The sideshow entertainment at Coney Island was revived in 1985, and for seven days a week each summer, “the world’s first professional non-profit theatre dedicated to keeping alive the American sideshow” attracts (lures in) people on the boardwalk to see “Freaks, wonders and human curiosities!” We met seven of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow performers recently and asked how they came into this world, many of them as teenagers. (The sideshow runs through September 1. More information here.)
Photos by Farooq Alihassan for the Village Voice.