On the sawdust trail... By Kathleen Crawford Shocked & Amazed Online Editor January, 1997 NEWS FLASH! THIS JUST IN! You say you love SHOCKED AND AMAZED!? You say you love Chicagoland's shockin' est shock jockey, Mancow? You say you've always somehow wanted to magically combine the two driving forces in your life but were unsure how to do it? Well rest easy gentle reader, as always SHOCKED AND AMAZED! has come to the rescue! Our very own James Taylor is scheduled to appear on the Mancow show on Thursday, January 30 at 7 am CST to talk about life among the carnies and the upcoming Learning Channel Documentary. Make sure you tune in to Rock 103.5 FM for the aural freakshow! Faithful visitors of the Sawdust Trail may remember Mancow has hosted such sideshow luminaries in the past as master banner painter, Johnny Meah; Woman with a Beard, Zinobia; and the late tattooed man, Mike Wilson. Make sure to watch this space for more media developments as they happen!   SHOCKED AND AMAZED! on Homicide Homicide: Life on the Streets--longtime, downhome, Friday night, NBC, fave of the SHOCKED AND AMAZED! staff--bestowed a small tip-o-the-pen on Volume 2 of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! featuring cover girl Jeanie "The Only Living Half Girl" Tomani. The gory details follow: Munch (Richard Belzer) sucks on a three-stage-bomb-pop (y’know red, white and blue rocket shape frozen confection), dips said bomb pop in beer, take a drink of the beer, and settles back to read SHOCKED AND AMAZED! On & Off the Midway! We always knew that show had class. Make sure to keep reading for more information about SHOCKED AND AMAZED! on your telly.   SHOCKED AND AMAZED! IN L.A. Globe trotting, sometime geek, and our beloved founder, James Taylor has recently been on the road again in search of the strange and bizarre for you, our friendly readers of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! This time James’ travels landed him in the most shockingly exotic location in the entire U.S. of A: Los Angeles. Man with a Spike through Head Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum, LA While in Los Angeles he visited upcoming SHOCKED AND AMAZED! cover-boy and maestro of madness, Bobby Reynolds on his stately ranch. Bobby and James traveled to the ultra-exclusive, super-secret Magic Castle. He would love to reveal what he saw within those hallowed halls of magic but, he would meet a strange and terrible demise for breaking the vow of silence. Suffice it to say, he and Bobby had a wonderful time. Bobby Reynolds at Ripley Museum Next stop on the carny cavalcade of curiousities was a visit with the amazing and talented Jim Rose and his equally magnificent (and did we mention beautiful?) wife Bebe the Circus Queen. A wonderful time was had by our fearless leader who passed the time with our favorite carny megastar talking about future plans for the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. The next show promises to be an even bigger hit than the last, and students of the sick everywhere should begin looking for it in a den of iniquity near them in the Spring. The Enigma & Jim Rose James paid a visit to showman and gaff builder extraordinaire - Doug Higley! Evidently Doug is working on something so strange and terrible three showmen have currently placed an order for one. Once this nightmarish creature has been made, we’ll make sure you see it here first. A Doug Higley "Gaff" And a trip to el-Lay just isn’t complete unless you visit an overblown theme-park. Not one to violate the strange and sometimes frightening customs of the indigenous peoples, our fearless leader agreed to travel to one of these places—in true sideshow fashion, of course—Knott’s SCARY Farm. While at the world famous berry farm (during the Fall it is turned into a Halloween-themed park) James had the honor of seeing the incomparable Tim "The Torture King" Cridland. Cridland, formerly of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, performed painproof peculiarities and rammed himself so full of holes that when he drinks water he leaks like a colander. Performing with Tim was the lovely, talented, and tougher-than-nails Aziza. If you don’t believe she’s as tough as all that, you should see her sandwiched between two--count ‘em two--beds of nails while having an audience member stand on them. If you just can’t get enough of Aziza and Tim - and who can - make sure to check them out in Vol. 4, No. 2 of Fakir Musafar’s Body Play magazine. The Torture King & Aziza Aziza on the Nail Bed SIDESHOW SORROWS Once he returned to the home office, James learned of a great tragedy within the sideshow community. Sam "The Man with Two Faces" Alexander has passed away. Sam was truly one of the greats in the carnival world and he will be sorely missed. After an accident disfigured his face, Sam went to work as a sideshow attraction and show owner to earn money for corrective facial surgery. In doing so, he became one of the most impressive show owners on the midway with a variety Barnum himself would have envied. The below photo of Sam Alexander’s sideshow taken in 1971 by