The weirdest family reunion you never knew you needed an invite to.
A trip through the bizarre world of midgets, giants, tattooed ladies, and other human curiosities as we trace the colorful history of a distinctly American form of entertainment--the circus sideshow. From the 1840s when P.T. Barnum exhibited Tom Thumb to the last remaining shows struggling to survive at New York's Coney Island, we learn the truth behind the sideshow adage that freaks are not born, but rather created, as performers share their memories of the magical midway.
Production
Archival footage of P.T. Barnum's actual human exhibitions.
Direction
Drooker lets performers speak without sanitizing their complicated pasts.
Director
Arthur Drooker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Grady Stiles Jr., featured here, was murdered by a hitman hired by his own family in 1992—he appears in the film before his death.
The documentary dropped right as HBO's 'Carnivàle' and Tim Burton's 'Big Fish' were rehabilitating circus gothic for millennials.
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