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Ever wanted to run away and join the circus? Or at least learn a few circus skills with just the swipe of a subway card and a short jaunt to Coney Island? Now's your time!
Coney Island's Sideshow School at Sideshows by the Seashore is training adults this summer to safely execute death-defying stunts including swallowing swords, eating and breathing fire, hammering real nails into your face, snapping a mouse trap on your tongue, and walking on shards of broken glass.
Sound fun? Enrollment is now open for the ten-student circus school starting on Monday, July 31 and running through Thursday, August 3. Classes run from 10 am to 2pm and there’s an optional performance on August 4, if you want to show all your coworkers how you spent your PTO that week, impress a date or just, you know, get some TikTok content. Tuition is $1,500.
“All of these skills are taught in a controlled environment in the safest way possible, at each student’s pace. We don’t force anyone to do anything,” says Adam Rinn, Coney Island USA's Artistic Director and Dean of the Sideshow School. “Some of the students are deathly afraid to participate in some of the instruction, but eventually come around and give it a try. All in all, it’s about challenging yourself. If you arrive with an open mind and comfortable clothes, who knows what kind of miracles might happen.”
Founded in 2001, Coney Island USA’s Sideshow School began as an effort to preserve and pass on well-kept secrets of a lingering art form. Over the past 22 years, students from around the world have attended the school to learn stunts.
New this year is the opportunity for students to join the cast of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and present an act as part of the regular show on Friday, August 4.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to get up and perform on our legendary stage, a stage that many of the greatest contemporary sideshow performers have graced,” says Rinn. “After all these years, it’s still an honor for me to present my acts at Sideshows by the Seashore.”