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AMC’s latest - “Freakshow”

Nov 26 09:51

Well, it finally happened. Instead of dressing up a reality show about little people or 800-pound women and calling it educational, AMC is finally being honest about the product they’re putting out (to the possible chagrin of people with disabilities), with their newest program - Freakshow.

The show follows one of the most infamous freakshows in the country, the Venice Beach Freakshow. If you’ve visited this legendary walk of weirdness in Cali (I once had an amazing scalp massage from a porn star/sales person while I was there), you may have seen the building as you rolled by (and it sadly isn’t accessible).

The live show is owned and operated by Todd Ray, a music producer who’s worked with big names like Mick Jagger, 311, Santana, Korn and Audioslave before opening the Venice Beach Freakshow in 2006. The TV show focuses on him, his family and, of course, the freaks. In addition to real-life freaks, they also have the largest two-headed animal collection in the world. Ew.

As for the freaks you'll see, they have your bizarre self-imposed freaks, a guy with tattoos over his entire body, sword swallowers, fire-eaters, and then there’s the “real” freaks who were born with their “freakiness,” including a little person, an insanely tall guy, a guy with hair that grows all over his face, and a one-legged acrobat called Jackie The Human Tripod.

After being paralyzed for 19 years, I had a revelation, an albeit very tough one: There’s true healing in celebrating who you are. Embracing your freakness, your gimpyness, whatever — just loving that you're different — is so vital.

Doing this may seem crazy to those with newly acquired disabilities, harsh even, but there’s immense power in it. And they will eventually see what I mean.

Will you be watching? Or do you disagree with this kind of programming?

And can I say how happy I am that AMC is producing this, instead of TLC?

Freakshow is scheduled to debut in early 2013.

- Official site: AMC’s Freakshow

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By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.