“If you’ve got a stomach for Jackass then Punk Rock Circus is an all you can eat buffet of pure stupidity.”
Reading those words, I knew exactly where I would be Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday afternoon at 2:25 p.m. If I’m somewhere and there’s a sideshow or a stunt show or simply just human beings doing awful things to their bodies for my amusement, I’ll pretty much stop whatever else I might be doing to watch.
I do not watch because I enjoy the simple suffering of others. That helps, sure, but there’s a difference between doing stunts and performing them. I would go as far as to argue that there’s an art to causing pain, one that’s being rapidly lost in our world of viral videos.
If I tell you, “Hey, watch this video of one man tasering another,” you’ll probably say no because of one of two reasons:
1. You’re a rational human being who doesn’t enjoy the suffering of others for your amusement.
2. There’s really nothing entertaining about watching non-celebrities get tased unless they’re on Cops.
But if I tell you, “Hey, watch this video of two guys competing for the chance to taser each other,” you may find yourself intrigued. What kind of person competes in a contest such as this? Is this part of a tournament or is it a one-time thing? What does a person willing to risk getting tased to tase someone else look like?
Like I said, presentation counts.
Music is important to the music festival experience, but for a festival to really soar, it has to have representation from the other arts. What is a music festival without dance, fashion, street art and, yes, the occasional Punk Rock Circus?
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2014.
