Stop it, John Strong. Just. Stop. It. The Coney Island freakshow proprietor is hell bent on getting his 5-legged puppy, even now that it has undergone a procedure to remove the extra limb. He declared, “I’m going to get it back on the dog. I don’t like people cutting off my puppy’s leg. When it became personal, and she’s (Siegel) being made out as a hero, and I’m being out as a bad guy, that’s not fair to me … (I’m) not going to be portrayed that way, at least not without a fight.” Mr. Strong, sometimes bad press is bad press. And that is certainly all it will be if you re-attach a 5th leg to a cute little innocent puppy. The HSUS's Patrick Kwan told us, "I think what's important for the dog is a loving, caring, permanent home and no animal deserves to be made into a spectacle. I doubt anyone would consider a Coney Island freak show to be the best home for an animal, especially considering Coney Island's future is often up in the air." Indeed. But at least he's no longer showing his two-headed baby (or maybe he is, photos aren't allowed inside his show). more ›

In case you missed the update, the 5-legged puppy that was saved from a life in a freakshow was brought under the knife ahead of schedule to have her extra leg amputated yesterday. Coney Island's John Strong had been threatening legal action to attain the pup, since he had put a down payment on the canine before the current owner Allyson Siegel stepped in. CNN has video of the dog prior to her operation: more ›

There's one thing certain about the future of Coney Island: there will be no 5-legged dog in John Strong's freakshow. A North Carolina woman named Allyson Siegel changed the pup's fate when she outbid Strong and paid $4,000 for the animal. more ›

The battle of the freakshows continues on Coney Island, as Mr. John Strong III (Coney newbie) and Mr. Dick Zigun (Coney mainstay) unleash the freaks for the season. Zigun told the NY Times last week that while Strong claims to run the world’s largest freak show, "It’s likely you’ll see a lot of strange animals and only one live person. We’re a classic 10-in-one circus sideshow with a cast of sword swallowers, fire eaters and other freaks. No animals.” more ›

It's on! John Strong's freak show is officially headed East to set up shop on Coney Island this summer, just blocks from Dick Zigun's Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A press release announces that this summer visitors to the area will be greeted by more than 25 fun-filled rides and dozens of circus freaks, courtesy of John Strong’s Shows, allegedly the largest collection of oddities and freaks in all of America. Did we mention his entourage includes a 17-inch horse named Tiny? more ›

THEATER: You’ve got just three more weekends to experience one of the wildest and most entertaining late-night theater extravaganzas to hit New York this century. The Curse of the Mystic Renaldo The defies description – what begins as a fake silent movie (ostensibly unearthed during the construction of 3 Legged Dog’s sleek new theater center) quickly dashes off in countless delirious directions at once: There’s live rock, hilarious vaudevillian slapstick, both high and low art, free popcorn, free regular and light beer, side-splitting ribaldry and, above all, the virtuoso performance of Aldo Perez, the show’s charismatic creator. (Not to take anything away from his equally brilliant co-stars Jenny Lee Mitchell and Richard Ginocchio.) See it now so you’ll have time to catch it again before it closes. - John Del Signore more ›

You may have seen Kristen Schaal at The PIT or UCB, eating Starbursts on the beach, heard her voice on Freak Show, or read that she's playing Flight of the Conchord's only fan on their forthcoming HBO Show. "What's her secret?" you may wonder. It's because she grew up in Colorado. It's the altitude. more ›

Julie Atlas Muz, Burlesque Star/Mermaid more ›