alert SHOCKED AND AMAZED! reader Kent Ghirard shows the variety of acts promised alive and on the inside. Sam Alexander's Sideshow SIDESHOW CELEBRATIONS Congratulations to banner painter, gaff creator and our very own artist-in-residence Mark Frierson on his new marriage to his lovely wife Lilia! Mark and his blushing bride exchanged vows this fall. Mark & Lilia at Giant's Campground COUCH POTATO CARNIES It’s amazing! It’s stupendous! We have been talking about it for months here and it’s finally coming to a television set near you. The Learning Channel documentary SIDESHOW is going to air on Sunday, February 2nd on The Learning Channel. Witness as our very own founder, James Taylor, shares his knowledge of the shows with the world. Also (and more importantly) appearing in this two-hour documentary are conversations with some of the best friends a sideshow publication could have including: Volume 2 covergirl, the charming and refined Jeanie "The Only Living Half Girl" Tomaini; sideshow banner painter and all-around aristocrat of canvas, he’s the czar of the bizarre, the great Johnny Meah; Fabulous (and we do mean FABULOUS) showman and consumate talker, wonderful Ward Hall; Bobby (how can one man possibly be so knowledgeable, entertaining, talented and charming?) Reynolds; the oldest living American Siamese twins--Ronny and Donny Galyon; Legendary giantess, Sandy Allen; plus more than we could even begin to mention here. There are some real surprises in this show, including interviews with extremely reclusive sideshow performers whose stories are sure to tittilate even the most jaded viewer. This documentary has everything! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you have to tune in for the fun to begin!   Jeanie Tomaini & Boogie Special note: In addition to our founder’s incredible amounts of screen time, there are interior shots of the lavish corporate offices of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! See where the magic is made! Plus, as an added bonus for all you rabid fans of sideshow publishing out there, if you don’t blink you will see the back of our Associate Editor Kathleen Crawford’s head! I’m telling you this film has it all. The Palatial Corporate Offices of Shocked & Amazed! SLY AS A FOX One of our favorite swordswallowers, Johnny Fox, recently ended his yearly stint at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and to celebrate hosted a party at Baltimore’s prestigious Belvedere Hotel (coincidentally across the street from the new Atomic Books digs). RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR: SIDESHOW STYLE This New Year the cast and crew of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! was treated to a wonderful performance by Jim Rose, along with wife Bebe, of Jim Rose Circus Sideshow fame. Jim was delivering his particular brand of dementia in Washington, DC's 9:30 Club. The evenings merriment included contests where the audience became the carnies for fabulous prizes. Contests were held for biggest penis (Bebe judged that one), biggest bra (self-proclaimed expert Jim Rose was the judge), and more strange and unusual feats of daring-do were exhibited for the crowd. SHOCKED AND AMAZED!s own associate editor Kathleen Crawford and co-publisher Scott Huffines participated in the contests. Modesty prevents us from revealing who was in which contest but all you need to know is that Kathleen won fair and square. Scott. . . . well, it was really cold in there you can’t blame him. Everybody knows THAT kind of thing is overrated anyhow. SPECIAL HELLOS AND UPDATES ON ALL THINGS CARNY Holiday greetings were received by the truckloads in the palatial offices of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! A special thanks to the following for cards that made the Christmas holidays worth celebrating including: Sideshow fat man Bruce Snowdon, Only living half-girl Jeannie Tomaini and her daughter Judy "Rusty" Rock; The Meahs; A certain special ex-monkey girl who shall remain nameless, Jeff and Sue Murray, Turbo Tom McKittrick and Teller all topped the list of cards we were thrilled to get. Thanks to all! Gerry Cottle's Human Pendulum Gerry Cottle of London’s Circus of Horrors sent along a jaw-dropper. He has recently received trans-Atlantic publicity for his latest stunt: the largest human mobile. This perilous, precariously balanced group of trained performers was suspended over the Thames River. Some people really crave attention! COMING UP NEXT TIME ON THE SAWDUST TRAIL Look for the live report from the Extravaganza, this yearly trade show in the heart of all things carny Gibsonton, FL, is truly one of the high points of the year. SHOCKED AND AMAZED! will be there to bring you the late breaking news from around the midway! Plus, as always, more, more, more than we can mention here! Judy Rock, Cornelius, Ward Hall and our founder, James Taylor Join the "Net Freak Alert!" mailing list! Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button: Search the Shocked and Amazed Site Are you looking for something freaky?

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