Jim Rose is famous among connoisseurs of the bizarre as ringmaster of the world's more extreme freak shows. Lately, however, he's been wondering if he hasn't been upstaged by George W. Bush.
Disgusted by the way his native US is going, the Las Vegas-based performance artist and professional poker player has gone into artistic exile in Europe -- bringing his latest frontal assault on good taste with him.
"The Jim Rose Dubya World Circus of Freaks," which opened yesterday in Bristol, in the west of England, includes among its many eye-popping acts Big Mak, a contortionist who tips the scales at a whopping 205kg.
Besides twisting himself into knots, Big Mak stuffs himself on stage with unseemly quantities of doughnuts and hamburgers -- a living symbol of the obesity epidemic gripping the US today.
"Certain incarnations [of Rose's circuses] in the past have definitely centered around freaks of nature," Rose, 47, said as he slumped into an orange swivel chair, battling jetlag, at his publicists' office in London.
"This year's show high-lights freaks of nurture," he said. "This is an anti-George Bush show, so we give you a mirrored reflection of what's wrong with American society -- and we bring what could be considered typical Americans who can do amazing things," he said.
"This 450-pound kid wouldn't turn a head in the United States, but he's a freak of George Bush's society. He's a freak of nurture ... and he'll make your jaw drop because he's the world's fattest contortionist."
Other acts include SuperDelinquent, an ex-crack addict with dollar bills stapled to his body; Mighty Konn, a native American who gets his testicles smashed with a sledgehammer ["a hysterical high point in the show," a press release says]; and a guy who swallows a Rubik's cube, then regurgitates it -- solved.
Held over from earlier Jim Rose circuses is "French nationalist" Bebe Aschard, whose speciality is blowing fire out of her vagina in what Rose calls a "bush-burning" act. Off-stage, she's Mrs Jim Rose.
Strange as it sounds, Rose enjoys a devout cult following, not only in North America where he hosts a weekly TV show, but also in Europe where he was five times a hit draw at the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
His "Dubya" spectacle is set to play 16 cities until Oct. 11, including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris.
Rose said he originally conceived the show for US consumption, only to discover that with the US presidential elections in November fast approaching, promoters didn't want to touch such hot political content.
"So we're going to live in Europe and the United Kingdom until George Bush is out of office," he said, and in the process introduce Europeans to a more twisted side of his homeland.
"Europeans have got a Hollywood view [of the US] for the most part, glamor from movies and TV," he said. "There's a whole America out there that they're only vaguely aware of. We're going to go ahead and put it front and center."
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS