Interview with Ari Roussimoff, Director of Freaks Uncensored

In celebration of Coney Island's 1st annual Congress of Curious People, I thought I would delve a little bit into the history of sideshow freaks and the cult of interest that still survives. Ari Roussimoff, the director of Freaks Uncensored, is one of the world's foremost historians of the sideshow. He is also one of the few aficionados doing original research. Mr. Roussimoff was kind enough to speak to me a length on his research, how the sideshow affected our culture and the lingering effect of freaks in his paintings.

What initially interested you in the history of sideshow freaks? The funny thing is, it is very hard to pinpoint an exact moment. I was always fascinated by all things visual. I was a very visual child and I was always attracted to anything that was authentic, different, uncommon. Images of sideshows came through my life and by the 1970's, I was around 18 or 19, I had already become very involved with collecting photographs and books. I interviewed some people who were still around at the time and I got a bit of background. It was surreal, you see, better than any artist could create and that always inspired me. It's symbolic of other things, some of it conscious and some of it very subconscious.

In what way is it surreal?

God is a great surrealist. In the true creativity in which man is created, there is no book.

Whether you are a believer in god or or a believer in nature, nature and god has it's own whims and it creates the most original type of artwork in humanity which no painter could come close to envisioning. Most people assume a human being has two arms, two legs, a certain height, a certain weight, but there are other, fully functioning human beings, no less in spirit than any other man, and it shows you that god will work whatever way god will work. So there is no conformity, not in the creation of mankind.

Could you tell me about your research process for Freaks Uncensored?

This is a very difficult process because we have a legacy of misinformation. It is like professional wrestling. They have a certain name, they assume a certain personality. Of course, because it is contemporary time we know they are playing roles. However, in the olden days, in the world of side shows, people assumed different identities and it wasn't uncommon to find someone billed at another show under a different name, therefore a lot of the factual information has been lost. And I've read accounts by people who claim to be experts that were totally false. A lot of people went to the traditional show sources, the museums and books, and didn't go beyond that. Very few people go beyond that, so there are books out there by well meaning, and pretty good researchers, who do not have the right information. We went all across the globe looking for information, looking at government records, and oftentimes we would find that the people we were researching went by an entirely different name.

It seemed to me in your documentary there was an underlying message of handicap-ability. Was that intentional or was that something that a theme that emerged?

It is something that's certainly true. For example, Jeaniei Tomaini, the half-lady who appeared in our film, was an extremely capable woman. We asked her, did she consider herself handicapped? And no, she really did not. She had a full life. She was married, she managed a restaurant. The armless Carl Unthan, if you see him in action, you forget the man has no arms! Of course people overcome physical problems they are born with. How many people paint with their toes? A lot of them are better than people who paint with their arms.

Do you think there is a place for "born freak" performers in the American sideshow today?

As Jeanie Tomaini said, if people want to perform this way, who is going to stop them? Who are they harming? They are doing something they want to do. At a certain point, you cannot forget the individual. On one hand, people think they are doing things that somehow benefit these people, but in reality there is no such thing as "these people." There are people who want to perform and there are people who do not and both of them should have the right to do what they want.

What would you say is the legacy of sideshow freaks on our culture?

Today we live in an age where there is a celebration of the commonality. In Hollywood, gone is the glamour of the 1930's, gone is the glamour that was promoted with the stars. The stars today look like common people. But at the same time, a lot of people don't like that and a lot of people want to be different, because commonality becomes a stigma to their existence. These people are gravitating towards something "different," unique. You have a lot of piercing and tattooing and people trying to learn long time working acts like sword swallowing. It's a break from a society that's been trying to explore how we are all the same and an assertion of your own individuality.

I've noticed that historic sideshow freaks frequently appear in your paintings, how would you say documenting human oddities affected your other artistic works?

In my pictures, in my paintings, I paint the language of my soul, of my psyche. Everything I've lived, I've felt, I've dreamt comes together in one visual stew. The all form the world I paint. I have an individual portrait of the father of Jojo the dog faced man. I've done dancing pinheads, I've done bearded ladies.

Jojo happens to be one of my favorites. he was one of the people who stood out the most when I was very, very young. I looked at him, not even as a freak, but perhaps someone from another reality. He looks the way he should look. His demeanor was that of a man filled with dignity. He was an outstanding image. After a while, to tell you the truth, I see nothing freaky in him at all.


To see Ari's work, click here.