The podcast that explores the strange and the bizarre. From 'Anatomical Oddities' such as "Grady Styles The Lobster Boy" who was born with claws instead of hands and 'Modified Marvels' such as "Rick Genest The Zombie Boy" who tattooed his entire body to resemble a rotting corpse - to 'Peculiar People' such as "Mac Norton L’homme Aquarium" who swallowed live fish and frogs before regurgitating them unharmed, and even 'Abnormal Animals' such as "Oliver The Humanzee" whom scientists believe cou ...
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Migaloo is a humpback whale that was first spotted in 1991 off Byron Bay, Queensland by a group of volunteers conducting a whale count. He was born with Albinism - the absence of any pigmentation or coloration. Researchers estimated that he was born around 1986 making him 5 years old when he was first spotted. In 2003 Migaloo was struck by a boat f…
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The 3 Breasts of Jasmine TriDevil
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Alisha Hessler was born in 1993 in Tampa, Florida. She rose to fame in 2014 when she began using the alias Jasmine TriDevil and posting selfies on the internet, Her new found fame divided opinions, with some being amazed and others suspecting that her third breast wasn’t real. It all came to a head when it was reported that TriDevil had been found …
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Melvin Burkhart was born on 16th February 1907 in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 20, he joined a small circus and worked as 'The Anatomical Wonder'. He would inflate one lung at a time, elongate his neck to an incredible degree and could contort his facial muscles in such a way that on one half he was smiling, whilst simultaneously on the other ha…
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The Fiji Mermaid was supposedly caught off the coast of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. It was often described as hideous and ugly. It was a stuffed specimen, dried or mummified, Its skin was black and Simi translucent. It was around 3 feet long and was posed in an awkward stance. Its mouth was open, its tail turned over, and its arms thrown…
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Bruce Snowdon was born on 19th February 1946 in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. At 19 years old, Snowdon weighed nearly 250lbs and by age 23, 350lbs. He had piled on a lot of weight and by the time he was 25 he was a bloated behemoth tipping the scales at a whopping 450lbs. He contacted Ward Hall who ran the World of Wonders sideshow and the rest as t…
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'Three Ball Charlie’, as his friends came to know him, was born in Nebraska, USA. He got his trademark nickname due to his extraordinary ability, His act reportedly involved him fitting a large Appetiser Plate in his mouth but he was most known for stuffing a tennis ball, a golf ball and a billiard ball in his mouth at the same time, side by side -…
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The Muse brothers, George and Willie Muse, were born in Roanoke, Virginia, in the 1890’s. They were born with a congenital disorder characterised by the complete absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes commonly known as Albinism. After being kidnapped as young children they ended up working the sideshow circuit for over 60 years, playing musi…
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Oliver was a chimpanzee born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1957. He was acquired by animal trainers Frank and Janet Berger in 1960 and they observed some physical and behavioural evidence which led them to believe Oliver was perhaps a human-chimp hybrid. A ‘Humanzee' if you will. When news broke of his discovery officials from a Japane…
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Horace Ridler, was born in Surrey, England in 1892. After studying at Oxford University he pursued a career in the British Army. At the end of the war Ridler left the military and decided that show business would be his new career path. At some point between 1927 and 1934 he visited famed London based tattooist, George Burchett, with a plan that wo…
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James Morris was born in 1859 in Copenhagen, New York. From an early age he learned that he was unique, he would amuse his friends with his ability to stretch his skin like that of an elastic band, before letting go and it snapping straight back to its original form - caused by a condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. He was hired by Jacob Edwin …
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Louis Cyr was born in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Quebec, Canada on 10th October 1863. From the age of 12 he worked as a lumberjack and farm hand. Using his exceptional strength, he impressed his fellow workers with his feats - and stories of his strength soon became legendary. His first strongest man competition was at the age of 18 when he stun…
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Emoji the Snake is a ball python that was born in 2017 in Toccoa, Georgia by Justin Kobylka’s reptile breeding company, J. Kobylka Reptiles, who specialise in taking relatively common reptile species and creating specimens with striking physical features they they call ‘designer pythons’. The unique pattern of Emoji the Snake is caused by recessive…
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Stephan Bibrowski was born in 1890 in Bielsk near Warsaw, Poland. He was born with a rare medical condition called congenital terminal hypertrichosis which caused his entire body to be covered in long, thick hair. As the story goes, his mother, while heavily pregnant, witnessed his father being attacked and killed by an escaped circus lion - this f…
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The Macabre World of Rick Genest
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Rick Genest was born on 7th August 1985 in Quebec, Canada. By the time he was 17 he had become fully engrossed into the punk rock scene, and lived on the streets. He and his friends would sleep under bridges, squat in empty houses and generally live a chaotic and care free life - washing cars to earn enough money to get by. When he turned 21 he met…
