arts that never will be back again.

Battling Magicians

2009-07-31T19:37:00.005+03:00

"FISM" in Beijng

The venerable ancient art of magic is still alive: yesterday in Beijing ended the FISM, the world magic championship. Few events in the world are as surreal as witnessing, every three years, hundred of the most unpredictable magic acts from the five continents, for an audience of thousand of other magicians. It is an experience spanning from the most grotesque parochial flavour to few sublime exemple of a great art.

This year's Grand Prix of magic was awarded to magician Soma from Hungary.
Next FISM will be in Blackpool, UK, July 2012.

Here is Soma's winning act:

Torp's Flea Circus

2009-07-03T15:12:00.007+03:00

Tivoli park in Copenhagen stands as one of the last paradises of novelties and wonders. One of its main attractions in the 50s was Mrs.Torpe's flea circus. This being probably one of the last genuine shows of this kind as intended in the last two centuries, and today resting in obscure memorabilia.
The show was founded by William Torp in England in the 20s, probably inspired by some companies of the early 1900. After touring Egypt (poster above), M.me Else Torp established a permanent show at Tivoli in 1952, to sadly close it in 1956 "for lack of performers". It was replaced by a mouse show, it seems. Her son later toured with a similar show in a special trailer through the Usa coast to coast.
We are happy to offer you today a magnificent documentary film about Torpe's flea circus in his golden years at Copenhagen' s Tivoli park.

(photo courtesy from Torp's family website)

The obscures origins of "manualism"

2009-03-22T10:47:00.003+02:00

With a tribute to the unique art of John Twomey.

It seems that all started in 1933, when a farmer named Cecill Dill traveled from Traverse City, Michigan, to Universal Studios in Hollywood to record his singular skill in a newsreel.

Mr.Dill claimed to play “Yankee Doodle Dandy” in a unheard form: by squeezing air thru his hands. He said to have started mastering his instrument by 1914.

Strangely, no traces seems to survive of this art during the golden age of vaudeville, music-hall and early TV. We have to wait the 70s and the arrival of John Twomey, who in 1974 took as a storm the millions of Americans watching Johnny Carson’s show, with his electryfying rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever”. It is to Mr.Twomey that seems credited the definition of “manualist”, a term that now dignifies and indicates a profession still rare but today relatively practiced in some outskirts of the musical constellation.

Today we offers you the sight of Mr.Dill’s first performance ever of manualism, and an excerpt of the legendary Twomey’s act on Carson’s. But expect more to come in future.

A lesson in showmanship

2009-02-24T20:07:00.002+02:00

Eric Brenn, or the mastering of porcelaine for entertainment purpose

Plate spinning is one of the most widely replied standards in showbiz, from small country circuses to far-east night club. But the act itself is an insidious and marvellous machine for thrill, timing, skills, comedy, audience involvement and all that makes great an act.
It is a lesson for the eternal adagio: no matter what you does in front of footlight, yourself is what really matters. Personality will always be the eternal secret.
Now, is difficult to find in the history a man better than Eric Brenn to make of this specialty a masterpiece of pure art.
Here is Eric Brenn in action at Ed Sullivan's in 1969:

The Man with X-Ray eyes

2009-01-17T19:33:00.005+02:00

Kuda Bux, from India, was an unique act in the last century of inusual performances. He was able to read and write while wrapped as a mummy, or even drive a car. But he needed glasses to read his newspaper in normal conditions.

Half of the fascination of his internationally admired act was the ritual of meticolously obscuring his wiew with gauzes and napkins.
A deliciously mysterious blend of Esp, exotica, bondage, masochism, with a flavour of night-club fashion and a twist of sci-fi atmosphere, Kuda Bux was a sort of horror movie hero. It can be witnessed in the video below: even if not of the best quality, the relic preserves the entirety of his act.

Gifts from the Insects

2009-01-03T12:07:00.007+02:00

One of the very first post subjects of our blog was the amazing Insects Circus, that we discovered few years ago on London's south bank (just few steps away from Astley's circus birthplace).

Later, two of the most succesful features of the blog were Koringa the reptiles' queen and Hadji Hali, regurgitator extraordinaire.
Now, Mark Copeland, Insect Circus Impresario, sends us two interesting findings about our two icons. We offer them to you readers, being also an opportunity for stimulating your curiosity to revive those past marvels, searching into our blog for: insect circus, koringa, hadji ali.

Dear Raffaele,

Having discovered your wonderful Novelties pages through an Insect
Circus google alert some time ago, I've been a big fan of your blog.
Thanks for including my museum amongst your wonders!

I thought you might be interested in the two attached pictures from my
collection.  The Koringa poster is not in great condition but is quite
rare. Also the photo is not wonderful as it is framed and difficult to
photograph as it's behind glass. It is from the Reco Bros Irish tour
of 1946. The other picture is a flyer for Hadji Ali when he performed
in London in 1936. I believe he died sometime that year...?

Looking forward to more of your Novelties as they appear,

All the best,

Mark.

Mark Copeland
Creative Director
The Insect Circus

Holidays on G-String

2008-12-20T11:29:00.002+02:00

We imagine our initiated readers, being periodically exposed to our past bizarreries, often complaining the nowadays loss of inusual acts, strange performances, unthinkable talents.
Gone seems the times when words such daring, sexy, mysterious, hilarious, devastating were the brilliant faces reflecting the magic of a same, surreal perfectly cut diamond.
We saved for the holidays one of those pearls.
So we can introduce you to Miss Amy-G, the lady in the picture above. She is not an oddity of the past but a marvel of the presents. She lives with us.
Enjoy her unique talent on the video below.

Happy Holidays

The Charlivels

2008-11-24T13:39:00.003+02:00

The golden days of the night-club era

Before the plethora of Eastern acrobats, wannabe magicians and outdated post-burlesque divas, the origins of the night-clubs were studded by outstanding showstoppers.
One of the very first of them, by the late '40s, was the "Charlivels" act. Valentino, Juanito and Charlie jr. (sons of the legendary clown Charlie Rivel), helped to open the way to variety acts in such places as Latin Quarter in New York, Ciro's at Hollywood and the very early Las Vegas lounges, without forgetting to grace european temples as Medrano, London's Talk of the Town, Copenhagen's Schumann, etc.
Here they are, in a tv show from the 60s (we posted the video in 2 parts).

But what they did in their act? Well, just everything.

See by yourself.

!!!!...CIRCOPEDIA....!!!!!

2008-11-17T16:34:00.003+02:00

We've been missing for awhile, being quite busy at the moment.
This not being a vulgar excuse to abandon you or to uderestimate your appetite for memorabilia.

Waiting for our comeback here, you can highly entertain yourself with the ultimate online divertissement for the serious and competent circus history amateur:

www.circopedia.org

It is a project made possible by the grace of Big Apple Circus. It is curated by historian extraordinaire Dominique Jando, with some participation by ours.
You will be treated with an incessantly-growing cornucopia of texts, video, images and much more.
We hope you will enjoy our work. And your feedback will be highly appreciated.

Elvis mokko

2008-11-02T22:42:00.002+02:00

The art of surprising and impress the spectator always falls in predictable categories: magicians, clowns, fakirs, hypnotists, etc.
Our readers knows how much we enjoys to ignore those genres, searching for performers whose art doesn't leave us other possibilities than to avoid the taxonomy.
Today we invite you to make the knowledge of Elvis Mokko, from Mozambico (probably the only novelty act ever from this remote country). He was a regular feature of european night-clubs in the 70s, then turning to theme park and events in Germany.
What he does?
See by yourself from this performance in Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, from the late 70s.

Capitan Wall Gallery

2008-10-23T19:03:00.004+03:00

We will never give up to swim into the past in search of one of our most beloved obsessions: crocodile hypnotizers.
Our analyst is still investigating about the reasons of this fascination of ours, that we sincerely hope you endure to appreciate.
Today is the turn of one of the most distinguished heroes in the field at the turn of last century: Capitan Wall. Unfortunately, moving footage doesn't seem to exist.

