Carnival Diablo is now 19 Years Old!!!

It seems like yesterday that I walked into the old Liquor Board Building in Calgary Alberta and decided that I was going to open a Stationary Tourist Attraction.

It was February of 1992 and I was looking for a rehearsal space to practice my Medicine Show. I bumped into a well known eccentric character while waiting for a traffic light to change in downtown Calgary.His name was Fred Hollis, Fred was well known in the entertainment sector. So, I decided to strike up a conversation with him while we were walking. 

I had told him that I was looking for a space to rehearse my Medicine Show, and he said he knew a guy that was running a Gallery in the old Liquor Board Building downtown and may have some space in the back. That sounded good, so Fred and I set up a meeting to see the space. When we got there the curator, Minon Classen greeted us and showed us the back area of the building behind the Gallery. It was a large space, wide open and relatively clean. I struck up a deal with Minon to use the back area for rehearsal and commenced to set up my show for practice. I went there every day to work on my show and tinkered with new routines and ideas, trying to make my Medicine Show the best it could be.

Strangely, everyday that I was there I would always look to my right and see a rickety set of stairs that went up to an old painted Red Door. It was weird to see this door, never used and shining like a beacon every time I entered the room. ( it never really had a shine, but was certainly a mystery)

After about a week of rehearsing, I decided to ask Minon what the Red Door led too.

He told me that it was just an empty warehouse space, unused for over 20 years.

I asked him if he had a key to the door, and he said that he could get one. And so, the next day Minon and I went walking up the old rickety steps towards the Red Door.

There was an old lock keeping it shut and slowly Minon put the key in the lock and gave it a turn. The lock clicked and the Red Door swung open, revealing a palatial warehouse space almost a block long, with 14 foot ceilings. At that moment, everything came into perspective and I decided to create a Stationary Tourist Attraction that would house my grandfathers collection of FREAKS and Anomalies.

It was Amazing! The place was perfect for my idea and HUGE!

I asked Minon if I could rent the upper half of the building and he said YES!

I knew from the day I saw the space that I would call it Carnival Diablo, because I loved the idea of people coming to play at the Devil's Carnival.

I started to move my stuff into the building in late February and began putting the word out that I was going to open a large Freak Museum and Sideshow Attraction.... the people came out of the wood work wanting to help in any way they could. I had carpenters, painters and artisans all wanting to help see this project happen.

A friend whose father worked at the Palliser Hotel (the Hotel Queen Elizabeth stayed at whenever she was in Calgary) had donated twelve 15 foot curtains from the Hotel that could be used for Freak Artifact installations. An old Circus carpenter came out of retirement to build grandstand seating for the stage show and the chief electrician for the Andrew Loyd Webber play The Phantom of the Opera, did all of the electrical. Plus, the Calgary Planetarium, created a star chamber in the ceiling, so it looked like you were outside while in doors.

My design for the interior was rather extravagant, as we created what looked like an out door set of an old 19th Century Carnival. It was quite the undertaking. When you first entered, the first thing you came to was our concession stand, which was designed to look like an old Gypsy Caravan. Next to the concessions was Clown Alley, which housed old Victorian Carnival Games of Skill... and as you turned the corner you came to a large archway sign that said 'Carnival Diablo'... and you entered the Victorian Carnival Freakshow. The lane was set up with old Victorian street lamps and each major exhibit has its own environment. At the end of the lane was the stage show which played nightly 6 days a week.

I had over 120 Freak Exhibits on show and also Live Entertainment ranging from Celtic Bands to Living naked Human Statues painted white that would stand for 4 hours without moving. Every Tuesday was Movie night and I would show a strange and obscure Horror film or Animated Feature on my grandfathers Edison Projector.

The first Carnival Diablo article and it was BIG!

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 We were open Tuesday thru Sunday from 5pm to 5am, and saw many people visit after midnight. This was the biggest, non-licensed Entertainment venue in Calgary and it had a strong underground following.

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The shows at night were first performed solo by me, but as the first month wore on, I decided to train people to become Human Marvels.... and so, Carnival Diablo the Ultimate Sidehsow was born!

a rare photo of me opening Carnival Diablo 1992

This was the beginning of Carnival Diablo's history, and it has morphed and changed many times over the past 19 years. I have trained over 40 professional Sideshow Performers since I started my Sideshow in 1992. And I have created many attractions since the inception of Carnival Diablo.

As I move closer to my 20th year in the Sideshow industry, I have even larger and more extravagant plans ahead!

Here's to all of the people that helped make Carnival Diablo such a Great success and also a BIG THANK YOU to all of our dedicated fans for staying loyal for so many years!