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

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.