Shocked and Amazed - On and Off the Midway

To write for "Circus Report," as does Walt Hudson, it helps to be or have been "with it." The weekly is an important journal for the business, and your average rube - even your above-average fan - is going to be hard pressed to get it right. Oh, I don't mean the correct spelling of the names or using the English as some college prof. might; of course I mean you have to snag the true "spirit" of the shows. And if that were Hudson's only asset, he might get a tip of the hat from SHOCKED AND AMAZED for all he's done, but you wouldn't get the chance to read how he spent the first of several summers. In the spirit of Dan Mannix's STEP RIGHT UP! follow Hudson in this first segment on how not to spend your summer vacation, unless of course you really want to drive steel spikes into the middle of your head. (This story originally appeared in the out-of-print "Shocked & Amazed Volume 2.)

The side show I was with was part of a traveling carnival that was playing six weeks of still dates in Philadelphia. This enabled me to finish the school term before I started my summer vacation on the road.

Each day after school I headed for the carnival grounds. During the still dates the carnival opened around 6:30 P.M. and closed around 11:30 P.M., Monday through Thursday evenings and stayed open later on Friday and Saturday. It opened at noon on Saturday.

I arrived at the lot and headed for the side show tent to set up my magic act on a small platform. When the "Congress of Human Oddities" opened, I stood on the bally platform outside the tent with one or two of the other acts while the talker gave his spiel to draw the crowd to buy tickets. When I left the platform to do my act, another person from inside the tent would replace me on the bally. As soon as I finished performing inside, I went out again. This went on all evening long.

The inside show consisted of Serpentina the snake charmer, Wee Willie the 400 pound fat boy, Mr. Wizzard (me) the magician, Bobo the human pin cushion, Roger the dwarf fire eater, Tessie the tattooed girl and the owner of the show, Doc Williams, who did the blade box. We did not have an annex attraction yet, and at least one other working act or freak was to join us when we started our fair dates. We had no inside talker. Each act would perform and then introduce the next act and go out on the bally platform until it was time to return inside to perform again.

Tony Dee was our bally talker and he stayed outside all night. Roger the dwarf stayed outside most of the time and would bang on a big bass drum to get the attention of the crowd. This was called collecting a tip. Muscles was our canvas boy and ticket seller. Doc Williams' wife, Emma, took tickets.

I arrived the third night on my new job and entered the tent and found Serpentina crying hysterically. Tessie had her arms around her and was trying to comfort her. I passed by Serpentina on the way to my platform and asked her what the trouble was.

"Now dear," said Tessie, "you have to pull yourself together. You know how sick he's been these past few days. It's better this way. There was nothing you could do. You gave him all your love. Come on out to the trailer and I'll get you something to drink. Then you'll feel better."

I walked over to Bobo to find out who Mr. King was. I had only been with the show for two nights, and I didn't know anyone's real name or anything about my co-workers.

Bobo informed me that Mr. King was Serpentina's boa constrictor and that she had just discovered him dead in his box a few minutes before I arrived. She was so upset because now she had no act. Doc Williams entered the tent and went over to Serpentina.

"Now, my dear. Don't worry about that dead snake. I'll have Muscles take him out and bury him."

"You're not going to lose your job. I need you. You can work the Electric Chair act. I'll get it out of the truck. You can also do the Blade Box. Tonight you can stand on the bally with Walt."

And so, just like magic, Serpentina was transformed into Miss Electra the electric girl and Mazie the human pretzel. Being new to the business, I did not know what these two acts were but I would soon learn. I set up my magic act and headed for the bally, and Electra/Mazie followed me onto the platform.

I enjoyed working the bally when we were playing still dates. I used to get a rather awesome feeling on those early spring evenings as I stood on the bally platform and watched the carnival come to life. From my vantage point above the crowds, I looked over the midway and could see, hear and smell the enchantment of this bizarre make-believe world.

During the fair season when we worked from noon until midnight, my attitude changed. Bally meant extra work for all of us in the show, and one thing most of us hated was to stand outside in the sweltering heat for at least twenty minutes before returning inside to perform. There were several stunts Tony Dee used to draw a crowd. I remember the first night I was on the bally. He was giving his spiel and told the people to be sure to remain where they were because he was going to bring out a snake with a golden tooth. Then he turned to me and said, "Go on in, kid, and get the snake with the golden tooth for these good people to see."

As I left the platform and entered the tent he continued to talk about the wonders to be seen on the inside. I went in and asked Doc Williams for the snake. He laughed and replied, "There is no snake. Just stay in here for about ten minutes. By the time you go out there again, the crowd will have forgotten all about it."