Of Clothes and Men

2008-10-05T11:55:00.004+03:00

The forgotten and unique art of Gerard Sety

Quick-change artists have been a beloved feature of vaudeville, circuses and music-hall stages.
If two Italians must be credited to make of this a true art form worldwide (Leopoldo Fregoli in last century, pictured below, and Arturo Brachetti those days), other singular variations have been around.

Quick-change modern pioneer, Leopoldo fregoli (1900 ca.)

Among obscure rapidity skill of victorian impersonation, oriental mask transformers, papier-maché parodists, Russian walking fashion shows, some singular gem emerges.
One of those was Gerard Sety from France. Mr.Sety, who left this world in 1998, was a French movie actor whose dozens of popular film appearances are credited. But his non-screen identity was tied to an umbelievable cabaret stage act in which he completely revolved the concept of quick-change: in fact it is proper to classify it as a slow-change performer. His 10-minute piece, performed in any language, became in the crescendo an hallucynant masterpiece of pure dadaism.
We had somewhere a version of the act in his integrity, likely the last time in his life he performed it in TV. Even if in Italian language, we are sure that is perfectly enjoyable in his universal crazyness.
Ladies and gentleman, please admire the only and unique slow-change act in the history: Gerard Sety.

The King of Pickpockets (again)

2008-09-22T00:59:00.010+03:00

Finally, the full act of Borra

In a realm crowded of crowns, filled with princes, lords and queens, as is the showbusiness world of obscure specialties, we recently twice illustrated as one and only was the sovereign of the artistic appropriation of others' valued properties.
We twice unhearted images of the late Borra, promising more wonders to come. And today you can discover in all his magnificence, his complete act. Crowned with another small gallery of the publicity he was heralded with (and, please, gently remarks the delicious Knie circus poster in which Borra attempts to steals a letter).
We also wish to remember that today Charly Borra, the son of the master, is still touring the planet exhalting the remarkable art of his progenitor (awebsite of him seems forthcoming).

Boxing Kangaroos

2008-09-07T18:14:00.006+03:00

And a special opponent

In the realm of the anthropomorphic circus mythology, the boxing kangaroo represents without any doubt one of the primal icons. The direct opposition between man and beast, framed in the world of sports and leisures, assures to the savage creature the potential of a victory, under the fair eyes of a genuine federal referee.
A small gallery of emblematic boxing kangoroos from various eras, finishing with a filmed witness of one of those fights, with a very distinguished defiant.

Distinctly Deep Throaths

2008-08-31T11:55:00.009+03:00

A disappearing race of female swallowing marvels and his hopefully renaissance

As our social ecosystem is deeply changing and revolving, several are the disapperaring forms of life as the most peculiar ways of earnig life itself. One of those in dangerous extinction is the sword swallowing practice. If the masculine tradition can still count few dozens of exponents scarcely scattered around the globe, the gentle sex representants seems nowadays much rare.

In the last century, sideshow platforms, variety stages and modest village squares pullulated of this most sexier emanation of burlesque, where the puritan observer, while enjoyng the thrill of the feat, could safely imagine the most forbidden variations on those ladies whose throats housed every size of iron weapon in multiple numbers and shapes, as well as neon tubes, chair legs, scissors spoons etcetera etcetera. Then, with politically correctness of the fairground and his live entertainments, toward the end of last century more reserved variations on the deep throat imagery excited in the most confortable way the imagery of the adult in private silver screen consumptions.

Today’s pleasant renaissance of burlesque and sideshow culture is inspiring a rebirth of ladies talented in modern mouth miracles. The actual leader of the movement, according our modest judgment, resides in England and is Miss Amy Saunders, aka Miss Behave. She is an immensely talented performer, the most perfect cabaret guest, chanteuse and comedienne, and of course gifted in oral oddities.

We leave you today with a gallery of past braveries (a series of portraits selected and graciously stolen from wonderful www.swordswallow.com), to finish with a clip of Amy accomplishing a singular Guinness record.

And now the clip. Well, Guinnes Record. We agree on how vulgar is to suggest the discovery of an artist with a television game appearance, and we wished to offer you a more theatrical piece from Miss Behave's repertory. The even infinite resources of the "net" don't allow us, and we hope you soon see her live in her most appropriately decadent atmosphere.

An angel of another century

2008-08-19T15:24:00.006+03:00

Lottie Brunn and the era of shomanship

Another great performer left this world in the last few days. Lottie Brunn was one of the last witness of last century's great shomanship, when mastering an act was a mysterious formula of tantalizing talent, erotic elegance, raucous rythm. And of all the remaining ingredients to make you believe that the performer was part of another world, the ambassador of a kingdom invented to exhilarate you in a happy evening, to then turn into a gentle ghost to wake you the following morning in a regenerate state of grace, to face the ordinary world.
That was Mrs. Brunn, now in the realm of the legend where her brother Francis was waiting before.
They were in a class before stylized rainbow lycras, elaborate face paintings and sophisticated aseptic soundtracks. They were in a class when performing was a matter of personality, smiles, continuous seduction, masterful interaction with a live swing band, and a concept of costumes as going to a court ball twice daily.
Lottie and Francis are now perhaps doing the same up there, very far in the sky, in the same world where this class can last forever: the class of Borra the king of pickpockets; or the gentleman magician Channing Pollock; of the elegant chaotic George Carl; the absurd but aristocratic dancing Doll Family of midgets; the lord of horsemanship Albert Schumann, or Count Basie and his band. An array of smiles, subtle touches of shomanship, white ties, silk dresses, personal lobby photos polished as new shoes, feats of acrobatics or legerdemain presented with the lightness of a joke, to distracted night-club audiences mesmerized for seven long minutes when the world and all is cold wars seemed to stop.
What a century it was. What performers they were.

Donkey on Ice

2008-08-10T17:26:00.005+03:00

The unusual comedy art of Karl Kossmayer and his mule (with a new discovery)

One of the most intense circus experiences of my childhood was the act of the “unrideable mules”: in wich a good dozen of spectators is invited to win a prize if able to complete a ring circle on the back of the savage quadrupede, catastrophically ending with the impossible attempts of a quiet but tenacious old man. Later, you could have spent weeks puzzling if he was a genuine spectator or some kind of strange performer.

For me, the image of the little old gentleman, approaching the ring with his program in the hands, pursued by his wife and finishing to lost his pants, was a shock. A contrast between the greatest humor and a feel of unease; a masterpiece on the border between fiction and reality, completely played on the separation line between the shadowy space of the audience and the bright territory of the performer. Was this man from the circus? Nobody could really answer in front of the immense showmanship of Karl Kossmayer. A perfect illusion in which, long before Wharol, everybody was promised five minutes of celebrity. And, slowly during the act, this little character carried to the ring a perfect history of an universal retired middle-class type, life-dominated by his wife’s discipline, and wasting in few second all his life’s boring dignity to reach the impossible world of the clowns.

This was great drama, revolutioning the roles of the theatre far before the avant-gardes. An actor impersonating a spectator who wants to be an actor, without declaring to be acting… Pirandello was nothing, compared to Kossmayer.

Karl Kossmayer (1917-2000), from a great trainers family, started his act in 1928, and with it toured the globe, generating imitators all around the world. His sister Julie impersonated perfectly “the wife”. Starring with the best jugglers, acrobats, clowns, trainers of his time, his act was so strong on the audience that the only place to put it was mostly to close the program.

The act was filmed by the great Jacques Tati as part of his circus movie “Parade”, in 1974 (mostly of the movie critics are still thinking that this perfect act was a Tati’s idea).

And now, our little discovery.
In fact, we have found also an unusual clip. Kossmayer toured briefly in Usa with Holiday on Ice of 1960. That’s it.
They used to put for few minutes a carpeted circus ring on the ice and display the mule act. And the comedy effect was emphasized immensely when Karl repeatly covered on ice the distance between his loge seat and the circus ring, with a masterful catalog of falls and trips. Unfortunately, his American success was short, because, for safety issue, audience members were discouraged to test their skills with the “dangerous” mule. The homeland of rodeos was starting to be politically correct also for the masters of European circus artistry.

