Program

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, STEP RIGHT UP! IT'S THE
SQUIDLING BROS. CIRCUS SIDESHOW

Offering a Fresh, Edgy and Humor-filled Twist on the Classic American Sideshows of the Early 20th Century, Brothers "Matterz Squidlingâe and "Jelly Boy the Clown Squidlingâe Have Created an International Sensation with a Dare-Devilish Mix of Music, Freak Show, Dancing, Visual Art, Unusual Sword Swallowing, Aerial Performances, Burlesque and
Body Modification

The Sideshow Performs Across the U.S. And Europe at Carnivals, Festivals, Dive Bars, Large Theatres and Masonic Temples

The two Philadelphia-based brothers who stepped right up in 2007 and created The Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow (www.squidlingbros.com) emerged with quirky, unforgettable monikers fitting their one-of-a kind traveling extravaganza. "Matterz Squidling The Impenetrable Music Manâe and (living cartoon, natural-born weirdo and host of the show) "Jelly Boy The Clown Squidlingâe put a fresh, cutting edge 21st Century rock 'n roll, dare-devilish and burlesque spin on the classic American Sideshows that accompanied traveling circuses in early 20th Centuryâe"the era when the Ringlings merged with Barnum & Bailey.

The internationally successful show just wrapped a six week, 22 show U.S. tour and heads back to Europe in early 2012 for performances everywhere from Berlin and Austria to Switzerland, Holland, Slovenia and Croatia. But like the 80-100 shows they perform annually, there's nothing conventional about the venues the Sideshow plays with its small traveling crew of performers featuring "Betty Bloomerzâe and "Penguin,âe a classic 'freak (and proud of it!) covered in tattoos and huge body piercings. Born with shortness of limbs, Penguin stands as tall as an emperor with hands growing out of his shoulders and though unarmed, he's still dangerous!

When The Squidlings describe their show as a "full on multiple sensory assaultâe and say their audiences are in for a "night of thrills, chills and laughs that will stay with you for the rest of your life,âe they're not selling hypeâe"they're actually understating the matter. Whether they're playing small dive bars, art spaces, mid-size theatres or (as they did recently) the Theatre Bizarre Halloween celebration at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, one of the performers' favorite jaw dropping stunts is "aerial flesh suspension.âe Performed and improvised individually by Betty and Penguin, the stunt involves being hoisted in the air on a harness and dancing around after professional body piercers sink huge shark hooks into their skin. Another staple (which can be taken literally and figuratively!), Jelly performs "unusual sword swallowing,âe which could involve shooting fireworks out of his sword or shooting a jet of flame out of the handle!

Their other stunts include innovative approaches to fire arts, ladders of machetes and comical routines that defy possibility with nails and tubes up the nose, tennis rackets, needles and sharp objects. Matterz provides synthesized and sampled sounds to accompany live performances, but as one of the stars of the show, he's impenetrableâe"which means he frequently finds himself jumping up and down on broken glass (or washing his face with it). Sandwiched between sharp objects, laying on a bed of machetes as a melon is chopped on his body, or being hit by Jelly Boy's sledgehammer striking an anvil on his chest.

While Jelly Boy describes their first tours as "throwing everything in a few bags and boxes and hitting the road, flying, taking the train, whatever it took to get there,âe they've since evolved into a must see sensation. Over the past few years, the Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow has performed with Primus, Exploited, Prodigy, The National, Circus Contraption, Rev Horton Heat, Mudvayne, Suicide Silence and Merle Haggard. The have also appeared at the Ink N Iron Fest, Bohemian Carnival with the Vau De Vire Society, Sweden Metaltown 2009 in Gotenburg, The Coney Island Rockabilly Festival 2008-10, The World Steam Punk Expo Detroit 2010, Sweden's Pedal to the Metal Tour 2009 and Opatijske Barufe 2011 in Croatia.

"We're all about manipulating dark and dangerous objects, but without being truly harmed,âe says Jelly Boy. "We're not necessarily about mutilation or pain but overcoming and escaping those things. Much like martial arts, learning to do these stunts takes a lot of research and trial and error. We made our own props and practiced in the safety of our living rooms. A lot of things appear like illusions, but this is a stunt show, not an illusion show. That's always the most interesting thing about a circus sideshowâe"what you're watching is very real but it still boggles the mind. Everything we're doing is based on pre-existing side show acts, but we're basically reinventing the genre for ourselves. People have been sticking screwdrivers up their nose for a long time and swallowing swords for thousands!âe

"Three of the major insane stunts we are doing now are Betty dancing in the air suspended by hooks in her back, Matterz being completely buried in broken glass and me swallowing the barrel of a rifle,âe he adds.

Currently working on a documentary about their show, The Squidlings earlier in their career also created the gory yet campy horror film "Freakshow Apocalypse." Set to be distributed by Chemical Burn Entertainment this spring, the fantasy zombie apocalyptic tale also stars renowned, full body tattooed sideshow performer, The Enigma.

Jelly Boy the Clown proved himself an amazing real life escape artist this past summer when he was badly burned in a Queens apartment fire that was unrelated to any performance. Coming off a long day of working at Ripley's Believe It Or Not as a sword swallower, he was crashing at a friend's apartment for the night and woke up to a house fire. Rescued by the NYFD, he sustained burns on 15 percent of his body and his lungs, suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and was in ICU for six weeks. Typical of his work ethic and powerful passion for life, Jelly Boy defied the medical odds, quickly learned to walk and eat again, and was back on the road within two months of getting out of the hospital.

In 2004 the brothers created "Carnivolution,âe the monthly DIY underground party and circus show performed with puppets, costumes and guest sideshow and circus performers. The Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow is an outgrowth of this show, which began on South Street before moving to a unique outdoor space at the Tiberino Museum in West Philadelphia. Several backyards are connected to an art garden, with 3-D murals and sculptures throughout.

"The Squidling Bros. concept evolved out of the variety shows we were doing with Carnivolution,âe says Matterz. "We developed sketch comedy wonder shows like Monty Python with puppets, and brought in aerialists and other performers. We had a live music stage and a sideshow stage that was a gravel pit with a treehouse overlooking it. We started to tell the Squidling story with our variety show, as if The Squidling Bros. were traveling through space and time to different dimensions. When we started traveling with the Sideshow, some young artists were there to keep it happening every month. We currently hold it in the same place, the second Friday of every month, from May through October, and usually schedule our touring around it.âe

During the summers of 2009-10, The Squidlings also produced a weekly summer variety sideshow, burlesque night in Coney Island, USA, held every Saturday on the boardwalk at Cha Cha's, a bar favored by wise guys and wild womenâe"and anyone else who enjoys hanging. Individual performers also appeared on the stage at the Coney Island USA Sideshow by the Sea and Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Times Square.

"We believe The Squidling Bros. Sideshow Circus is successful because people are always fascinated by the physically impossible, or seeing before their eyes something that should be impossible,âe says Jelly. "There's an element here that you don't get in live music, where the audience is a continual part of the show, and yelling, heckling and call and response is encouraged. Those chants take everyone back to a primal part of the human experience. People like danger and love to laugh. They are excited by daredevils and the idea of cheating death but just barely. We bring all these elements and so many more together in one place. Other similar shows in recent years were straight freak shows. Ours is more of a freak show and stunt show with dancing, aerial stunts and comedy.âe

http://www.squidlingbros.com/