Just read "Freak Show Man", by Jerry Holtman, about Harry Lewiston (a great recommendation from John Bradshaw).
What other books on the sideshow would you recommend? I'll read even the ones with a bad reputation and take them with a grain of salt (like Arthur H. Lewis' "Carnival" - which I've been told is full of inaccurate information).

Oh. Brief introduction: My name is Cris Siqueira, and I'm a Brassilian filmmaker based in Milwaukee and a big fan of the circus and the sideshow - I have met some of you at the Sideshow Gathering and pestered Todd a couple of times when he was in town. I'm also a wannabe historian (grad school starts in January...), interested in researching the history of the women in the sideshow.

Suggestions of books in the history of magic are also welcome - I enjoy Jim Steinmeyer's books a lot. Dr. Wilson, I'm counting on you for this one.

Hello, Cris!

For the history of magic, you can get off to a good start with Milbourne Christopher's Illustrated History of Magic and Ricky Jay's Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women. Any of Ricky Jay's books are grand fun. See also Jay's Journal of Anomalies.

Magic is a very broad subject; I assume that you are most interested in the contribution that magic has made to the sideshow. Some of the traditional sideshow illusions migrated to the sideshow from the stage, because they are not well suited for large theaters. Consider Spidora, which is very much more effective in a tent or trailer than on the stage of a theater. Pepper's Ghost made its debut in a narrow exhibition hall with a modest number of seats, but is difficult and expensive to present in a large theater. It has migrated to sideshow as the venerable Girl to Gorilla, a wonderful amusement that never fails to surprise and delight.

If you would like to pursue this aspect of the history of magic, you should also read Our Magic by Maskelyne and Devant. Other books from that period are most helpful in understanding the magic of that time. Hilliard's Greater Magic is very good, although a bit heavy on card effects, and Hoffman's Modern Magic and the other books in the series are excellent.

Once you have a picture of the magic of that period, you should attempt to understand the forces that shaped magic into what it is today. I highly recommend The Magician and the Card Sharp by Karl Johnson, which is an account of Dai Vernon's quest for the Center Deal, a card move requiring extraordinary skill that Dai Vernon hunted down from the gritty world of card cheats.

Just as stage magic sent a few illusions into the world of sideshow, there are sources for magic outside the world of magic. Another author very much worth reading on magic borrowed from the world of grifters and cheats is Whit Haydn. His marvelous books on Three Card Monte and Fast and Loose are filled with history. Start with the Three Card Monte book, available from School for Scoundrels. As you may know, some sideshows were simple fronts for steering a few plump marks to the back, where they might discover a Monte operation or a Nut Mob available to relieve them of the burden of their cash.

Several of the traditional sideshow feats have ancient origins. I am greatly indebted to Harley Newman for his regular posts to the Magic Café and his private correspondence to me about his own research on the Ladder of Swords. Harley really ought to write a book, but if you are doing a thesis on the history of sideshow, you should correspond with Harley on the Ladder of Swords, for starters.

I would also recommend Net of Magic by Lee Siegel. The author, a magician and university professor, describes his experiences among the traveling conjurers of India. Several sideshow feats (e.g. sword swallowing) appear to have their origins there.

Serious research requires you to seek out the primary sources. Some of these books list their primary sources, which you should pursue as well as you can.

That should get you started! I hope that Todd Robbins and Harley Newman, two scholars in this area, will weigh in.

Yours,

Paul

Yay, Paul, so many great references!! Thank you so much!
I do have the Illustrated History of Magic and the Ricky Jay books, and I'll look for the other titles. Thanks for the research tips, too - I am just now starting into History, so I appreciate and need all the guidance I can get.

The Girl to Gorilla act was very popular in Brasil until recently (it is called "Monga" there). Todd's version of it in his "Carnival Knowledge" show was the first time I saw it since I was a kid - it was brilliant too, with Todd emerging from the gorilla suit. I think it was Al Stencil who told me that the act was originated in South America, but I'm sure he was referring to the gorilla variation of the illusion and not the mechanics of it.

First and foremost, HEYA! I wasn't quite sure on who you were until you introduced yourself. It's definitely been a while since we ran into last. (SSG 2005)

But did you get Seeing is Believing, by Al Stencell? I was going to bring it to the SSG, but I forgot it when I was almost in town.
Dee Hill.

And you can't forget Secrets of Sideshows by Joe Nickell and all of James Taylor's "Shocked and Amazed" books.

Hey! Missed you at the gathering again this year...!
Amazon is taking forever to send me Al Stencell's books. (I'm getting the one on girlie shows, too.) I will look for the Secrets of Sideshows. Thanks for the tip!

I didn't make it to the gathering. I had a show that I was doing out in Quad Cities in Iowa (right off the Mississippi River and Interstate 80) that weekend.

There are so many books to snatch up and read, too. I'm about 6 books behind right now, including stuff about PT Barnum and a few that were used in college courses on sociology and whatnot.

But books really don't compare to sitting down with some of the veterans and their stories being on the road.

Heck, my stories seem more Spinal Tap-esque about the crazy situations here, there, and everywhere.