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Martin Laurello was born in 1885 in Nuremburg, Germany. He was born with a crooked spine that gave him the unique ability to twist his head just enough to complete a full 180 degree turn. When he had his head turned, his spine was in the shape of a question mark and while like this he could not breathe, or speak, however he was able to drink. He wa…
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A rare black Greater Flamingo has been spotted among a flock of white and pink flamingos, and its thought to be the only one in the world. It was spotted in Israel in 2013 and again in 2015 this time at a salt lake on the southern coast of Cyprus. It's believed to be the only one of its kind in the world. ✅ Let's connect: Instagram - https://www.in…
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Rossa Richter was born in 1863 in London, England, and rose to fame after meeting William Leonard Hunt, also known as The Great Farini, and becoming “Zazel the Human Cannonball”. She was successfully fired out of the cannon hundreds of times until 1881 while performing her signature 'leap for life’ trapeze stunt in Las Vegas, the bracing poles of h…
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Elmer McCurdy was born in Maine in 1880. One day in 1911 came up with a genius idea, he was going to rob a train, but not just any train - a train carrying $400,000. Unfortunately though McCurdy managed to rob the wrong train before ending up being killed in a shoot out with the sheriff. For the next 66 years, McCurdy's mummified remains made their…
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Joseph Carey Merrick, often incorrectly called John Merrick, was born on 5th August 1862 in Leicester, England. Merrick was born healthy, and had no symptoms of any disorder. However, by the age of 2 he had developed a bony lump on his forehead, swellings on his face and his skin began getting rough and coarse. So much so that in 1884, aged 22, he …
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The Vacanti Mouse was a laboratory mouse born in 1996 that had a human ear growing out of its back. However, the "ear” wasn’t actually an ear at all. It was actually a biodegradable ear-shaped mould which was injected with cow cartilage cells and put in an incubator, after it had been incubated the now-living structure was removed and implanted in …
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George Costentenus was born on 17th April 1833 in Souli, Greece and was known for his elaborate and extensive red and blue tattoos. As the story goes, he was captured while on an expedition in Burma and taken prisoner to be subjected to a three-month-long tattooing session against his will. He had to be held down by four men during this process, an…
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Stanley Berent was born on 24th November 1901 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was born with a condition known as Phocomelia, a condition commonly associated with prenatal exposure to the morning-sickness drug Thalidomide. Berent performed under the stage name Sealo The Seal Boy for 35 years before passing away in 1980 aged 79. ✅ Let's connect: Inst…
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Leo Norman Maurien Murray Stuart Carrington Walters, affectionally shortened to “Murray” was born in 1901 in Melbourne, Australia. By the age of 25, he had already travelled to Peking, where he successfully performed an escape routine after being chained to a railway track while the Shanghai Express travelled towards him. And Phnom Penh, where the …
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Harley Quinn and Santa Claws are two very Curious Crustaceans. One is a chimera lobster, meaning he's split directly down the middle - the other is an albino lobster. Both are residents of UK Sea Life Centres. ✅ Let's connect: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/unusualweekly Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/unusualweekly Twitter - https://w…
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Eugen Sandow was born on 2nd April 1867 in what is known today as Kaliningrad, Russia. He developed the formula to get what he called ‘The Grecian Ideal’, the exact measurements he classed as the perfect physique. Using this formula he began chiselling away at his own physique down to the exact proportions of the Greek and Roman statues. On the 14t…
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Josephine Boisdechene was born in 1829 in Versoix, Switzerland and was America's first famous bearded woman. In 1853 Clofullia brought her family to America, joining P.T. Barnum's American Museum in New York. Barnum billed her as ‘The Bearded Lady of Geneva’ had her beard officially measured as 6 inches long in a publicity stunt designed to draw pe…
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Rasmus Nielsen was born in 1874 in Denmark. He was tattooed across most of his body and was reportedly able to lift a 25 pound hammer in an act dubbed “The Iron Tongue”. Nielsen was known by many names; ‘The Scandinavian Strongman’, ‘The Tattooed Wonderman’ and “The Strongman from Denmark” but to his friends he was simply known as ‘Tough Titty’. Ra…
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Frank and Louie was a ragdoll cat born 8th September 1999, and nicknamed Frankenlouie after being born with one brain, two faces, two mouths, one jaw, two noses, one oesophagus, and three eyes. He first appeared in the Guinness Book of Records in 2006, followed by a second appearance in the 2012 edition, this time recognising Frank and Louie as "Th…
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Celesta Herrmann was born on 18th July 1901 in Cincinnati to a German-American family where over eating was normal. Six times a day, the family would sit down together to enjoy extra large portions of their favourite food, this of course lead to the beginnings of a weight issue. She would get bullied in school, and her parents' way of soothing her …
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Grady Stiles Jr, was born in Pittsburgh on 18th July 1937. Like his father before him he was born with a birth defect called ectrodactyly, a condition commonly known as ‘Lobster Claw Syndrome’. On 29th November 1992 Stiles was shot in the back of the head by a fellow carnival worker, Chris Wyant. Wyant ended up being sentenced to jail along with Ch…
