Carny Sideshows:

Step right up, Ladies and Germs, and feast your eyes on the incomparable wonders of a hidden world! Be astonished! amazed! disgusted! by brazen acts of self-destruction that no natural human body should be able to withstand!Tony Gangi, professional magician, lifelong sideshow devotee, and card-carrying graduate of Coney Island's famed Sideshow School, guides you through the stupendous techniques and proud traditions of this shocking and fascinating realm of entertainment. * Learn the secrets behind Breathing Fire! Sword Swallowing! The Bed of Nails! Pounding Spikes into the Head! * Enter the mysterious worlds of the Snake Lady, the Human Blockhead, and more! * Meet sideshow greats like Melvin Burkhart and Ward Hall. * Discover today's dedicated entertainers, like Todd Robbins, Harley Newman, Tyler Fyre, Thrill Kill Jill, Donny Vomit, The Black Scorpion, and more! * See what it takes to enter this underground yet welcoming world as a performer.Features interviews with Penn Jillette and Todd Robbins and Penn Jillette's ode to the sideshow, the "e;10 in 1"e; monologue as performed by Penn & TellerEditors's Note: Not for the faint of heart, weak of stomach or easily grossed out. So go ahead, how can you resist?!Tony Gangi, a Philadelphia native, never actually intended to make his living by shoving nails up his nose. He left the corporate world to become a professional magician and proprietor of one of the few flea circuses remaining in the world ("e;Live fleas do, in fact, perform circus tricks,"e; he says. They just need to be "e;trained the right way and treated with kindness."e;)He's now mastered straightjacket escapes, fire-eating, and napping on a bed of nails. He is currently working on his presentation for walking barefoot on broken glass. This is his first book. He hopes it is not his last.