In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction.
Guinness World Records, known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as The Guinness Book of Records and in previous United States editions as The Guinness Book of World Records, is a British reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. Sir Hugh Beaver created the concept, and twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter co-founded the book in London in August 1955.
Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man. He is the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.
The Jim Rose Circus is a modern-day version of a circus sideshow. It was founded in Seattle in 1991 by Jim Rose and his wife BeBe Aschard Rose. The sideshow, then called the "Jim Rose Circus Sideshow", came to prominence to an American audience as a second stage show at the 1992 Lollapalooza festival. although they had toured the Northwest and Canada and had several US TV appearances before this time. Rolling Stone magazine called the show an "absolute must-see act" and USA Today termed Rose's troupe "Lollapalooza's word-of-mouth hit attraction".
Alex Tomaini is a sideshow performer. At the age of 14, he officially became the youngest confirmed sword swallower in the United States. He swallowed his first sword at the 2003 Sword Swallowers Convention in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania before an audience of his peers and international media, only four hours after swallowing his first coat hanger as practice. He later joined a record attempt called "The Big Swallow" in which a group of sword swallowers try to simultaneously swallow as many swords as possible.
Erik Sprague, known professionally as the Lizardman, is an American freak show and sideshow performer. He is best known for his body modification, including his sharpened teeth, full-body tattoo of green scales, bifurcated tongue, subdermal implants and green-inked lips.
Sword swallowing is a skill in which the performer passes a sword through the mouth and down the esophagus to the stomach. This feat is not swallowing in the traditional sense. The natural processes that constitute swallowing do not take place, but are repressed to keep the passage from the mouth to the stomach open for the sword. The practice is dangerous and there is risk of injury or death.
Ryan Stock is a Canadian-based TV stunt man from Beaumont, Alberta who has a show on the Discovery Channel called "Guinea Pig". Stock and his fiancée Amber Lynn Walker travel around Canada and the United States and perform stunts involving electrical shocks, automobile crashes and intentional poisoning. The Guinea Pig Show is no longer in production but may still air in some countries.
John Robert Fox was an American professional sword swallower and sleight of hand expert.
Matt the Knife is a magician and mentalist. He has broken a number of Guinness World Records. He began his career as a professional con man.
Todd Robbins is an American magician, lecturer, actor, and author.
Chayne Hultgren, known professionally as the Space Cowboy is a world record-holding sideshow, street, and freak show performer.
Captain Frodo, also known as "The Incredible Rubberman", is a Guinness World Record breaking contortionist living in Australia. He is the son of a famous Norwegian magician known as "The Great Santini".
Carnival Diablo the Ultimate Sideshow is a travelling sideshow operating primarily in Spencerville, Ontario, Canada. Performances by the troupe follow a traditional Ten-in-One format featuring such acts as fire-eating, sword swallowing and a human blockhead, with show times lasting two and a half hours. Carnival Diablo opened on April Fools' Day 1992 by Scott McClelland, whose family goes back three generations in the carnival and side show business. Shows have been performed across Canada, including shows at The Calgary Stampede, Edmonton's Klondike Days Regina's Buffalo Days, and the Canadian Tulip Festival. In 2008 and 2009, Carnival Diablo was a featured act at Carnivàle Lune Bleue, a dedicated revival of a 1930s old-time carnival located in Ottawa, Ontario.
Johnny Strange, nicknamed "the man with ears of steel", is an English world record breaking performance artist, producer, street performer and bestselling author based in London, England. He is known for performing daredevil stunts with a comedic twist.
John Eckhardt Jr,, professionally billed as Johnny Eck, was an American freak show performer in sideshows and a film actor. Born with sacral agenesis, Eck is best known today for his role in Tod Browning's 1932 cult classic film Freaks and his appearances as a bird creature in several Tarzan films. He was often billed as "The Amazing Half-Boy", "King of the Freaks" and "The Most Remarkable Man Alive".
Brad Byers is an American entertainer known for his extreme performances, including sword swallowing, lying on beds of nails and inserting various tools into his nasal cavity. For the latter he is also referred to as a "Human toolbox". He holds several World Records. His brother Rod assists him in some performances.
Amy Saunders also known as Miss Behave, is a British-born producer, performer, comedian and curator. She is a self-taught sword swallower and performs in cabarets.
Aerial Manx. is an Amsterdam-based Australian sideshow entertainer who has pioneered the field of acrobatic sword swallowing. Aerial Manx was born on 18 March 1986 in Melbourne, Australia.
Melvin Burkhart (1907–2001) was a sideshow performer known as the Human Blockhead for driving a large steel spike up his nose with a hammer. He was also known as Melvin the Two-Faced Man, due to his ability to wear different facial expressions on the two sides of his face, and as Melvin the Anatomical Wonder for his abilities as a contortionist. His act also included magic, sword swallowing, fire eating, and an electric chair.
