'My life has been a mad travelling show, meeting some of the strangest and greatest people who've ever lived. I've had my fair share of trouble and I'm lucky to be here. But I've always been a showman and I've done my best to preserve a precious part of an old Australia that's fast disappearing.' Son of a sideshow operator and trapeze artist, fourth-generation showman Fred Brophy grew up on the road, travelling the length and breadth of Australia. He did time in jail as a wild teenager before establishing his own successful boxing tent. It has become a star attraction in the Outback and is now the only one of its kind in the world. Fred tells stories of living on the smell of an oily rag, rescuing battlers, and becoming embroiled in some of the most bizarre adventures imaginable. This is one helluva life, full of hardship, hilarity and unexpected turns, including Fred being inducted into the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame and receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia. 'Now ladies and gentlemen, let's go inside. The show's about to begin . . .'

This message and artistic rendering is perfect for friends and relatives who dream while they're awake, who always see the bigger picture, who aspire to be more than just..., and who won't accept no for an answer. For those interested in P. T. Barnum, "The Greatest Showman" motion picture, Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, the song "Come Alive," Keala Settle and her "This is Me" Soundtrack, circus performances, carnivals, big tops, and unique shows like Cirque De Soleil. *** This journal alternates between 8 LINED pages for writing and 2 BLANK pages for sketching/drawing throughout - no text. Size 5.2" x 0.2" x 8" with 110 pages total. *** Not only does it make a great coffee table book, but its pages can be used as a travel log, diary of milestones, a record of special memories, a place for random sketches and diagrams, a very long bucket list, a notebook for tips and tricks, or all of the above. Make the gift even more special by writing a note or two of your own and tucking a little cash or gift certificate into the folds. On the BACK COVER: ----- Movie: "The Greatest Showman" "The Greatest Showman" is the story of P. T. Barnum, a politician and businessman who established "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome," a traveling circus, menagerie, and museum of oddities and "unique people." Dream with your eyes wide open.

In a series of interwoven fictionalized stories, Deborah Noyes gives voice to the marginalized women in P. T. Barnum’s family — and the talented entertainers he built his entertainment empire on. Much has been written about P. T. Barnum — legendary showman, entrepreneur, marketing genius, and one of the most famous nineteenth-century personalities. For those who lived in Barnum’s shadow, however, life was complex. P. T. Barnum’s two families — his family at home, including his two wives and his daughters, and his family at work, including Little People, a giantess, an opera singer, and many sideshow entertainers — suffered greatly from his cruelty and exploitation. Yet, at the same time, some of his performers, such as General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), became wealthy celebrities who were admired and feted by presidents and royalty. In this collection of interlinked stories illustrated with archival photographs, Deborah Noyes digs deep into what is known about the people in Barnum’s orbit and imagines their personal lives, putting front and center the complicated joy and pain of what it meant to be one of Barnum’s “creatures.”

In this compelling story about one of the nineteenth century's most famous Americans, Benjamin Reiss uses P. T. Barnum's Joice Heth hoax to examine the contours of race relations in the antebellum North. Barnum's first exhibit as a showman, Heth was an elderly enslaved woman who was said to be the 161-year-old former nurse of the infant George Washington. Seizing upon the novelty, the newly emerging commercial press turned her act--and especially her death--into one of the first media spectacles in American history. In piecing together the fragmentary and conflicting evidence of the event, Reiss paints a picture of people looking at history, at the human body, at social class, at slavery, at performance, at death, and always--if obliquely--at themselves. At the same time, he reveals how deeply an obsession with race penetrated different facets of American life, from public memory to private fantasy. Concluding the book is a piece of historical detective work in which Reiss attempts to solve the puzzle of Heth's real identity before she met Barnum. His search yields a tantalizing connection between early mass culture and a slave's subtle mockery of her master.

(Instrumental Play-Along). 9 songs from this blockbuster hit movie musical are included in this collection for instrumentalists. Each book features online access to audio demonstration and play-along tracks for download or streaming to help you hear how the song should sound and then play along and sound like a pro! Songs include: Come Alive * From Now On * The Greatest Show * A Million Dreams * Never Enough * The Other Side * Rewrite the Stars * This Is Me * Tightrope.