ALIVE ... ALIVE
[Michigan State Fair sideshow exhibit (1995)]
Freak sideshows serve to remind us of the ever-present dangers of being freakish. Since some unscrupulous sideshow operators would put nearly lifelike dummyfreaks on pre-paid display, it fell to the more honest majority of exhibitors to indicate that they had the “real deal” inside. On the side of one particular Michigan State Fair trailer, a painting of a young man inside a full, giant hypodermic syringe aided the “mind’s eye” in painting a “mental picture” that augmented the looped crackly stentatorian P.A. announcement: “ALIVE ... ALIVE ... SEE THE RAVAGES OF HEROIN BEFORE THOSE WACK-A-MOLE METH USERS COME ALONG AND USURP THE TOP SPOT ON BILLBOARD’S HOT FREAK 100 LIST ACTUALLY I CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING EXCEPT THOSE TWO WORDS ALIVE ... ALIVE”
“The large word ‘ALIVE’ [...] was, according to sideshow sign painters, the most important word in their arsenal.” – The American State Fair Derek Nelson
A similar rendition of “ALIVE ... ALIVE” is heard while enemy
fighters exit their base during the video game “Bosconian.” It
was like “Rally X” in space. I killed many of these enemies for
you, America. For you.
– Jeff Stendec (2001)
Tags: audio