I became friend with Karl in his last years, always sharing wonderful times visiting the Monte Carlo Festival.

Today we wants to divulgate his art to the new generations of the world, with a double tribute: his act in the traditional version, from the mentioned Tati movie; and our discovered excerpt of the way he did it on Holiday on Ice, from a forgotten Ed Sullivan special.

Little Tich and Loie Fuller

2008-08-04T17:17:00.006+03:00

The pioneer of clown and the ancestor of dance

We already paied our tribute to Litlle Tich, presenting the irresistible film of his "long boots" act, the first recorded comic movie (filmed in 1900) and, according to Jacques Tati "the root of everything is basic in the art of the comic film".
In times of pionnerism in everything (we are around year 1900), Tich had another illustrious contemporary walking the stages: Miss Loie Fuller, who with his "danse serpentine" revolutioned the concept itself of ballet. The fast, modern dynamism of her variety specialty, with elaborated light effects, was captured in various way: the poster art of Chéret, the early photographers, the study on motion of Tolouse-Lautrec itself and finally a certain Mr.Louis Lumiére who was experimenting on the moving image. In fact, Miss Fuller's act was filmed and hand colored as early as 1898.

Then, the encounter.

Miss Fuller was a star. And Little Tich was the king of parody. They even happened to share the same Folies-Bergères stage. So was almost natural for the great little comic to add in his repertory his version of the Fuller's serpentine dance. And, as for the "big boot", this act too was filmed for the posterity even is less known and very short. It is preserved in some movie archives. According our vocation for wonderous novelties, we searched, find it and posted on youtube.

Now, in the following video windows, please compare the two stars: Loie Fuller's original movie by Lumiére of 1898, and the Little Tich's genial version of 1900.

Back on Borra

2008-07-22T20:53:00.004+03:00

Not just a pickpocket

The prodigious act of Borra, while based on theatrical pickpocketing, started with excuse for other odd talents, as in the tradition of every great of the variety and circus stage.
The master opened silently his act with an enchanting routine of smoke rings, then with a masterful ball manipulations, always surrounded by the gazes of the circus audience.
We unhearted a too brief excerpt of Borra's opening from a British newreel from the late 40s, when he was appearing at Bertram Mill's Circus, at London's Olympia hall.
And we promptly posted it on youtube, for your pleasure and future memory.

Variation Virtuosisms of Musical Marvels

2008-07-13T21:27:00.011+03:00

Asking for your excuse for the past silent week, our appropriate choice is to be loud, turning on music.

Before mp3 and even gramophone, to appreciate the virtuosism of music was necessary to step into the kingdoms of variety, early vaudeville, circus or travelling fair theatres. This was the realm of peculiar instruments or musician virtually unknown by nature or human science.
It was the paradise of foot-bell ringers, elephant orchestras, lilliputian full bands, vegetable players, upside down pianists, unycicle brass ensembles and thousands of other variations.

Today’s gallery is a small tribute to the immense musical population of this era.

Igor Kio, the tzar of illusions

2008-06-29T19:44:00.007+03:00

Imperial mysteries of Soviet magic

Today not one but a couple of little gems for the scholars of the unusual, specifically dedicated to the lovers of magic.

When magic was still a flamboyant ingenuous theatre art and the Soviet Circus the largest contingent of bizarre entertainment of the planet, the Kio magic family was not less exagerate in his grandiosity than a zar dinasty.

Igor Kio sen., then his sons Igor jun. and Emil, used to have each a one-hour show filling half of the circus program. Each of them travelling the world with his own staff of magic technicians, magic dancers, magic animals, magic clowns, magic dwarves, band leader conducting a 40-pieces jazz orchestra and the most unimaginable paraphernalia that the sovietic technology could have assured during the cold war to a magic show. In Moscow they had shops and engineers to build continuously new shows and misteriously perplexing apparata. Magic as a metaphor of occult powers of deception from the East? Maybe, if you like it that way.

Here you can witness, even in their brevity, two classic of magic emphasized by the full spectacularity of the socialist realism era, starring Igor Kio jun.

One is the magic of waters turned into ducks. The other one is the most spectacular version ever staged of the “cremation of a woman”, enjoying the height and space possibilities of a round circus ring.

If you like, you will be treated with more.

The Bible of the Circus

2008-06-25T18:00:00.011+03:00

Now, that’s really big. The size: 20 x 13 x 3.3 inches (50,8 x 33 x 8,4 cm). Just imagine the corresponding weight. Alive in the inside, 900 images, 760 pages. No way to hold it in your hands. The printing, design and fabrication are the best you can even dream.

Circus literature through the centuries is an infinite, exciting and surprising landscape of marvels. But this one risks to be the best circus book ever. If legendary bibliographer Toole-Stoot was alive, he would have jumped from his chair.

Where our inconsiderate enthusiasm generates for “Circus 1870-1950”, just published internationally by Taschen? This book has an interesting approach to the circus, reflecting the identity itself of the big top divertissements: the emphasis on size, richness, exageration, surprise, rarity, colossal cornucopia of never-ending wonders.

The recipe of this masterpiece of a book is just the same of the glorious circuses of a bygone era: assemble the bigger and the best ever. So, take the world’s best publishing house in the field of illustration (Taschen); treat the reader with the finest available paper choice wrapped with a solid, elegant, bible-like cover. Assemble for the first time ever those considered as the four most prestigious circus collections in the world: The Circus World Museum of Baraboo; the Tibbals Collection at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota; if not enough, the antique prints from the Pascal Jacob – Williams collection at Tohu in Montreal; and, just to top the cake, the generous paraphernalia from not less that Ricky Jay. To write competent essays, the editors (Noel Daniel and Linda Granfield) called the most world-encyclopedic circus historian walking today upon the face of the globe: Dominique Jando, with, as a guest star, the best fact-checker that the sawdust mitology ever knew in his long history, Fred Dahlinger. The picture captions are enhanced by a crowded constellation of small gems: circus-waxing quotes incessantly fleeding thru the pages from the pen of Steinbeck, Hemingway, De Mille, and dozen of others.

Now, this was enough to fill such a project. But is just the beginning. In fact, Taschen digged in other collections revealing in the best splendor possible the great gems of circus photography: legends as F.W.Glasier and E.Kelty. And with them, Mathew Brady, Cornell Capa, Walker Evans, Weegee, Lisette Model, Charles and Ray Eames. The odd and unusual, too: they unearthed never-before seen circus photos taken by a young Stanley Kubrick (!). And, for the first time in print, the first existing colour photos of a circus, with the polaroid series of C.Cushman visiting Ringling’s (a treasure until today hidden at the Illinois University). Jando and Dahlinger investigated the identity of performers and acts compiling precious captions for the reader. The sideshow art is not forgotten: with the works of banner artists Nieman Eisman, Fred G. Johnson, and David "Snap" Wyatt.

Just an example of how surprising is this treasure chest: the following magnificent picture, taken in 1948 at Ringling's circus, is one of the first colour photos of a circus ever taken. But, if this is not enough to amaze, there's something more about it.

In fact, the photographer was a young reporter from "Look" magazine called Stanley Kubrick.

The experience of this book for the circus lover, generates the same awe to stay in front of a Holy Bible for a religious. For those of us that are not initiated to the circus, the sense is probably of the same awe, witnessing here the bizarre repository of a colossal religion, almost gone, but still able to surprise and disturb.

The price is according to the pachidermism of the whole, too: 200 dollars in the Usa or 150 Euros for the european market. But you can be sure that it worths the double.

Oh, and they even remembered our friend Blacaman...

Karandash, a King among Klowns

2008-06-15T12:16:00.006+03:00

In concentrating our attentions on the most bizarre anomalies of the performing humanity, too often we forget the beauty of pure comedy.

