Brian Jacobson

New Year’s Eve with the Dead Man’s Carnival

By - Jan 3rd, 2011 11:38 am

It was a bit daunting to see the Miramar Theater sold out — in fact, it was suspected that it was over sold-out.  Every last chair was put in empty spaces and eager New Year’s Eve revelers sat on the floor and lined the walls to watch the underground comedy-acrobatic-musical-flame swallowing Dead Man’s Carnival take the stage.

In a way, it was also a kind of reunion show and lovefest for a band of young sideshow/punk circus members as quite a few traveled from far and wide to put on a 4-hour display of burlesque, juggling, theatrics and other chicanery. It also ran up to a grand stroke of midnight stunt involving roller skates and one member prone while holding a board of fire.

Other highlights featured Gypsy Geoff, a high-spinning washtub and some audience-participating marshmallows, Erik Bang as a pseudo-giraffe, hula hoops and a oversized wheel, Bella Sue with some black balloons, a man-eating chicken, and Sir Pinkerton with some well-placed bananas.

We were given full access to the ribald troupe and present to you a visual display of the night’s action. Use the slideshow below or click here for a full-size slideshow.

0 thoughts on “New Year’s Eve with the Dead Man’s Carnival”

  1. Anonymous says:

    Awesome photos. It almost feels like I was there! Wait I was! And now I forgive you for standing in front of my video camera while you were shooting photos.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c0fSma2eUw

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us