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criminals they truly are. In his "Meet the
Skeptics" interview from TAM 2013, Robbins admits to having a "fascination for people... who are frauds ", who claim to have supernatural powers which are, in reality, proven sideshow techniques Robbins performs himself. In his words, this is "reality at its most amazing."
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He has been associated with the Big Apple Circus for more than a dozen years (performing in various roles including the ringmaster) and can often be seen playing piano with Woody Allen's jazz band at the Cafe
Carlyle. Todd currently performs regularly at New York’s longest running Off-Broadway magic
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act—hammering a nail into one's nostril. Burkhart's last performance took place on
October 8, 2001 at Robbins's wedding to Krista Brown. About a month after the performance, Burkhart died, leaving his props to Robbins; his costume and signature enormous nail arrived in the mail. His cremated remains
137:, the son of a soap executive and a schoolteacher. At the age of 10, Robbins was introduced to magic, enrolling in magic lessons at the B&H School of Magic every Saturday afternoon. His regular interaction with these seasoned magicians and "carnies" led to an interest learning the secrets of
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Robbins and Teller are now in development of this show into TV series. "The series chronicles a traveling theatrical troupe that, under the guise of performing a quirky magic show of spooky amusement, presents experimentations of alchemistic procedures for the resurrection of the dead", writes
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revivalism hearkens back to the early days of the 1940s spook shows when gruesome surprises awaited an unsuspecting audience. A theme of blind faith runs throughout, and gives
Robbins and Teller the opportunity to use and then reveal the illusions put forth by mediums, calling them out for the
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He went on a myriad of auditions and landed some small, low-paying roles. "I found it all very dubious. I did a few readings, a couple of small shows in basement spaces, which was all kind of fun but it wasn’t paying the rent." It was around this time that the new
274:. He also served as dean of the sideshow school in Coney Island, where for $ 600 he would teach about the history of sideshow acts as well as instruct the students how to swallow swords or lie on a bed of nails.
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school of magic. Soon after, Todd joined the Long Beach
Mystics, a troupe run by the students and hosting professional magicians and variety acts, including an up-and-coming young juggler/magician named
362:, the film combines a tongue-in-cheek, skeptical humor, which will be familiar to Penn & Teller fans, with elements from carnival sideshows, magic shows, séances and haunted houses. This
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In 2015, Robbins began hosting a TV series on ID network titled 'True
Nightmares' in which he presents 3 strange but true characters known to history as nightmares that came all too true.
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192:, one of the pioneers in the field. Born in 1907, Burkhart worked venues from Ringling Brothers to Ripley's Believe It or Not, making a name for himself as the father of the
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In 2019, Robbins began hosting and producing a weekly showcase of stage and close-up magic in New York City called, "Speakeasy Magick", at the McKittrick Hotel.
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gaining in popularity. This gave
Robbins the incentive he needed to make a change, thus resurrecting his interest in magic and carnivals. He began working at
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in an amusement park sideshow swallowing swords, eating fire, hammering nails in his nose, doing all those great, classic old-timer acts.
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which ran from 2002 to 2004 and featured
Robbins eating light bulbs and swallowing swords. It was also nominated for a
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in San
Francisco where he earned his degree in Theatre Arts. It is here that Todd met scene partner and friend
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Robbins has been featured on more than 100 television shows, which include multiple appearances on
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American
Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers
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Robbins is one of five partners in the longest running off-Broadway show, Monday Night Magic.
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were also left to Robbins, who subsequently sprinkled the ashes at Coney Island.
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cartoon panel noting that he had "chewed and swallowed over 4,000 light bulbs."
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905:"BWW Review: Todd Robbins' SPEAKEASY MAGICK Offers Up-Close Acts of Deception"
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of the 1930s and ’40s" that ran September 12–24 in Las Vegas before opening
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Robbins inherited the sideshow tradition almost literally, from
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Inspired by his off-Broadway show and co-written by Teller of
814:"Teller's Las Vegas-born Play Dead is headed to off-Broadway"
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495:"Long Beach's Todd Robbins takes a walk into a dark kingdom"
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With a new interest in performance, Robbins attended the
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Robbins is known for a variety of sideshow acts such as
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Arts. He became the first Junior Member of the Famous
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and is also the main subject of the 2005 documentary
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The Modern Con Man: How to Get Something for Nothing
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American Carny: True Tales From The Circus Sideshow
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277:In 2008, he toured as part of a stage show called
385:. New York: Bloomsbury USA. pp. 240 pages.
550:Carny Folk: The World's Weirdest Sideshow Acts
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430:"He eats light bulbs, fire and walks on glass"
16:American magician, lecturer, actor, and author
553:. New York: Citadel Press. pp. 181–184.
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858:"True Nightmares (TV Series 2015– ) - IMDb"
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730:"If it weren't onstage, it'd be illegal"
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19:For the early-20th century writer, see
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121:(born August 15, 1958) is an American
812:Chareunsy, Don (September 16, 2010).
677:"Dept. of Digestion: A Maalox Moment"
428:Tallmer, Jerry (August 13–19, 2003).
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327:in New York at The Players Theatre.
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675:Kaplan, Howard (October 13, 2003).
296:In 2009, Robbins was featured in a
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903:Dale, Michael (January 28, 2020).
877:Feldman, Adam (January 17, 2020).
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336:and was also a ringmaster at the
591:"The Light-Bulb Eater Next Door"
589:Zarrow, Rachel (13 March 2013).
165:to pursue a career in theatre.
125:, lecturer, actor, and author.
728:Greenaway, K (July 10, 2008).
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787:"Ripley's Believe It or Not!"
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246:. He was a featured guest on
155:American Conservatory Theater
330:Todd Robbins has worked for
305:In 2010, Robbins starred in
758:"Woo in Review: HOODWINKED"
523:. New York: Penguin Group.
438:. Vol. 73, no. 15
333:Ripley's Believe It or Not!
299:Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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955:Ng, David (2014-01-31).
614:"MTS: Meet Todd Robbins"
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499:The Press Telegram News
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135:Long Beach, California
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612:Brown, Christopher.
354:"Play Dead" the film
102:Krista Brown Robbins
239:Masters of Illusion
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879:"Speakeasy Magick"
474:. L.A. Stage Times
472:Published 11/19/13
268:Carnival Knowledge
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793:. August 27, 2009
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392:978-1-59691-453-7
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966:15 February
940:15 February
914:December 9,
888:December 9,
797:December 5,
620:15 February
597:15 February
504:15 February
321:spook shows
258:Nick Basile
73:Occupations
21:Tod Robbins
1016:Categories
961:World News
714:2013-05-24
409:References
279:Hoodwinked
179:Bill Irwin
171:vaudeville
51:1958-08-15
401:182621498
371:Robbins.
308:Play Dead
129:Biography
771:July 31,
741:July 31,
688:July 31,
660:July 31,
616:. Libsyn
574:July 31,
569:57380512
442:July 31,
287:Banachek
283:Bob Arno
230:Jay Leno
139:Sideshow
123:magician
85:lecturer
79:Magician
993:Twitter
883:TimeOut
478:8 March
107:Website
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313:Teller
209:Career
99:Spouse
91:author
762:SWIFT
375:Books
281:with
88:actor
1007:IMDb
968:2014
942:2014
916:2020
890:2020
863:IMDb
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599:2014
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565:OCLC
555:ISBN
525:ISBN
506:2014
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