Freak show

A freak show is an exhibition of rarities, "freaks of nature"?such as unusually tall or short humans, and people with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics?and performances that are expected to be shocking to the viewers. Heavily tattooed people have sometimes been seen in freak shows, as have fire-eating and sword-swallowing acts.

Today

The term "freak show" is archaic and widely seen as pejorative;

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shows such as mentioned above, Jim Rose Circus sideshow, and at Coney Island are more politely termed sideshows. However, Cut Throat Freak Show still uses the term, as do many other freak show and sideshow performers.

Related Topics:
Jim Rose Circus - Coney Island - Sideshow - Cut Throat Freak Show

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Freak shows are rare today, often reduced to museum displays containing newspaper clippings, photographs, statues, and other memorabilia of the freak shows of earlier times.

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Rotten.com is a modern-day Internet freak show.

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A freak show is a central theme of the Lemony Snicket book The Carnivorous Carnival, featuring a contortionist, an ambidextrous individual, and a hunchback, as well as, later, the disguised Baudelaires. The book uses the freak show to make the point that people often exaggerate differences idiotically.

Related Topics:
Lemony Snicket - The Carnivorous Carnival - Baudelaires

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