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skeleton. The CIA's most notable attraction, however, may have been the preserved corpse of Achile
Chatouilleu, an American circus performer who died in 1912 and requested his body be put on display in the clown makeup and attire he had worn throughout his life. Although Crew leased the body for six
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district which once served as a recording studio during the 1970s. In the late 1990s, the CIA was raided by police and ultimately shut down for serving liquor without a license; the venue remained out of operation for three years until Crew and
Ferguson re-opened it in 2001 with its current
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The CIA featured an extensive collection of sideshow memorabilia that Crew and
Ferguson, both avid fans and historians of the American sideshow, had collected over the years. The venue, painted with bright, garish circus colors, displayed
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months in 2002, he claims that the owners "forgot" to retrieve it and the corpse remained at the CIA in a hermetically sealed glass coffin, the body itself embalmed with
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in the 1980s. In 1994, the two opened the CIA as a clandestine location for underground bands and performance art, obtaining a dilapidated building in the
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Comedy punk band who have been regular performers at CIA since 2002. The band's 2012 music video "Headless Mike" was partially shot at the CIA.
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The following is an incomplete list of some of the more notable bands, musicians, performers and artists who have appeared at the CIA:
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In July 2022, the club's owners announced that they were closing the venue partly due to financial struggles related to the
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As a music and performance venue, the CIA showcased intentionally offbeat and bizarre musical groups, as well as
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and vintage banners for sideshow attractions and over the years has featured such oddities and hoaxes as a
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Horror punk band hosted their first reunion show in five years at the CIA in
October 2013. Singer
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newspaper ranked the venue in its "Best of LA 2006" list as "Best Place to Find a Dead Clown".
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752:"California Institute of Abnormal Arts ~ 999 Eyes of Endless Dream Sideshow ~ North Hollywood"
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342:. In 2014 and 2015, the CIA appeared on Halloween-themed episodes of the local interest shows
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and Robert
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and Robert
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Independent zombie web-series filmed at C.I.A in 2012. Actors
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823:"It Doesn't Get Any Weirder Than This North Hollywood Spot"
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Some of the sideshow displays at the CIA, here featuring a
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909:Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California
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178:. The club closed in July 2022.
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754:. LA Taco. November 20, 2006.
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873:"Carl Crew"
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527:Jack Dagger
518:Blood Diner
500:Green Jellÿ
469:The Dickies
454:Irwin Keyes
446:Dead Kansas
307:Lisa Morton
267:freak shows
176:freak shows
83: /
71:118°22′39″W
58:Coordinates
898:Categories
629:2022-08-11
600:References
595:Zen Marlin
479:The Enigma
441:Dame Darcy
431:ComputeHer
385:box office
319:Blind Date
283:ComputeHer
275:electronic
68:34°10′19″N
827:LA Weekly
790:LA Weekly
715:April 26,
686:LA Weekly
551:The Megas
541:Lake Dads
465:DEATH CAT
458:Ben Woolf
389:Carl Crew
354:Eye on LA
303:Ben Loory
259:LA Weekly
241:Sasquatch
237:Freemason
208:embalmers
204:Carl Crew
172:burlesque
164:Carl Crew
152:nightclub
111:Nightclub
100:Carl Crew
881:cite web
867:Facebook
383:The CIA
345:1st Look
339:Oddities
271:chiptune
212:mortuary
182:Overview
156:sideshow
150:- was a
45:Location
846:KABC-TV
586:Trash80
555:NK Riot
358:KABC-TV
336:series
287:Trash80
254:arsenic
202:Owners
808:TV.com
352:) and
247:and a
194:and a
129:Closed
121:Opened
115:museum
661:Salon
249:fairy
96:Owner
52:91601
887:link
717:2014
456:and
350:KNBC
322:and
309:and
285:and
273:and
174:and
154:and
138:The
132:2022
124:2001
107:Type
865:on
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
