Sorry this is such a long post... You can always skip the report and just see the pictures here:
http://flickr.com/photos/crisgal/sets/72157607391578204/

I thought it was important to experience the sideshow since I wanna be a historian of it, so I spent two weeks with WoW at the MN State Fair. I got to be the gorilla girl (a childhood dream come true, "Monga" is a traditional act in Brasil), also Spidora, Serpentina, and set on Hamburger James, the guy who was doing the bed of nails, which we made into a total "fat girl"/fat couple bit, lots of fun. I also covered for the other girls in the electric chair and headless, and put up and took down the night wall - yes I'm particularly proud of this, the thing got really heavy in the rainy days (just a couple of those, actually, thank heavens).

Most importantly, I had the time of my life! The hours were insane, shows from 10AM to midnight, one single 1-hour break. Ward was often at the bally, which was a huge treat for me, and there was live music outside too. I got to work with the immensely talented Mike Vitka and with Tommy Breen, who is one of my favorite young talkers. Red Stuart, Firefly, Diane Falk and Freakshow Foley were there too, the cast was fantastic.

Everyone was extremely welcoming and went out of their way to make me comfortable (as comfortable as one can be sleeping on a cot backstage in the roach capital of the world...!). I was afraid I was gonna get the "outsider" treatment, but that wasn't the case at all. As I find with most people in this business (both old timers and young performers), there seems to be an instant identification with anyone who loves and appreciates the sideshow. This reminds me a lot of my circus people in Brasil - the best kind of people, as far as I'm concerned.

Ward and Chris paid me in stacks of one-dollar bills (a first for me, I promise!), although I had offered to work for free, since I really have no sideshow skills. Chris' response when I told him this was "Skills?? Can you stick your head into a hole? So there, you have a skill!" They also invited me to come back next year, "for as many or as few" spots I want. I'm thinking as many as possible!

I won't lie, I'm bored out of my mind now that I'm back in school and to the theory of it all. I don't think this short experience alone is enough to give me perspective on the sideshow life, and I'm looking forward to more "field research" (yeah I'm full of it, but my advisors are buying it). I'm hoping that the time I'll spend with Ward and Chris in january to gather data for my thesis on Gibtown will help me regain some enthusiasm for more academic pursuits. It's either that or I'll just have to run away with the sideshow - as I don't think I can run away from it anyway

RIGHT ON !!! Sounds like you saw the real deal.......the photos are GREAT!!!

Good for you. That Spidora rig is hilarious!

Great pictures.

Thanks for the wonderful pix--I particularly liked the one of Pete sleeping.

Great pics. My kids really liked them all, especially Poobah!

Bravo, Bravo! I saw World of Wonders in Houston in March 2008, they all treated me like royalty, even though I was just passing through. My sister, niece, and brother-in-law were agog; they had never seen anything like this show and were also stunned that folks in the show knew me.

I am also thinking, what a thrill for anyone on your thesis committee! See you soon in Wilkes-Barre!

Yours,

Paul

And all those jackpots Ward and Chris must've cut up.....priceles....glad you got to live the adventure!

AC

Those were some great photos! Thank you for sharing!

Fitz

Thanks guys, it was really a blast!

Doug - Spidora was my favorite! Vitka's introduction: "When you see her you may laugh. You may cry. You may shout and scream. I've seen grown men fall to her knees and thank god they don't have to live like this. But whatever you do, you'll never forget the day you met THE SPIDER GIRL!" - it was hilarious.

Addy - kids love Serpentina too, I don't have a picture of myself in it (which was particularly bizarre to my eyes), but this is from a previous visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crisgal/269......2560414/

Paul, I got my reservations for W-B today, the cheapest I could find was the Days Inn - can't wait to see you!

Great photos. Looks like the best working vacation/research trip ever. Ward will tell you it's not a real ten-in-one, but it's about as close as it gets these days to the genuine article. Did he do any ventriloquism while you were with the show?

Great report and pics.
If my health were better, I would be happy as a clam in the ten-in-one life.

Ward did no ventriloquism that I know of, but he did pretend to play a cornet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crisgal/287......1578204/