We promise to our smiling followers to concentrate more of our future researches on peculiar and obscure achievements in the art of laughmaking, possibly in his most virtuosistic and inusual ways. For the followers of this speciality, we also remember you the existence of our friend sites www.clownalley.net, and www.circomelies.blogspot.com, more faithfully devoted to clowns.

Today we unearth a Soviet clip of the 50s: a circus reprise of Karandash (Mihail Rumyantsev, 1901-83), the pioneer of the legendary russian clowning, from a documentary of the time.

His artist’s name means “pencil”: his speciality was the social and political parody (often of the strongest ans shocking nature), as a sort of living cartoon strip, against capitalism and western society. Nothing apparently remains today to witness this strange kind of clowning confusely based on Hitler pigs, Uncle Sam’s pagliaccis and similar strange gags. The only, rare, surviving Karandash material is classic clowning, but at his best.

Karandash started as a Chaplin emule, to quickly develope his own style and tour the world with the Soviet State Circus companies. We hope he will amuse you still today, as he did for millions around the globe.

Defying the Bullets

2008-06-12T00:38:00.006+03:00

Heroes and tragedies of the legendary “bullet catch trick”

“Don't try the bullet-catching trick. There is always the biggest kind of risk that some dog will 'job' you. And we can't afford to lose Houdini. Harry, listen to your friend Kellar, who loves you as his own son, and don't do it!”
(Letter from magician Harry Kellar to Houdini)

In 1918, few years before this letter, magician Chung Ling Soo was killed onstage during his most popular act, “Condemed to Death by the Boxers”: or, catching a bullet from a rifle with his teeths. Perhaps the best known famous tragedy from the golden era of stage entertainment, this was not at all the first of his kind.

Performing the same feat, in 1820s Torrini “count” de Grisy shot on stage his own son; his contemporary De Linsky killed his wife. Before them, as back as 1613, Coulew de Lorraine was killed by an assistant; later, Kia Khan Kruse by a spectator in 1818, and Edvin Lindberg in 1905. The mentioned De Linky shot himself in 1820. Arnold Buck (1840) died when a volunteer secretly added nails to the gun; Adam Epstein (1869), used to ram home the balls in the rifle barrel, broke inside the gun; he was killed by wand shards. Raoul Curran was killed in 1880 by a member of the audience who jumped up out of his seat and shot him without warning; deLine Jr (1890) died when his magician father shot him onstage. Michael Hatal (1899) failed to switch blank cartridges for the real bullets that killed him; Otto “Bosco” Blumenfeld (1906) also failed to switch bullets as, later, H. T. Sartell; "The Black Wizard of the West" (1922) lost his life when his wife purposely fired live bullets at him. Ralf Bialla (1972) fell off a cliff because of constant dizziness caused by injuries from bullet catching act; Doc Conrad (1977) was killed during practice of the Russian Roulette trick, a version of the Bullet Catch; Fernando Tejada (1988) killed onstage during a performance in Columbia.

With much more chance and success, fortunately is also possible to attempt a list of survivors in magically catching a bullet, even if the catalogue is shorter. It can be unespectedly initiated by Sergeant Philip Astley, the very same inventor of the moder circus, that in the 1780s falsely proclamed to be the inventor of this more ancient trick. John Henry Anderson, great wizard of the North safely popularized it; as J.E. Robert-Houdin, Alexander and brave Adelaide Hermann.

Then, in the slowly fading of magic golden era, Theo Annemann, Rooklyn with his shoulders protected by a chainmail, Jean Hugard with the South African army pointing at his heart, the spectacular Ralf Bialla from Germany, Milbourne Cristopher, Dorothy Dietrich, Paul Daniels, up to today’s Penn and Teller with their remarkable version.

But a lesson in showmanship performing this piece of magic can be surely have an example in master British mentalist Maurice Fogel: we recently discovered him in the “bullet catch” from a rare vintage newsreel.

Antropomorphic Amenities

2008-05-31T13:37:00.005+03:00

Naumann’s incredible tiger

The circus ring is always been the temple for every possible anthropomorphic feat for every kind of animal creature.

Sharpshooter parrots, boxing kangaroos, athletic porcupines, hockey player bears, military monkeys, panthers riding yaks, horse riding bears, pyramids of panthers, soothsayer poneys, poker player poodles, clarvoyant pigs, tigers dancing with elephants, crocodiles wrestling with men, scorpions insidiating women, lions balancing on trapeze, hippopotamus ordering meals, rats driving a train, a rabbit fire brigade estinguishing the flames at a cat’s house, giraffes running along with rhinoceros, guitarrist gorillas, polar bears firing with rifles, elephants descending toboggans, girls fighting piranhas.

You, as faithful followers of this blog, are likely subject to be exposed to few of those feats and more in the future.

Today, we wish to remember one of the most impressive and spectacular feats ever obtained by the man with the animal.

It is the case of the german trainer Heinz Naumann, that in the 60s presented around Europe and in the Usa his high-diving jump along with his tiger Rajah. Naumann was a former U-boot German marine. After being war prisoner, by 1945 he turned himself tiger trainer in South America. With a patient approach in growing tiger cubs, he was able to obtain exceptional results. We unhearthed an existing clip of his diving stunt, performed in Berlin Deutschlandhalle: it is very brief, just 19 seconds. As short and intense as a human cannonball performance, but worth to witness.

In the picture: Naumann with Rajah

Borra, the king of thieves

2008-05-25T22:25:00.010+03:00

Today, back on the subject of pickpocket, with new exciting discoveries.

Few acts in the last century had the success and reputation of Borra, the king of the pickpocket.
Austrian-born Borilslav Miljolkovich, perfectly speaking 12 languages, with his exceptional personality amused and surprised the world, headlining the créme of circuses and varieties in both the emispheres, often with special poster art.

We have been lucky enough to know him and to witness his miracles around the world.

We recently unearthed a peculiar proof of Borra's perplexing pickpocket powers: a private press performance for Scotland Yard, while appearing at Bertram Mills circus in London.
We punctually posted it on Youtube for your pleasure.

We love when entertainers deals with the most primal and dramatic elements of human's poor existence: fear, death, blood, sex, deformity, sadism, mysticism, crime, money, trickery. All is about survive, and we witness performers to be reassured. Or troubled. We love when a great performance is able do do that, and their talents representing a potential real risk for the umanity. And we love when they are able to do this with laughs.
Borra was of this class.
And this is just the beginning. More about him in future.
For now, Borra's film at Scotland Yard.

N.B.: it is a silent footage. But not for this deprived of charme.

New Blacaman Gallery

2008-05-18T20:21:00.010+03:00

A further and exhaustive (but not definitive) chapter on the infinite subject of crocodile hypnotism (with a turn on lions).

Reiterating and interlacing topics is one of our preferred entertainment in assuring our discoveries to the world. This not to deny that new and surprising subject will be assured.
We knows: crocodiles and fakirs are one of our preeminent obsessions. Promising you to soon divert from this area, please let us submit you this innocent gallery pertaining Blacaman second area of activity: the hypnotism over lions and crocodiles.
At the end of his act, he had a square cage built on stage, and with his obscure hypnotic powers, in a complicate italian jargon, he reduced the turbolent kings of the forest to his will, without whips, hoops or others circensis paraphernalia.
And this was anticipated by this same power over crocodiles: after all, he was the teacher of Koringa, who acted as a "nurse" in the master's act, before to take her way.

Please admire in today's gallery the poster art for those Blacaman's animal submission feats.

Now compare the European graphics with the American posters below.
In fact, in 1939, Blacaman was contracted in the U.S.A. at the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus (a secondary but prestigious operation owned by Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey).

During this period, the master fakir appeared on the Universal movie "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man", directed by George Marshall and filmed in that circus. This vehicle for W.C.Fields and Ed Bergen dedicated few minutes to Blacaman helping Al McCarthy to get out of a crocodile mouth, and a splendid excerpt of his lion act. If some good soul can post the segments on Youtube, we will highly appreciate.

