toronto stories

circus o burlesque a mania insania

Looking for something to do on a wintry Friday night, I came across a show by Mysterion, who calls himself the Doctor of Mentalism, to be held at the Gladstone Ballroom. Yes, a burlesque show, but peppered with strange and mysterious side-show freaks. It was poorly organized in that doors opened at 8pm, but the show didn't start til 9. By the time the show started, it was sold out and the latecomers who had managed to get in were left to stand for the 3 hour show. I'd been to a burlesque show during Luminato 2 summers ago and thought it was very well done. This time, the burlesque dancers were alright, but nothing super stunning. I was more interested in some of the other acts, which included contortionist Aiden Orange, who squeezed himself through a squash racquet, and Edward Skwirksy who demonstrated some juggling with some balls; he had previously toured with Cirque du Soleil's Quidam, and Rick, the Living Zombie (a man who basically is what appears to be the most tattooed man alive/dead. Seriously, that must hurt?!!)

Some of the other acts mentioned here for posterity's sake include:
- Sadie Spins, a girl who spun the hula hoop
- One Arm Bob, who basically only has one arm but did some pretty freaky stuff like shove a dime up his nose and then had a member of the audience stand with hand outstretched so that he could cough the dime back out.
- Kayla Pin Lynn, the human pincushion
- Anastasia, a woman who swallowed some thread in our sight, and then pulled it out of her chest.

Yup, a different night out alright.

posted by toronto girl @ 5:21 PM