The Latest Show on Earth

Circus

You'd think an industry relying so heavily on curiosities would come up with some new tricks. Even die-hard circus-lovers must get bored of watching the same old swallowed swords and pretzel-twisted bodies. Enter Alicia Dattner, a San Francisco-based standup-comedian-turned-ringmaster whose unusual circus takes a refreshingly witty approach. On its first tour around the country, "The Latest Show on Earth" sets up stakes in town tonight in a South Philly warehouse. Instead of the traditional physically freakish circus acts, these ones have corresponding neurotic twists, such as the emotional escape artist and bulimic fire-eater. It's a circus for the intellectual, with acrobats and contortionists to fascinate and make you think. The sideshow of "Post-Modern Curiosities" includes a fortune-telling machine housed in an old suitcase, a two-headed Cabbage Patch Doll and, allegedly, the largest curd of cottage cheese in the world. Dattner won't give away the grand finale, but she promises something "disgusting and wonderful."

"The Latest Show on Earth," Thu., Oct. 28, 9 p.m., $5, 2011 S. Juniper St., circus@monkpunk.org.

—Tami Fertig

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