Circus star: Stuff me & put me on show
AN extreme circus performer with a human pin cushion act plans to have his body stuffed when he dies so that he can keep on shocking the crowds.
Anthony Walls – who pushes 10-inch hat pins and nails through his neck and face – said he has already hired a taxidermist to preserve him in his stage costume “with some pins in me”.
And his bosses at the gruesome Circus of Horrors have vowed that they will continue to take him on tour after he is dead. Anthony, 50, said: “I am a second-generation sideshow performer and I was talking to my brother about my funeral. I said I want a big, lavish funeral and he laughed at me and said, ‘Get stuffed’. I thought, ‘OK’.
“I’ve been working with the circus for 20 years now and why give up when I go?”
Anthony – who performs as The Mongolian Laughing Boy and first laid on a bed of nails aged four – said he was partly inspired by Russian leader Lenin, whose preserved body has been on display in Red Square, Moscow since his death in 1924.
Professor BQ Orbax, a taxidermist from Canada, has agreed to fly over to do the embalming.
He said: “I have a lifelong passion for science, sideshow and the circus arts.
“I can completely understand his request to become an exhibit and maintain his presence in a place of entertainment once his time has come.” Prof Orbax has never worked on a human before but said he sees “little difference” between people and the pets that he usually stuffs.
Circus of Horrors owner Dr Haze added: “We would be proud to honour Anthony’s wish, he has been a very popular performer in the show for the past 20 years.
“It would be great if people could continue to enjoy his presence when his body is displayed wherever we go.”