Palace of Wonders Benefit Show Tonight

Tonight, step right up to the Palace of Wonders for a special “Weirdo Show” performance to benefit local jugger, magician, and pirate worker Johnny Anderson, who has been in and out of the hospital after having his leg crushed by a car last June. The benefit features performances by conjurer Eric Henning, vaudeville comedians Phillips and Flathead, glass-walker Mab Just Mab, and burlesque dancer Sugar Ann Spice. Proceeds will go towards Anderson’s surgical bills.

Anderson’s wife, sword-swallower Charon Henning, has had her one share of side-show related medical emergencies; check out this March S&T on local sword swallower injuries for more on her. Anderson’s injury, though, didn’t occur at the side-show, but rather outside it.

The circumstances of Anderson’s injury are weirder than sword-swallowing, glass-walking, and pirate-working combined. John Spitzer, a.k.a. Weirdo Show emcee Professor Sprocket, says that Anderson’s leg was crushed outside the Palace’s first anniversary bash when a D.C. police cruiser made a sudden U-turn, striking Anderson. Anderson and Henning pressed charges couldn’t find a lawyer to press charges. Says Spitzer, “now the District doesn’t have any record of the incident, and the officer in question seems to have disappeared.”

File that one away in your brain’s personal Museum of Oddities, then go check out the real deal at the Palace. “Every penny goes to Johnny and Charon,” says Spitzer. The benefit costs $10 at the door; throughout the show, the audience can also engage in some betting games to help raise additional funds. Be glad it’s going to a good cause: “Never bet against a carny,” warns Spitzer.

The benefit show begins at 9 p.m. tonight at the Palace of Wonders, 1210 H Street NE.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Arts, Follow That Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.