Deja Voodoo Sideshow @ NAFA 2026 – Sept 27th

With changing social attitudes over the past century, the traditional freakshow has largely disappeared from the entertainment landscape. The days of the travelling curiosities of P.T. Barnum or the unsettling carnival worlds recreated in American Horror Story: Freak Show are, thankfully, behind us. Yet the fascination with the strange, unusual and unbelievable remains. Deja Voodoo Sideshow cleverly taps into that curiosity, offering something closer to a live-action version of Ripley's Believe It or Not! than an old-fashioned sideshow, blending danger, skill and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour.

The experience begins before audiences even enter the tent. Host Space Cowboy understands that every good sideshow needs a barker, enticing festival-goers with tasters of what lies within. There are whips cracking, chainsaws roaring and enough spectacle outside to ensure curious crowds wander in to see what all the fuss is about. Once inside the darkened performance space, however, Space Cowboy reveals his true specialty as a sword swallower, albeit one with a few inventive twists that had the audience simultaneously wincing and applauding. It makes sense that this thrill-seeker is up to his 56th Guinness World Record and still counting.

If swallowing swords isn't unusual enough for you, Zoe L'Amore has built a career around putting things into her body that common sense would strongly advise against. Fire is her preferred snack, although she also spends part of the show flirting with angle grinders and high-voltage electricity. Watching her performance is rather like observing someone repeatedly ignore every workplace health and safety manual ever written.

The most recognisable member of the troupe is undoubtedly Lizard Man, who arrives direct from the United States looking like he has escaped from a comic book, a heavy metal album cover, or perhaps a particularly vivid fever dream. Covered in tattoos and body modifications, complete with his trademark forked tongue, he combines shock value with genuine skill. His feats of strength, including those involving his remarkably resilient earlobes, drew equal measures of fascination and disbelief from the audience.

Then there is Ruby Rubberlegs, a contortionist whose relationship with the human skeleton appears entirely optional. Twisting herself into shapes that seem anatomically impossible, she delivers a performance that is equal parts elegance and nightmare fuel. There were definite Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn vibes throughout, creating one of the show's most visually striking moments.

Although rated PG (13+), parents should be aware that there is no shortage of cheeky innuendo scattered throughout the performance. Much of it will probably fly over younger audience members' heads, but some families may wish to keep it in mind. Running for approximately 40 minutes, the show is also one of the more affordable ticketed offerings on the NAFA program with tickets priced from $20-25.

Deja Voodoo Sideshow succeeds because it embraces the spirit of curiosity without the exploitation that once defined traditional freakshows. It is weird, a little wild, occasionally alarming and consistently entertaining. If you've ever found yourself lingering over a Ripley's exhibit, binge-watching American Horror Story, or wondering what a modern-day carnival oddity show might look like, this delightfully peculiar sideshow is well worth stepping inside the tent for.