The Null Device

The Last Freak Show

America's last travelling freak show is about to close its doors. While there once were hundreds of sideshows in America, they are now an institution in decline, for various reasons. Retiring attractions are not being replaced as medical technology improves, television and tabloids have taken the place of freak shows in the public eye, and the institutions have also fallen victim of changing public morés (from the political incorrectness of staring at the differently challenged to the fact that you can see "tattooed ladies" and more walking down any street these days). Still, some of the "freaks" lament the passing of this institution, and scorn the desirability of being "normal":

"Thank God as a young boy I saw someone sticking a nail up their nose, or I would have a terrible life,'' said Apocalypse as he pulled a cigarette out of a metal Band-Aid tin. "You want to see a freak show? A guy sitting in a cubicle, staring into a computer all day, typing until he gets carpal tunnel syndrome, with a 'thank God it's Friday' coffee mug sitting on his desk. There's your freak show.''

Amen to that. (via bOING bOING)

There are no comments yet on "The Last Freak Show"

Want to say something? Do so here.

Display name:
URL:(optional)
To prove that you are not a bot, please enter the text in the image on the right in the field below it.

Your Comment:

Remember my details.

Please keep comments on topic and to the point. Inappropriate comments may be deleted.

Note that markup is stripped from comments; URLs will be automatically converted into links.