When I first got involved in Philly comedy back in 2009 the shows to see / perform at were few and far between. PHIT only had the Shubin Theater for 2 weeks out of each month, which left performers with nothing to do and students with nothing to see. For that reason, in 2011 I created The Sideshow to fill in the gaps where PHIT was not running shows. Side note: I actually pitched the idea for the Sideshow to Charna at iO Chicago back in 2007 and I’m still waiting to hear back.
For this version of The Sideshow I rented out Headlong (then known as the Arts Parlor) a weekend or two each month. This gave the team I was coaching at the time (Beirdo) a place to regularly perform and gave other improv teams and various comedy acts another performance venue. It was a whole show effort too. Everyone helped set up and everyone helped break things down. Plus, unlike PHIT and other shows at the time – The Sideshow paid performers. From 2011 – 2014 the Sideshow paid ran on being happy just breaking even and thousands of dollars was given back to performers.
Once PHIT got a permanent home at the Adrienne and had shows 52 weeks a year- there was gaps that The Sideshow was created to fill no longer existed. My time being consumed by the theater also increased, so The Sideshow was absorbed into the PHIT line-up to pop up every once in a while. Gone with that change was, unfortunately, also the ability to pay performers. I tapped Shannon Fahey, who themselves captures the spirit of the show itself, to reboot the show a couple years ago as a short run show. Each time we had a show it was a great time. The PHIT iteration of The Sideshow kind of faded away as the pressure to fill the schedule with “money making” shows increased.
Through the years we welcomed improv, sketch, stand-up, storytelling, magic, dancing, singing, dramatic readings, PowerPoint presentations, and so much more that didn’t quite fit neatly into any one category. We hosted the first shows and last shows of several improv teams, the first performances of the Not For Nothin Podcast with Mike Rainey and Tim Butterly. Lizzie Spellman first graced our stage to strum that Ukulele. Jen Curcio first story-told at a Sideshow if I’m not mistaken. I directed a one act play called “Hidden In This Picture” as well as the Sideshow Musical Revue with an ending pulled directly from Dirty Dancing. We had “Freaky Friday” events where improvisers got to try stand-up for the first time while stand-ups formed groups to attempt improv. Tom Hannigan got to talk about Frasier – at least twice I think. There were “Short Attention Span” shows where all acts were 5 or so minutes which lead to lots of unknown talent related acts as well as bits upon bits. And there’s a lot of stuff I’m not remembering or simply leaving out because this is already too long. The point is that The Sideshow really was a space where you can just try shit out and see if it works without being judged if it didn’t. It was super supportive and fun and weird and I loved it.
