Editing Sideshow (section)

==Early history and acts==
{{See also|Circus#History}}
By the 1830s, "outside shows" began to be established alongside travelling circuses.<ref name="nickell">{{Cite book |last=Nickell |first=Joe |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65377460 |title=Secrets of the sideshows |date=2005 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-7179-2 |location=Lexington, Ky. |oclc=65377460|author-link=Joe Nickell}}</ref>{{rp|9}} Initially, the circuses distanced themselves from the sideshows, but in 1850, a relationship was established between them.<ref name="nickell" />{{rp|9}}

"Working acts" often exhibited a number of stunts that could be counted on to draw crowds. These stunts used little-known methods and offered the elements of danger and excitement. Such acts included [[fire eating]], [[sword swallowing]], [[impalement arts|knife throwing]], [[body piercing]], lying on a [[bed of nails]], walking up a ladder of sharp swords, and more. The renewed attention to these feats has prompted a new round of oversimplified or inaccurate explanations, leading some inexperienced people to attempt them without adequate training often resulting in injury and sometimes even death.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}