Water Spouter Extraordinaire

2008-05-11T10:35:00.004+03:00

The legendary Hadji Ali act

As promised, we are back on the theme of "human hydrants" and regurgitators, and his most prestigious exponent: Hadji Ali.
In the 20s, when vaudeville was in the endless search of the unique to amaze audience in both emisphere, he was in the perfect context sharing the bill with talking heads, mice eaters, human gazometers, syrian soothsayers, living calculators and autobolide jumpers.
His act is one of the phisically most extremes that ever left recorded from this era. We have found it, promptly posted and we offer it to you today. It was filmed as part of "Politiquerias", a Spanish-language extended version of the Laurel and Hardy movie "Chicken comes Home".
Following the announcement of the very special emcee, spanish-speaking Oliver Hardy, you will a seven standard minute classic act. And you will not admire just the stunts and feats of the performer. You will admire them polished and routined in what was truly inteded an act: with all the grace, style, subtle humour, little tips, personality, elegance and the experienced rythm that music-hall showmanship used to be.

The Pleasure of Piercing Performances

2008-05-04T20:14:00.005+03:00

The great Kirokaya and few forgotten fakirs

While today body piercing is an accepted social and artistic practice (as it used to be in earlier civilizations), fifty years ago it was still a novelty for circus goers.
In the late 60s, circuses started to book fakirs who, beside cataleptic creativity and fire funambolisms, pierced their bodies with a plethora of penetrating pins.
It happened in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, under small and large big tops or on the theatre stages of big and rural towns. Producers used to set vaudeville touring units called "festival of mistery" or such; and circuses called the audience replacing on posters clowns and elephants with fakirs.

Among those was Johnson, "the gentleman fakir", emphasizing his stage dandyesque elegance with his repulsive feats.

But the most impressive was Kirokaya: billed from Nepal but probably european. After some feats of piercing, he invited spectator in the ring to have fun throwing darts into his back. At the end of his act, having inserted hooks in his chest, he pulled a small cart with four men on the top, with the only driving force of his skin.

Kirokaya became a star in Italy in the late 60s and early 70s, during his succesful tours with the famous Darix Togni circus. We have lost his traces today.

Below, there is a newsreel clip of one of the many "occult festivals" organized in France in the 60s. It was a surreal conclave of performers happily inflicting themselves all kind of tortures.
We discovered that one of them, the fakir wearing glasses, is Kirokaya in person.

Today the world is more used to the sport of piercing and to the aficionado gatherings. Tatoo shops are at every corner.
Let's remember for few instants to a time, just few decades ago, when all that still stimulated the wonderful conflict between pleasure and repulsion.

Picking Pockets for Performance Profit

2008-04-29T19:20:00.006+03:00

The subtle art of stealing

Theatrical pickpocketing is one of the most fascinating forms of drama in magic.
As in hypnosis, mentalism, impossible escape, miraculous mutilations, or daring card cheating, this branch of conjuring abilities keep a subtle, thrilling link between the obvious entertaimnent purpose and the catharsis of danger in our daily lives. Every attempt to the normal order of things approaches us to death. And the pre-theatrical ancestors of pickpocketing were usually hanged.
In the golden night-club era, the cabaret pickpoketing reached a level of class, thrill, fun and entertainment as few other forms in theatre.
We wish to inaugurate today a first tribute to the pickpockets with a very special subject: the young Kassagi (one of the pioneers of the art) in the legendary "Pickpocket" movie of Robert Bresson, in his immaculate black and white glory. We love this movie for giving us the perfect balance between the admiration of talent and the suspence of danger. All what good magic should always be.
And we have more amazing surprises about the subject for the future.

Pathological Circuses

2008-04-19T11:30:00.010+03:00

A celebration of sleeping wax wonders

Great was the time when pure entertainment was interlaced with pretended education, explicit horror and uncertain marvel.
Between XIX and XX centuries, at the peak of the confusion between new and old medias, between mechanical wonders and human stage talents, the fairgrounds pullulated with the anatomical cabinets. Following a long Renaissance tradition, some exhibitors developed an unparalled talent in the fabrication of wax simulacra. Not just of historical celebrities, nor of famous battles or life of Saints. But the reproductions of the mysteries inside our bodies, and of the most abherrated plagues. In the same afternoon, you could have attended with your children at a magician show sawing a woman in half without see a gut of blood; then admire the booth of a talking severed head without any anathomical trace under his neck. Later, if you dared to visit kings of the fairs as the “Musée Anathomique, Ethnologique et Pathologique du Docteur Spitzner”, you had the vision of the real thing. The morbid, sculpted, painted wax carefully reproducing all the colorful cornucopia of our sacred bodies interiors. Softly sleeping venuses in glass cases, as dismembered Madonnas in some profane temples; elegantly dressed babies with their stomaches gently opened as the windows of a fairy tale house; masterfully arranged diorama to illustrate the effects of syphilis in all the epics of the classic masters of painting. Today this is not anymore part of the show business.
And we devote a gallery to this world.

Koringa: new discoveries

2008-04-13T11:21:00.010+03:00

The only film in the world about "the only woman fakir in the world"

Among the bizarre novelties we have been speculating about in the last two years, we got a remakable feedback on Koringa, "the only woman fakir in the world" (see posts November 27 2006 and December 16 2006).
While we are not finish at all with Blacaman (more to come in future), we accumulated other memorabilias about his former lady assistant, then turned in a rival cloning his act. And we are pleased to reveal some of it in today's gallery.
Koringa worked in Blacaman's act as a "nurse", learning all the work behind the mysteries to finally develop her own unit. In one of the pictures below, you can also admire her in the famous Blacaman's sword suspension trick that we mentioned in recent past.
But, what is most peculiar, at the bottom of the gallery you will find an exceptional finding: being likely the only existing filmed document about Koringa's skills. Nobody knew, I think, about its existence. It was forgotten and buried in a British newsreel of the 30s, between a novelty item to fix the fold on pants and a golf skill demonstration. We was lucky to dig it out of the past and to deliver it to the amazed eyes of the world.
Have a pleasant week.

Charlton Heston

2008-04-06T11:00:00.011+03:00

The death of an actor, in times of extinction of the great spectacular.

Charlton Heston, the movie actor, disappeared tonight. The last screen impression we have of him is unpleasant, being his interview in Michael Moore's "Bowling a Columbine", where he arrogantly and proudly defended the use and cult of guns. We don't like weapons: so, we prefer remember the king of epic in his most enjoyable and bizarre performances, as the postmodern sideshow "Planet of Apes", the bigger than life "Ben Hur" with his horse spectaculars, and the delirant triumph of old-time cheap stage effect and rethorics of "Ten Commandments".

And, of course, "The Greatest Show on Earth". Not because we are especially in love with this circus melodrama, having an incredible poor value as a movie (but misteriously Academy Award winner of 1952). But because this movie perfectly depicts a now extinct circus world. Braden, the Heston character (inspired by Art Concello), is the last prototype of the classic circus director. A man able to juggle with storms, midgets, giraffes, mud, criminality, women, labor, artist's egos, authorities and audiences. Probably, the great intuition of director Cecil B.De Mille was in the fact that the 20th century circus director was the last prototype of the hero icon. And, in fact, all this quickly disappeared. Just three years after the movie, the very same big top universe depicted by De Mille folded forever, canceling from the earth the mithology of the travelling city.
Today, the notion of great circus is not anymore an alchemy of blood and sawdust, going towards a cold Broadway surrogate in its best cases. Death and danger, unpleasant smells and precariety, bestiality and eroticism are slowly disappearing. If sideshows and monstruosities abandoned the big top in the late 50s, now the big top itself is disappearing from the landscape, with all his cornucopia of animals and acrobats' dinasties. Political correctness is a menace for the circus. Maybe because the circus, so crude and brutal, so different and devastating, used to emphasize on mistery instead that on reality, to confuse instead to reassure.
But reassuring never was the aim of great art and entertainment. For that reason, the fictionary Braden and the once real "Greatest Show on Earth", witness from the screen of an era when stage or circus novelties and wonders were all about the fight with death and the hope of survival. What the great theatre always was and has to be. What our poor lives are about, after all.

