Strange Family Circus: About

If you care to ask . . .

Innovation: I don't think you answered my question, did you?

Scorpion... yum!

Why do I care who you are?

The Strange Family Circus evolved over the years from members of Culte du Feu fire performance troupe, local musicians, dancers, and circus and sideshow artists. Founded by the Dr. Reverend Stephen D. F. Strange, the circus embraces a variety of talent that resurrects the spirit of vaudeville updated for a cynical, multicultural world. Bawdy and elegant, shocking and humorous, beautiful and sublime might describe the show but that would be rhetorical tetherball—and not really saying anything at all.

Mentalist

I don't think you answered my question, did you?

OK, so you like Jim Rose but found his personality irritating. You like Cirque du Soilel but find them too froofy. Why do you care? You care who we are because you are tired of the same recycled entertainment of bands, bands, bands and because when you invite those kinds of people to your kids birthday parties, they complain about the quality of the whiskey and coke. We recycle entertainment from 50, 100 even thousands of years ago. It will seem more new than the Old Navy roller rink fashions currently suckering you in the marketplace of trendy. So lets just call it innovative. And because were children friendly and culturally amalgamated, we can shock and confuse your kids by inducing curiosity and not trauma. That's a better guarantee than those creepy Teletubbies.

Who do you think you are?

For those of you who think it is all a satanic cult: Well, well just say maybe were all a bit satanic at heart. Sure, there are fire breathing, devil horn wearing characters in our troupe. And sure, we may have indoctrination rituals that would rival the most orthodox moony. But don't hate us because we get a good chuckle out of it. Besides, the pagan whimsy which Christians call evil can sure turn a regular soiree into a real rockin' shindig.

In our wisdom as religious anarchists, we have found that a good dose of spiritual entertainment can rile a crowd, indeed. As practiced by Hindu fakirs and nineteenth century tent revivals before us, we have found that live performance can still induce a sense of the fantastic. In short, we steal as much from Christians as from the heathens were for it all. Well be the first to admit that when you mix gods and art, you can get a damn good show. It worked for Homer (the poet, and the Simpson on several occasions) and bam!

More than 2,000 years later, Brad Pitt is sweating like the sexy beast he is in an adaptation of The Iliad. It works for Gospel music, and where would rock and roll be without people singing and dancing in church? That Salome, after all, must have had a hell of a good act to mess with the New Testament as much as she did. Therefore, the apple and serpent references in our show will hopefully give you something to think about during the razor-swallowing act -- you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Relevance: Can I take you seriously?

Significance: No, really, you actually believe I should take you seriously?

Showmanship: Are you at all entertaining?

Jerko and Windpipe

Can I take you seriously?

I can only trust entertainment that may wind up on PBS. Oh, but that's just vulgar. As stated above, we like to make sure we take into account any material that would contribute to a good show. Reviving the techniques of old popular theatre such as sideshow stunts and burlesque acts makes us almost historic learning about the past can sure be fun, kids! Its social science: when you get to see women with bachelors degrees deconstructing the female ideals of beauty through the metaphor of discarding the fashionable items that incarcerate our liberties you see third wave feminism in the (bare) flesh! Its natural science: teach the kids physics by watching a real man walk, lie down and wash his face in broken glass! Learn anatomy by witnessing how nails can penetrate the empty cavities of a human blockhead! Its all alive on the inside! Step up, step in, and join in the learning!

Jerko the Clown

No, really, you actually believe I should take you seriously?

Ok, if the above answer didn't do it for you. We can always have a traditional discussion about the institutionalization of the iconoclast as represented by the amusement industry carnie, the otherness of the American sideshow both in the aggrandized and the exotic modes, or we can simply muse on the humble beginnings of the culture of collecting by investigating how dime museums helped propagate respected houses of art, natural history, science and American theatre.

Fire belly

Now you sound a bit pretentious. Are you at all entertaining?

Don't be fooled. There's plenty to keep ADHD children captivated, like placing live scorpions in our mouth. Shock weary teenage boys will appreciate the penetration art of some of our female performers. Jaded single women will enjoy the pixie like presentation of the standard old card tricks.

There's something for everyone. That's why in our line of work they emphasize such phrases as For kids of all ages and Greatest Show on Earth. We have to entertain you. We took a loyalty oath to all the great carnies who have come before us. PT Barnum, Little Egypt, Houdini, John Wayne Gacy and we encourage audience feedback or heckling as we say in the industry. If we suck feel free to tell us that we suck. Just remember, we are invincible enough to eat fire, are you?

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