[J. Tithonus Pednaud]

Certain spots still rake in the rubes, in particular the 'A' routes. Meaning the big state, or in my case, provincial fairs. During my last year with the carnival (2005) the Calgary Stampede did a record number. However, that does not mean that there is money being earned. People are not buying or playing games like they used to and overhead is killing the biz.

Furthermore, I guess what I was saying is that the 'traditional' carnival is on it's last legs.

You see, most carnivals were traditionally mostly made up of 'contracts' or 'indys', meaning persons who owned rides. Those persons, usually a family in the business for a couple of generations would bring out their ride and split the tickets with the carnival itself. The split varies by carnival owner, but it is always in the favor of the carnival owner and not the ride owner. Also, the ride owner gets a better take on tickets and not on 'all day passes', some owners don't pay anything on a patron with a pass. The food joints often have a similar deal, splitting profits, which is one of the reasons for the high costs. FYI, carnies sometimes have to pay those prices to feed themselves unless they have an in with a stand owner. You're not the only one being screwed.

In my last year I saw the purchase of Conklin Shows (which was Canada's largest and pretty much only carnival boss) by Microsoft and Ticketmaster. I saw the company arrange new and completely unfair contracts with ride owners - mid season - who had no choice but to sign after spending all their savings on insurance and transporting their rides across country. They basically squeezed the private ride owners out with a 20/80 split and further cut them out by bringing in their own company owned rides and placing them in choice spots. This resulted in the eventual stranding of some owners as they didn't have enough money to transport their rides or pay their crew. I saw the new company bring in South Africans to run those new rides and I basically saw the death of the carnival family. It was a real shame too. Some of those folks were born on the carnival lot. For me, that was the magic of the whole thing.

My position was unique, as I fronted a Freakshow, the only touring Odditorium in Canada. They couldn't replace us but they damn well made an example out of us. Usually, in a summer season of 7 cities (these are the major Canadian carnivals like The Stampede, Klondike Days and The CNE) we would make a hell of a lot - basically enough to live quite comfortably off of for the year. That year, however, we ended in the red. We made 14% gross of the previous year which was eaten in travel cost. I basically worked my ass off - 13 to 15 hours a day, slept in my joint and did crazy stunts with my body for zero pay.

It's your basic corporate whore horror story really. Expect to see Microsoft billboards or Sponge Bob presents the Carnival.

Now, small time carnivals like the one in the article, those are mostly made up of contracts - but they don't pull a dime. The people who show up usually have no money to spend or are quickly put off by the third rate games/rides/high prices. It's a real physically tough route too. Usually it's only a few days in each spot so you work hard setting up and tearing down your ride or game. Two day carnivals are the worst - sheer exhaustion.

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One final fun fact about the ferris wheel. On the lot, the ferris wheel is often refered to as 'the clock'. Major carnivals pretty much keep going until people either leave or stop spending so, come midnight, we all have our eye on that thing because, when the lights go off, it our signal to pack up for the night.