Circus of Phenomena

Roles in the circus

Joan: presenter, show director

Omar: trapeze artist

Erick: He often carries huge, heavy things to impress people, and sometimes he even acts as a mime.

Karl: impresses with his hyperlexia, he also does mime work alongside Erick

Nikolai: He is usually the one who welcomes people to the circus and he is a clown.

Alex and Alexander: they are on the wheel of death

Illnesses (mental and physical) of each member

Joan: none

Omar: Post-traumatic stress from being sold as a young man and abused by the woman to whom he was sold as a child, making him currently much more sensitive to explicit content and terrified of it.

Erick: hypertension

Karl: hyperlexia, he cannot read, write, do math, history or anything about general knowledge

Nikolai: insecurity

Alexander and Alex: they are conjoined twins, which affects their daily lives.

The contract that everyone signed (except Joan, obviously) said the following:

Welcome to the Circus of Freaks. Before proceeding with this agreement, we would like to thank you for your interest in joining our traveling company. Our company is not your average circus; it's a space created for extraordinary people, unconventional artists, and individuals capable of inspiring wonder, awe, and admiration in those who witness the spectacle. Our purpose is to offer an intense, mysterious, and unforgettable experience to our audience, keeping alive the ancient tradition of traveling circuses that journey through cities, towns, and roads far removed from the everyday routine.

The participant acknowledges and accepts that the work and artistic environment of the Circus of Phenomena may involve emotionally demanding situations due to the nature of the show, the itinerant lifestyle and the permanent cohabitation between the members of the company. Therefore, by signing this contract, the participant agrees that: The circus will not be responsible for emotional damages resulting from stage experiences, rehearsals, or performances. The circus will not be responsible for psychological stress caused by the dark themes of the show. The circus will not be responsible for anxiety, fear, paranoia, insomnia or emotional distress arising during or after participation in the company. The circus will not guarantee therapeutic, psychological or psychiatric support to its members. The participant will be fully responsible for informing in advance of any mental or emotional condition that may be aggravated within the described artistic environment.

Being part of the Circus of Phenomena involves living with the rest of the company members and the General Director for the duration of the tours and active seasons. Due to the itinerant nature of the circus: All artists, workers, and administrative members will share company-provided housing spaces.

The order in which Joan found the people for her show was as follows:

1- Nikolai: Nikolai went looking for a job and Joan accepted him.

2- Erick: When Joan noticed that Erick was out of jail, she immediately offered him a spot on the show. Erick, not knowing where to go or what to do, accepted.

3-Omar: Joan found Omar as a street artist, gave him the opportunity to return to what he once was, which Omar accepted.

4- Karl: Joan found him to be a comedian who sold his services, so she offered him a spot on the show. Karl accepted, believing it was the same as always, without reading the contract.

5- Alex and Alexander: Joan found the conjoined twins in the street, both crying. She approached to see what was wrong and, upon hearing their story, took them to the circus, where she offered them work, giving them special treatment due to their young age, just like the others.

"Two heads and one body," that's how these two boys are presented, conjoined twins from birth. They grew up with only their father because their mother died from complications during childbirth. Both boys are beautiful to look at, which hides their capricious and spoiled behavior. However, they remain empathetic and sensitive-hearted. 19 years old They share a body, thin and with delicate features, their heads are identical, like a mirror, with short, curly brown hair, large green eyes, both with freckles in the same places and with fine features.

Alexander and Alex are conjoined twins; they share one body but have separate heads. Although identical, they don't think exactly alike, even on trivial things like ice cream flavor or whether they should read or write. Of course, there were difficulties. Both controlled the body, so sometimes while Alex slept, Alexander might go to the kitchen to eat, or vice versa. The next morning, Alex would be hungry, but the other body wouldn't—quite a drama. Their mother died giving birth to them, their father was not very present in their lives, although they went to school and had good grades, they ran away from home at 16, they were soon found by Joan who for the first time, truly worried, took care of them, when he took them to the freak show they were given the opportunity to work there, the conjoined twins accepted, because being so young they were looked after there, several times when people tried to take advantage of them because of their beauty, Erick defended them, or sometimes Jean, or well, everyone there.

"Tree," so named for his great height, already stands at 2 meters and 38 centimeters at only 29 years old. However, his body hasn't collapsed, perhaps due to his constant physical activity or simply because life has been kind to him. His role in the circus is to juggle and trip people up. He's usually just at the entrance greeting people and carrying them for souvenir photos. He's one of the least ridiculed; Nikolai himself is a joker, but not cruel. 29 years old Slender and elongated build, long, straight, dark brown hair, almost black eyes, and no visible body hair.