More on Blacaman

2008-03-31T21:16:00.010+03:00

A further (and not final) glimpse on the man who died twice.

In the mid-20, the vaudeville and music-hall was fighting the movies, eager for new sensations: physical, mysterious, primal emotions. These mainly came from the poorest and oldest of street performances. Hypnotists were dignified as theatre stars among velvets and limelights; magicians turned to the macabre side of torture with half-sawn women, nurses on stage and stage blood; or into the heroism of impossible escapes with ambulances on the marquee; and the fakirism reached the glory of the stage. More and more european performers plunged into the repertory of the miserable oriental street worker to became the most mysterious kings of the stage.

One of those was Blacaman.
He suddenly appeared on the European stages in the mid-20s, nobody knowing from where. Said at once indian, brazilian, or from some savage unknown race, he was the most talked fakir of the time. As shown in our past gallery, he displayed the now standard repertory of the fakirs, being one of the firsts to popularize with great emphasis the walk on the ladder of swords, on top of which he hanged few seconds with his throat: to clean at the end the traces of blood, demonstrating nightly the victory on his modern guillotine.

He amazed from the Berlin Wintergarten to Paris Empire, with long tours in South America and a lot of success in Spain, in variety temples such Barcelona’s Olympia or Madrid’s Price. But his piéce de resistance was the “buried alive” stunt, in the full epic of houdinesque dramaturgy.

Is because that stunt, that we like to call him “the man who died twice”. In fact, being sure that Blacaman left this world in 1949 (his career is fully demonstrated into the 40s), with surprise we recently discovered a cutting from the respectable Billboard Magazine (Sept.14, 1929), announcing the death of the celebrated self-thaumaturge in Argentina, where the “hindu” happened to struggle under the earth without dominate the death. It was a journalist’s mistake, a clever publicity stunt or a true resurrection miracle?

Unable to solve the mistery, we can at least guarantee you about the identity of the fakir: he was the italian Pietro Blacaman, from the region of Calabria, born here in 1902. And in the times we are describing he still had a lot to do in his career, as we will demonstrate soon to you. But, for now, thank you to be patient once more...

Burlesque Bycicling

2008-03-21T18:17:00.007+02:00

Joe Jackson and his cycling clone

Mastering a talent can often be the secret of a comedy genius. Juggling, dancing, magic, music, singing, tumbling, drinking galons of water or balancing billiard tables have been the excuses at the roots of the greatest clowns. Mastering a technique to destroy it for comic purpose.
In this way, austrian performer Joe Jackson become one of the most requested vaudeville headliners at the turn of the century. His son followed up to the 70s with the same act. Joe Jackson's technique was to destroy our basic skills of going on a bike to turn them in a string of unconveniences.

So genial was the idea, he was forced to bill himself as "the original", as on this poster we recently came across:

While recorded memories of Jackson act don't seem to exixts (but his son's verson have been televised), one of his antagonists was luckier in the preservation to eternity: is the case of Sam Barton, a Jackson clone (even if with some difference) that glowed for awhile in the British music hall.
So, for your enjoyment today, a poster of the original Joe Jackson and a film of Jackson's emule Sam Barton:

Wonders to Come...

2008-03-18T23:03:00.002+02:00

The blog is not dead...
We are travelling a lot those days, but we promise you to be back with new surprises before Easter...
Thanks for not forgetting us...

The Man who died twice

2008-03-05T21:49:00.007+02:00

Our first glimpse into the myth of Blacaman.

Who was Blacaman?
From where he came from?
And why we call him "the man who died twice"?
He even inspired a novel of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but his life is surrounded by mystery.
Or almost.
You will discover more soon, in a future investigation. For the moment, please appreciate this rare gallery of Blacaman's early career, from a series of his french publicity of the 20s, designed by the parisian Lorette Studio.

Human Hydrants

2008-02-27T11:19:00.008+02:00

Our first glimpse into an extinct specialty.

We know to be a little late this week, but always remember that we don't forget you.
In the last days we've been scouting the world for some surviving eminences of the specialty called "human hydrant". This is a very old branch of the entertainment, very well known to aficionados of circus, sideshows and magic, and widely covered by the specific literature in the last five centuries.
The only living active performer surviving at our knowledge is Anatoli Yukhov, from Moscow Circus. As is colleague ancestor Aly Adji, he is able to engurgitate gallons of water, then gallons of kerosene, and finally set a fire a miniature house then to safely extinguish safely flames. We saw it few years ago, without believing our eyes. If we are correct, he should be performing this season in Germany touring with Siemoneit-Barum Circus.

In the future, we promise you both the moving images of both Adji Aly and Mr.Yukhov.

For the moment, enjoy Winston, from an unknown corner of darkest Africa:

The Fabulous Flavour of Female Force

2008-02-18T20:04:00.007+02:00

Strong women, Sexual Confusion and Telephone Books

With the spread of sports and physical pastimes, around the 1890s circuses and music-hall encouraged and emphasized the ultimate erotic fascination for both sexes: strong women.
The most famous of them was without doubt Katie Brumbach from Austria who, capitalizing on her most celebrate male colleague, christened herself Sandwina with rounds of applause on stages and big tops of both emispheres.
Strong women continued to punctuate the live entertainments, even if the movies mythized them in more actual forms, from Russ Meyer's killer pussycats to George Romero's female chaingangs.

In the age of communication, technology changed undirectly the shape of the strong woman act. In fact, without the invention and the quick success of the telephone, we don't think would have been possible the invention of a rare sub-speciality: the queens of phone book tearing. This slow, sinuous and deep use of arms, hands and feminine fingers became the heaven of fantasy for the last circus and vaudeville goers.

Today's gallery glorifies the rare prominences and the gentle survivors of this ultimate celebration of female strenght.

In the picture, Katie Sandwina.

Peculiar Strongwomen gallery 1: Sandwina

2008-02-18T20:03:00.002+02:00

Sylvia Brumbach

2008-02-18T19:58:00.004+02:00

We remember Miss Brumbach in the 80s as the brave target of one of the best knife-throwing act.
She recently turned herself into a "strong woman", regenerating a venerable and rare act: the telephone book tearing. She performs in British circuses.

As the careful reader can remark by her name, Miss Brumbach is likely the direct heir of Sandwina.

Johan Rhodes

2008-02-18T19:55:00.006+02:00

Johan Rhodes, the perfect burlessque-age phonebook tearer from the 50s British music-hall era.

Joan giving the illusion of male domination few years before the new feminism spread.

Jeanin Lionett (with video)

2008-02-18T19:36:00.007+02:00

The lady in this seductive posture, in front of her gentle servant, is Jeanin Lionett, from Denmark (and from the deepest of our archives). She emerged from a page of the Hansa-Theater (Hamburg) program of June 1986, when we saw her.
Hansa-Theatre was a deliciously decadent music-hall, changing program each month by more than a century, introducing aged ladies on trapeze, faded poodle trainers, obscure minor Moroccan gymnasts, out of fashion musical clowns or East German athletes on bicycles. The program with Mr.Lionett was the 893th edition of this monthly show: surely the oldest running on this and other planets. A live band was not missing.
We remember Miss Lionett's act (billed at "20.06 Uhr" on the program's timeline) punctuated in the half-empty audience by the gasps of aged German ladies of uncertain sexual identity.
Few years ago, we surprisingly discovered Miss Lionett still in activity, in the British TV show "Secret Cabaret", happy to see again her act unchanged in each detail (same obedient servant in tuxedo included), after almost twenty years.
More surprisingly, we recently discovered that somebody posted this on Youtube. And here it is (even if mispelled), for your delight and your darkest fantasies on the edges between female and masculine.

