September Sawdust Trail
A very perioddical recounting of some of the strangest things the sideshow world has to offer. The Sawdust Trail is updated whenever we have something earth-shattering to announce or whenever I need to see my name in lights. Make sure to sign up on our Shocked & Amazed/Atomic Books Mailing List for email notification of updates!
Volume 4 features Bobby Reynolds,
Protest This! Or:
You Can't Keep a Freak Book Down!
The man has kept us down too long! We shall overcome! Despite
entanglements with local law enforcement, court imposed injunctions, public demonstrations, threats of violence,
angry civic meetings and car bombings--SHOCKED AND
AMAZED Volume 4 has arrived! The thought police
have been shown they can't legislate "good taste." For more information on the latest addition to one
of the most controversial publications in print, click here. Be warned, what you read about may disturb and surprise
you. If it does, we are doing a REALLY good job!
Springer Sprang
For all of you faithful readers of the Sawdust Trail you were richly rewarded by the August 15th edition of The Jerry Springer Show. Out very own James Taylor and a star-studded cavalcade of guests were featured on this hour long show entitled "I Worked As a Sideshow Freak." Appearances were made by SHOCKED AND AMAZED friends both old and new by Lobster children Grady and Cathy Stiles; banner painter, sword swallower, all-around-sideshow-genius (and volume 4 contributor), Johnny Meah; Jeanie "the Worlds Only Living Half Girl" Tomaini; Anatomical Wonder and creator of the act known as the Human Blockhead, Melvin Burkhart, and last but not least, the Monkey Girl, Perscilla Bejano.
San Francisco Sex Sideshow Sighting Simply Scintillating
Special correspondent Ivan Kotcher entertained himself in the
City by the Bay by attending a show by the Bindlestiff
Family Cirkus. Currently on tour, this is like nothing
ever seen. Lots of people getting nekkid and swallowing and spinning all kinds of things from all kinds of places.
For more information, on the Bindlestiffs and to see if they are coming to a town near you make sure to hit their
Web site. You know they say their Utah show was the craziest one yet!
A Bindlestiff Lands in Oz
Quite possibly one of the best, grittiest, most-in-your-face
shows ever produced about prison life--HBO's Oz has become a must watch of all of us here on the Sawdust Trail. Obviously
those mega-talents at Oz feel strongly about sideshow, too. In a recent episode the prisoners stage a little
variety show, the guy feeding the balloon in his nose and out his mouth blowing it up and reversing the whole thing
was the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus' Keith Nelson.
The Drag Queen Devil Man that Would Not Die!
In the chameleon-like fashion of David Bowie and Madonna, Devil
Man has sought to extend his cultural relevance through gender bending! In the August 9 edition of The Sun
tabloid, Devil Man remade himself as the bride of Dracula back from the dead. WOW! Talk about your ready-made pop
icon. He can appeal to the crossdressing /transsexual crowd, satanists, those who believe in reincarnation, the
Anne Rice-erotic vampire set, sideshow fanatics, you name it! There is no element of the subculture he has not
embraced, embodied, emboldened and MADE HIS OWN!
Well, we knew him whenÖ
We knew Devil Man when he was just a struggling, hungry, young(ish),
glory seeker desperate to make his world debut in the pages of SHOCKED
AND AMAZED! Volume 2. We can only hope he doesn't
forget his roots (or his daddy, SHOCKED AND AMAZED! artist-in-residence, Mark Frierson) with his newfound fame and fortune.
Look for Devil Man on the back cover of the newly released SHOCKED
AND AMAZED! Volume 4 with our founder, James Taylor.
Ward Hall Wows Them All
Ward Hall, the King of the Sideshows, is finishing another successful
year on the sawdust trail. Decked out with a deliriously delicious new front painted by banner artist extraordinaire,
Johnny Meah, the traveling museum show is a hit with fairgoers all over the Eastern seaboard. As one of the last
honest-to-goodness traveling museum shows in the country, attendance should be mandatory for all who claim to love
sideshows. Besides, Ward is one heck of a fantastic great guy. His generosity of spirit and desire to educate the
teeming masses is apparent when you visit his museum. There are things in there you simply will not believe and
Ward has spared no expense in bringing them to you. Kneel before your sideshow master, punk!
Everything's Coming Up Roses...
...Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, that is. The latest report from
Europe is that Jim and the gang are selling out venues all over the world leaving mob scenes, mayhem and merriment
in their wake. You know crowds just can't get enough of their special tainted brand of sickness and perversity--I
know I can't. Check the Jim Rose page for tour details. Make sure to see them anyplace that is remotely near you.
Sell your body, sell your children, become a sperm donor, recycle cans, do something, do anything to make sure
you don't miss this high-energy, high bile, thrillride of a show. Can you tell it's a fave around these parts?
Short attention span? Not for the smallest mother in the world,
Myrna Graham, she reads SHOCKED & AMAZED! Shouldn't you?
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Web Content © Copyright 1998,
Shocked & Amazed/Dolphin-Moon Press/Atomic Books
Illustrations © Copyright 1998, Mark Frierson