As a young man, Nikolai came from a middle-class family. The youngest of three siblings, his life was normal: school, friends, until at age 15, his family died in a car accident, leaving him in an orphanage. His life changed completely. At the orphanage, he made new friends, but most of the children made fun of his height. Others found it extraordinary, while his old friends considered it normal. From a young age, he had to undergo medical examinations, but the orphanage stopped doing so. He was never adopted because of the cost and because many considered him too old to be adopted. At 18, he was thrust into the real world. Of course, he was first taught how to survive, pay bills, work, etc. He applied this knowledge and was soon hired as a mascot for a restaurant. They paid the bare minimum, but it was something. He managed to rent a small but cheap room and had decent meals, to say the least. But everything fell apart when, at 23, the restaurant went bankrupt. Unable to pay the rent and with little money, he ended up on the street. With only $30 and his belongings in a backpack, he went looking for work. He was the one who found Joan, his first employee. Joan hired him, and thus began his show.

They call him "Worm," perhaps because of his thin, hairless body, perhaps because he was a drug dealer in the past, or perhaps simply because of his strange flexibility, allowing him to move his body to unimaginable capacities. The hair on his body was almost nonexistent, apart from a little bit of sideburn, with ice-blue eyes and almost pale, almost sickly skin. 37 years old Extremely thin build, blue eyes, almost no body hair and what little he has is blond, with a sickly appearance.

Karl comes from a close-knit and humble family, the only child of his mother and father. There was enough money for food but not for education. Thus, from a young age, Karl exploited his only talent as a comedian. He charged barely 5 dollars an hour because nobody wanted to hire a child. From a young age, he knew of what they called a curse, his hypermobility. This caused him to fracture several times, but he did not stop; they needed the money, and he never managed to study. At the age of 28, he was already earning $10 an hour when Joan told him he could continue doing the only thing he knew how to do, but with more money and more people. Karl, who couldn't read, signed the contract, unaware that they would not take responsibility for any psychological damage that might happen to him. Karl, currently 37 years old, cannot read or write, only drawing lines and confusing letters; the same with mathematics, he also knows nothing about history

"The strongest man," his nickname to the world, his weight is 120 kilograms and almost all muscle, he is 2 meters tall, has a thick beard and short hair, his role in the circus is to carry things as heavy as cars or several people from the audience. 48 years old Of muscular build, he usually wears a sleeveless shirt and pants, at first glance intimidating but in reality he is calm and serene, but he does not hide his discomfort or anger.

As a child, he was trained to be a boxer, a failed dream of his father that he was forced to carry on his back from a young age. This went on for years, but soon, at the young age of 10, he was forced to take steroids and other supplements that pushed his body to its limits. Soon, his life as a boxer was more like being forced to fight, and in reality, that's what it was. At parties during his adolescence, people would hire him for entertainment, hitting people, and they would force Erick to drink to make him more temperamental. At 25, he married a woman he met at a party. When she saw that Erick was truly a peaceful man who hated fighting, she left him. Erick had a son who died at the age of seven. He fell into the world of illicit addictions. At 32, he managed to get out after being imprisoned for theft. The inmates refused to sell him drugs, and his story spread among them. Even among them, it was perhaps too much, or maybe it was just pity. What mattered was that they helped Erick overcome his addiction. Upon his release, he decided to try again, but Joan got him into a freak show. He stayed, alone, because he didn't know where else to go and because he still hoped to find peace someday.

"The oldest man in the world," as they call him, because Omar really is 98 years old, 98 years old and still in shape. He is not exactly muscular, but rather his body, although weak at first glance, was still ready to perform, because he was a trapeze artist. He is kind and although he knows he has made mistakes in life, he has mended them. 98 years With a thin, wrinkled body, blue eyes, short gray hair, and no beard, he usually wears his trapeze outfit, and if not, his pajamas.

History: Omar was sold at age 13 to his future wife, forced to impregnate her at 14, leaving him scarred and traumatized. The woman eventually lost the babies and abandoned Omar. At 14, just days before his 15th birthday, Omar was forced to steal to survive. He was caught several times and labeled a thief, someone who had strayed from the right path, also becoming involved in illicit drug addiction. Finally, at age 19, he was found by a priest who took him to the House of Christ, where he recovered and found work in a circus, beginning his new life at age 27. He was a natural trapeze artist and also worked as a clown on several occasions. As he aged, he was discarded, becoming a street performer at age 57. At 88, Joan finally found him and gave him the opportunity to join her freak show.

Omar sometimes regrets being on the show, sometimes being treated as a joke, but other times there are really people who admire and respect him.

Omar is a wise and patient person, admitting his thefts and his worst moments, but accepting that part of himself.

Joan is the owner and presenter of the freak show/freak show. He is a somewhat selfish man without a family. He doesn't completely care about what happens to his employees, but he does care, although he doesn't usually show it, focusing on the money they earn. 59 years old Of somewhat stocky build, brown eyes, no beard, short hair with a few gray hairs, some wrinkles, white complexion He usually wears a red and black suit, with a black tie and a cane, along with a top hat.

From a young age, Joan grew up in a wealthy family, feeling untouchable. However, his own selfishness led his family to turn their backs on him. At 25, he was kicked out of his home for refusing to find work. He never had a partner, taking odd jobs to pay the rent. At 34, he began to think about starting a circus, but not a normal one—one that could profit from easily recruiting other performers. Thus, he created the freak show. By the age of 50, the show was already famous, controversial, and well-paying. But without realizing it, he grew fond of his employees, as they all lived together.