The fabulous Cristiani brothers

2008-02-11T23:10:00.002+02:00

A gallery remembering one of circus' greatest legends

In our space devoted to the most peculiars among unlikeliest, can seem strange to consacrate a gallery to the most ordinary of the extraordinaries: acrobats.
But the Cristianis, in the 1930s and 1940s, happened to be one the most talented performing circus families of all times. This happened when a branch of this enormous Italian dinasty (hundreds of Cristianis survives in the business in both emispheres) crossed the ocean in the late 30s. This was the family of Ernesto Cristiani, father of ten sons. And this so generous performing progeniture can be the first peculiarity. Each of them was outstanding in their art. Of course, such a large family owned a circus. In the late 30s, invited to perform at the famed Cirque Medrano in Paris, they was remarked by an American agent for Ringling bros., and the legend began. In obscure times preparing for Italy, take the sea seemed an interesting possibility. While it is common in the circus the versatility of performers in the various specialities, the Cristiani excelled in everything they did: teeterboard acrobatics (when this was still a rarely practiced stunt), jumping over elephants, but above all horseback acrobatics. Probably the best horseback acrobats the world ever saw. Among them, the legendary Lucio Cristiani, the only of two men in the world to accomplis a somersault from the firts to the third gallopping horse, and the only one to accomplish a double twist pirouette horseback (see picture).
As if not enough, in the 50s they opened their own circus in America, that became one of the best and largest motorized circuses of the era, with top performers and a large menagerie.
At the novelties and wonders of the Cristiani is devoted this week's gallery.
With a surprise at the end: the complete short movie shooted about them by MGM for the famous Pete Smith's Specialties serie.
You won't believe your eyes.

Cristiani gallery 1

2008-02-11T23:09:00.001+02:00

Cristiani gallery 2

2008-02-11T23:08:00.001+02:00

Cristiani gallery 3

2008-02-11T23:07:00.001+02:00

Cristiani gallery 4: the teeterboard

2008-02-11T23:05:00.001+02:00

Cristiani gallery 5

2008-02-11T23:02:00.000+02:00

Cristiani gallery: the movie

2008-02-11T23:01:00.000+02:00

The Polydactyl Pioneer of Comedy

2008-02-03T16:52:00.000+02:00

Freak, comedy, novelty: a gallery and a movie relic about the legendary Little Tich

The movie we shows you today, at the bottom of our gallery, is short as his solo star.
After the performance your about to see, the man starring was made Officier of the French Academy.
It is a mix acrobatic, freakery, physic anomaly, comedy, dance. And a bit of scientific virtuosism: in a time when the cinema barely existed, the sound (basic if you wanted to film a music-hall act), was recorded on a wax cylinder and syncronized.

“A foundation for everything that has been realised in comedy on the screen”.
This is how Jacques Tati described this Little Tich’s Big Boot Dance film made by Clement Maurice for the Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre in 1900.

The sixteenth of his brothers, Harry Relph (1867-1926) he was a polydactyl: was born with six digits on each hand and six toes on both feet.
From his earliest professional performance his deformity and lack of height (four feet six inches when fully grown) were emphasised for publicity reasons, although he always resented being promoted as a grotesque.
Around 1884 he had developed a speciality dance in which he appeared to defy gravity, either leaning forward at a precarious angle or balancing on the tips of 28 inch wooden boots. Charlie Chaplin is said been insipred by Little Tich’s boots for his character.
Later, Drury Lane pantomimes established him as one of Britain's foremost comedians, and an engagement at the Folies-Bergère in 1896 was the first of many appearances in the French capital. Little Tich sang many comic songs and was a skilful instrumentalist, but his greatest successes were furiously energetic dances in which he often burlesqued female dancers.
He later starred in three other short movies (one for colleague pioneer Gerorges Meliés), but they are probably lost. As lost soon became the music-hall specialty universe and this class of novelty talents.

Little Tich Gallery

2008-02-03T16:50:00.001+02:00

Little Tich Gallery: the female impersonations

2008-02-03T16:43:00.001+02:00

Little Tich Gallery: the big boots

2008-02-03T16:41:00.001+02:00

A set is preserved at the London Theatre Museum. Aonther one, probably the oldest one, I saw at the private circus museum of Alain Frére, in France.

Little Tich Gallery: the video

2008-02-03T16:39:00.000+02:00

Smoke Manipulations

2008-01-28T00:25:00.000+02:00

Today we wish to talk about an immense performer.

He was more than a fakir. He was better than a magician. He was somehow a smoke manipulator, if such a category is allowed to exist in the enough extravagant taxonomy of show business. His technique was based on hiding and multiplying of lighted cigarettes: an imm ensely difficult task.
José Frakson, (1891-1981) from Spain, was one of the great last vaudeville headliner, of the golden age of Olympia in Paris or the Palace in Time Square. From the late 10s to the 40s, he witnessed the last era of the greatest hotel ballrooms in the world; when ballroom entertainment was a matter of class, elegance, original talent and real showmanship.

poster copyright N.Nielsen

Today, instead of capturing your gaze with our usual gallery, we invite you to take just three minutes of your time. Please, disconnect your telephones, obscure even the windows, try to do the possible to forget everything surrounding you. Travel through the time, relax yourself. You can choice to be in the Rainbow Room at the top of Rockefeller Plaza; or in a Miami nightclub, at the Pierre hotel, or at the Wintergarten in Berlin. And, when ready, enjoy Frakson.

Video courtesy Marko magic archives

Suspension in Disbelief

2008-01-22T15:14:00.002+02:00

All started with chinese performers, presenting hair suspensions acts in European and American circuses in the early 1900.

Later, flesh replaced hairs and meathook replaced wires.

Look at the end of this week’s gallery to discover the kind of suspension of lovely Lucifire, the ultimate crossroad between burlesque and sphisticated painproof fakirism.

Suspension Gallery 1

2008-01-22T15:14:00.001+02:00

Suspension gallery: Sun Tseng Hai's tea on Hairs

2008-01-22T15:12:00.003+02:00

Suspension Gallery: Johnson the fakir

2008-01-22T15:12:00.001+02:00

Suspension Gallery: Lucifire (with video)

2008-01-22T15:09:00.001+02:00

Tom Jack, The Ice King

2008-01-13T18:11:00.000+02:00

Physical freak, escape artist and mythological persona: the traces of a less known but original Houdini pretender

In year 1900, the new century is opened in Europe by the arrival of two distinguished Americans : Harry Houdini and James Anton Bailey. The first, exposes the theatrical world at the craze of the « escape acts » ; the second, bringing on tour the « Greatest Show on Earth », mondernizes the old-world industry of poster advertising. But is not of them we wish to talk. Today’s gallery shows an inusual exemple among many of those two influences.

Around 1910, Germany saw an invasion of home-made Houdini pretenders. But very few of them was remarked for their originality. One at least was : « Tom Jack – The Ice King ».

In concrete, he presented a most ordinary, almost mediocre act of escape from chains and ropes.

But Tom Jack was an albino.

His physical anomaly helped impresarios ad designers to imagine something that is now lost in the performing arts : the fabrication of a beliavable mithological character.

Trying to put togheter the few visual traces remaining of Tom Jack act, we discovered that putting his advertising reliquia in some arbitrary sequence, we have the illusion of a strange storyboard, almost a series of mysterious events, of we will shall never know enough about.

Tom Jack - Ice King gallery - 1

2008-01-13T18:10:00.001+02:00

Tom Jack - Ice King gallery - 2

2008-01-13T18:09:00.001+02:00

Ice King gallery 3

2008-01-13T18:08:00.003+02:00

Ice King gallery 4

2008-01-13T18:08:00.001+02:00

Ice King gallery 5

2008-01-13T18:05:00.000+02:00

Skills of Skin (4/4): a Sunday Gallery and a video

2008-01-06T15:58:00.000+02:00

An unexpected contemporary survivor in the estinguished art of “rubber skin man”.

Of all the famous recorded show-business anomalies, one rarely surviving is the rubber skin man or the elastic skin human being.

On the Barnum and Bailey european tour of 1900-1902, the side show tent hosted the legendary James Morris. The 1902 edition of the “Livre des Merveilles” (the freak and menagerie souvenir program) in our collection, describes him as “l’homme cautchouc”.

