Circus category: 41 books

A fascinating look into the history of the American sideshow and its performers. Learn what's real, what's fake, and what's just downright bizarre. You've probably heard of Tom Thumb. The Elephant Man. Perhaps even Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. But what about Eli Bowen, the legless...

This book is a modern clown user guide. It includes a mix of fiction which follows the adventures of ten clown characters some personal clown anecdotes from clowns from around the world and some theory on the nature of modern clown as well as 50 practical clown exercises appropriate for workshops or performance.

The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly...

Juggling is a challenging but rewarding hobby; studies show that people who learn to juggle increase their grey matter! While juggling may seem and be difficult to master at first, it becomes easier once you've learned the basics and practiced it. This book takes you into the basics of three-ball...

"I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folk are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed."             ―The Scarecrow of Oz, from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank...

THEY’RE COMING FOR YOU   Coulrophobia--the fear of clowns--is very real and for good reason. You might think these red-nosed jokers are creepy, sure, but certainly not dangerous. You’d be wrong. Clowns never reveal their real names, and dress to obscure their identities. The rules of civilized...

Clownland is a journey through an unusual country to discover what its extraordinary inhabitants have learnt about life, loss, and happiness.             Injured, and living on the edge of country town, Lanigan embarks on an unconventional, at moments disastrous, but ultimately inspiring...

Contemporary Clowning as Social Performance in Colombia brings to light the emergence of new kinds of clowning in everyday life in Colombia, focusing particularly on the pervasive presence of clowns in the urban landscape of Bogotá. In doing so it brings a fresh and updated perspective on what clowning...

Jumbo was a superstar of the Victorian era. Every day tens of thousands of people would visit this adored animal known as “the Children’s Pet” or, more simply, “the Giant Elephant,” at the London Zoo. When P.T. Barnum purchased him for his Greatest Show on Earth, Jumbo’s transport to the...

My object in writing these hints on Conjuring is for the benefit of amateurs to promote lively and entertaining amusement for the home circle and social gatherings. My large experience enables me to explain and simplify many of the best tricks and illusions of the art. I present the key to many of...

In this study of the relationship between men and their horses in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England, Monica Mattfeld explores the experience of horsemanship and how it defined one’s gendered and political positions within society. Men of the period used horses to transform themselves,...

Überraschen und beeindrucken Sie Ihre Freunde, Verwandte und Bekannte mit verblüffenden HypnoTricks. Die Tricksammlung umfasst 28 verschiedene hochimponierende Hypnosetricks, die Ihre Zuschauer und auch Ihre Medien (Versuchpersonen) für echte Hypnose-Experimente halten. Ihre anwesenden Gäste denken...

Partez à la découverte du cirque avec ce Grand Article Universalis ! Tel qu'il fut à ses débuts, tel qu'il demeure dans sa forme, indépendamment des valeurs de spectacle qu'il propose, le cirque est le centre où viennent se cristalliser les émotions des spectateurs en quête d'exceptionnel,...