Morris’ deformity is known as cutaneous asthenia: “instances the skin is affixed so loosely to the underlying tissues and is possessed of so great elasticity that it can be stretched almost to the same extent as India rubber. There have been individuals who could take the skin of the forehead and pull it down over the nose, or raise the skin of the neck over the mouth”, as stated in “Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine" (1896), by George M Gould & Walter L Pyle.
The same authors records a man from Hungary as the first known “rubber man”, and of a certain Felix Wehrle as being famous around 1880s.

After Morris’s world successes, few other of those performers are scarcely recorded.

Today, a contemporary gifted practictioner emerges from Great Britain, responding to the name of Garry Turner.

The other evening Mr.Turner was here in Italy, for a Guinnes Record TV show.

The last post of our Sunday gallery, below, will show the video of his performance.

Skill of Skin Gallery (2/4): James Morris

2008-01-06T15:56:00.001+02:00

Skill of Skin Gallery (2/4)

2008-01-06T15:55:00.001+02:00

Skill of Skin (1/4): Garry Turner

2008-01-06T15:46:00.000+02:00

(don't miss the video below!)

Contortions between man and beast

2008-01-04T13:30:00.000+02:00

From the horrific human pythons to the repulsive dislocators

Contortionists or "posturers" have been regularly populating the stage since XV century; in 1733 William Hogarth portrayed in "The Southwark Fair" the fairground booth of prestidigitateur extraordinaire, Isaac Fawkes, who used to share his bill with a young posturer (probably to fulfill an acceptable hour or so of entertainment).
About a century later, the mutation started from the realm of mere body contorsion to the mutation towards the animal kingdom. 1n 1828, contortionist-dancer Mazurier started in Paris the whole thing with the ballet "Jocko, or the Monkey from Brasil", where snakes and monkey skins were inhabited by the most flexible human bodies of their time.
In Germany and France, a long series started of man-monkeys, man-snakes, or man-crocodiles, etc, reaching the top in the British music-hall after 1900.

The star was without doubt Marinelli, the human python, who later turned himself into a music-hall agent (representing, among other, the clairvoyant Hanussen).

We will unveil for you more of those pictures in the future.
Today contorsionism seems a speciality of mongolian or chinese girls: grace and beauty replaced the repulsion and strangeness of the animal evocation.
But some extraordinary performer survive, turning the art of contortionism into the most strange one of dislocation. For exemple, our friend Vadim Pechinski (a Latvian based in Italy) shows you in this video of his act a way to practice this art as you never imagined to witness.

Taxydermic Follies of 2008

2007-12-31T19:42:00.000+02:00

The Anatomical Extravaganzas of Frederik Ruysch

Before our era of 3D digital effects, the visualization of marvels was possible only in the fantastic arrangements of magic lanterns. The third dimension was reached with the multi-level dioramas, or with the physical exhibition of dead bodies of different nature, on the edge between reality and fantasy, art and science. If the two-headed babies of the itinerant sideshows are now a nostalgic icon of the pre-horror movies entertainments, such tradition had some illustrious precursors.

Frederik Ruysch (1638-71) had the ability to merge the wonders of the dioramas with the horrors of the anatomic preservation: not just preserving, but deforming infant bodies affected by anomalies in artistic compositions with the science of taxydermy. Pure spectacle. In some way, he was the Ziegfield of his time.

His “preparation” survived mostly in some series of prints. But some jars survives in St.Petersburg, thanks to the Tzar Peter the Great who bought them from the bizarre anatomist.

We know is a weird way to close a year, and the contrast seem striking with the gentle postcards of last week. But no novelties or wonder is such without the unexpected surprise and the excitation of our primal feeling. Happy new year.

Frederik Ruysch 1

2007-12-31T19:41:00.002+02:00

Frederik Ruysch 2

2007-12-31T19:41:00.001+02:00

Frederik Ruysch 3

2007-12-31T19:40:00.001+02:00

Frederik Ruysch 4

2007-12-31T19:39:00.001+02:00

Frederik Ruysch 5

2007-12-31T19:37:00.000+02:00

Season's Greetings

2007-12-23T11:42:00.002+02:00

Struggling to compose a gallery for our most conventional Season's greetings, we stumbled into this collection from the London Transport Museum.

It is a series of cardboard signs from the 50s, instigating londoners to use subways and buses to reach the cornucopia of circuses and pantomimes then availables in theatres and halls.

Have a Nice Christmas

Raffaele De Ritis

Happy Holidays 1

2007-12-23T11:42:00.001+02:00

Happy Holidays 2

2007-12-23T11:41:00.001+02:00

Happy Holidays 3

2007-12-23T11:40:00.001+02:00

Happy Holidays 4

2007-12-23T11:39:00.001+02:00

Happy HolIdays 5

2007-12-23T11:38:00.001+02:00

Polish Poster Freakery

2007-12-16T18:22:00.000+02:00

The 70s were the glory years for the State Circuses in the Soviet countries. Circus in Poland was run by ZPR, a central organization ruling a school, five large big tops around the country and thousands of performers in the world. My circus childhood is scattered by exceptional Polish tumblers, jugglers, animal trainers that after winning awards in Monte Carlo or spending seasons in Usa with Ringling bros., went often to work in Italian circuses.
Today, as for all those "State" circuses, the glorious Polish circus is little more than a memory (several good private-owned circuses exixts there). But it left an unique trace behind: the treasure of their posters. By 1962, ZPR asked to painters and illustrators to produce posters for their shows. What is amazing is that, opposite to any other circus tradition on the planet, the advertising didn't displayed the circus name or some appealing quote: just the word "Cirk". Some of those posters are today in art museums, and high priced for serious collectors. In the black-and-white communist towns and villages, those imaginative artists attracted the audience under those anonymous big tops with unparalled and imaginative graphics, with a surrealism and an hirony that must be always intrinsecal to the circus. Instead of promising, they was suggesting: inventing, deforming, emphasizing, reducing, mixing-up the animal and human dynamism, generating unexisting creatures. Evocating and provocating with monstruosities, just as we like.

Polish Burlesque 6

2007-12-16T18:19:00.001+02:00

Polish Deformities 5

2007-12-16T18:17:00.000+02:00

Polish Perplexity 4

2007-12-16T18:16:00.001+02:00

Polish Anomalies 3

2007-12-16T18:15:00.001+02:00

Polish Freaks 2

2007-12-16T18:14:00.001+02:00

Polish gallery 1

2007-12-16T18:12:00.001+02:00

Sunday gallery: Superlative Suggestions

2007-12-09T12:24:00.000+02:00

Posters from the Golden Era of Theatrical Hypnosis

Few fields in the human knowledge and amazement are so suitable for stage as is hypnotism. His blend of mistery and humour, "instruction" and comedy, laughs and mysticism made it one of the most popular features of the fair tradition and of the vaudeville era.
Any performer with a minimum of stage charisma, without singing or acrobatic abilities, could turn himself into a professor of psycology or a sorcerer of somnolency. They baffled science.
Out of the theatre, once at home, endless booklets filled libraries or mail boxes tring to theach "how to" hypnotize.

Later, space-age popular culture propelled the mitology behind this modern science from the rasputinian mesmerizers to the abducting aliens, up to the tv screens, without diminishing his power.

Ridiculizing each other is probably one of the hidden desires of this umanity, and we give to the mystic on stage the right to officiate those humiliation for an evening of innocent entertainment.
Hypnotism remains today an entertainment form for cruise ships, tv show or corporate events. Even with peculiar exponents, it rarely preserves the limelight fascination and the imposing imposture of the vaudeville scientists, dime-show decorated ministers or mesmeric masters.

Hypnotic posters 1

2007-12-09T01:36:00.000+02:00

Hypnotic posters 2

2007-12-09T01:33:00.001+02:00

Hypnotic posters 3

2007-12-09T01:32:00.001+02:00

Hypnotic posters 4

2007-12-09T01:31:00.003+02:00

Hypnotic posters 5

2007-12-09T01:31:00.001+02:00

Hypnotic posters 6

2007-12-09T01:30:00.001+02:00