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Hadji Ali was born in 1892 in Egypt. Though out his career Ali was known by many names but famous for only one thing; his ability to hold ungodly quantities of water in his stomach before regurgitating it. Medical practitioners were interested in his act and several of the doctors from Johns Hopkins and Maryland University examined Ali to see if th…
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When you think of a unicorn you may conjure up the Hollywood image of a pure white stallion with a flowing main galloping through an enchanted forest. However, it should come as no surprise that Lancelot wasn’t a unicorn at all. He was the brain-child of Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. Lancelot toured with the Ringling Bros, and Barnum and Bailey Circus re…
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The practice of Foot Binding originated the 10th century in China and required a gruesome, and painful, process to complete. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that foot binding was made illegal and began to die out. But it has been estimated that in the 19th century, around 40-50% of all Chinese women may have had lotus feet. ✅ Let's connect: …
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Jeffrey Hudson was born on 14th June 1619 in Rutland, England. His parents, three brothers, and a half-sister were all of regular height. Hudson on the other hand was born with normal proportions but with an abnormally short stature, at his tallest measuring at only 43 inches. Sir Jeffrey Hudson died in 1682, aged 63 - on an unknown date, in unknow…
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Joseph Pujol was born on the 1st of June 1857 in Marseilles, France. His stage name was 'Le Petomane’ a combination of the French verb péter, meaning "to fart" with the suffix “mane” meaning “maniac” creating a literal translation of “fartomaniac”, also known as a Flatulist or Fartiste. Joseph Pujol died in 1945, aged 88, and left behind an endurin…
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Stumpy is a White Pekin duck born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in Hampshire, England on 7th February 2007. He was born with a rare mutation that left him with four legs - two legs tucked behind the two he walked about on. The mutation is down to a condition called Polymelia. Polymelia can occur when an embryo started as conjoined twin, but one twin de…
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The Uncovered Truth of Josephine Joseph
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Josephine Joesph is thought to have been born on July 4th 1891 in Austria. When she turned 18, she travelled to Ellis Island, New York and in the 1920’s took to the stage and began performing in local sideshows as a human oddity. Like many so called "sideshow hermaphrodites" of the early 20th century, she modified her body, presenting herself as st…
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Claude Louis Delair was born in 1876 in Lyon, France. Very little is known about his early years and there are significant periods of his life where there are no credible sources at all, but what we do know that he officially changed his name to Mac Norton as a young man. In 1953, aged 77, Mac Norton, committed suicide, after a long life of solitud…
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In the 19th century, Edward Mordrake was born into one of the most wealthy and noble families in England, and was raised as heir to the family fortune and was set to inherit mountains of money, heirlooms and estates. According to the story, Mordrake was plagued by a second face on the back of his head. It's said that the second face would whisper t…
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Gemina was a Rothschild's giraffe born on July 16, 1986, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and was moved to the Santa Barbara Zoo when she was approximately one year old. Most newborn calves are over six feet tall, and within half an hour they can stand and walk around on their own however Gemina was seen still stumbling, and occasionally falling o…
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Ethel Granger was born in 1905 in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. In 1939, she was added to The Guinness Book of world Records for 'The smallest waist of a person with normal stature’ after permanently modifying her waist with the extensive use of tight corsets. Ethel managed to reduce the natural size of her waist to a staggering 13 inches (33 cm)…
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Francesco Lentini was born on 18th May 1889 in Rosolini, Sicily. In total he had three legs, four feet and sixteen toes. Lentini continued touring up until his death on 21st September 1966, when he died of lung failure in Jackson, Tennessee, at the age of 77 - the most advanced age anyone living with his condition is documented to have reached. ✅ L…
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Arnold Gerrit Henskes was born on 6th August 1912 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. But our story actually starts in 1945, when at the age of 33, he claimed he became aware that his body was able to withstand great trauma, mostly with no ill effects. He demonstrated this by plunging swords straight through his body, miraculously missing all major orga…
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Frank ‘Cannonball’ Richards was born on 20th February 1887 in Kansas, USA. His claim to fame was his seemingly iron gut, and his act consisted of little more than being shot with a cannon. Frank died of natural causes on 7 February 1969 in Long Beach California, aged 81, after a long and lucrative career from his abs of steel. ✅ Let's connect: Inst…
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Daisy and Violet Hilton, were born on 5th February 1908 in Brighton, England. Joined at the hips; they shared a blood circulation and had a fused pelvis bone but shared no major organs between them. Most known for starring in 'Freaks' and 'Chained For Life’, they died on 4th January 1969 in their home, aged 60. ✅ Let's connect: Instagram - https://…
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Alfred Langevin was born in Canada in 1885. To the crowds amazement he would blow up the balloon before their very eyes, then he tied a knot in it, signed it, and handed it out to a lucky member of the audience to take away with them as a sideshow keepsake. Langevin enjoyed a colourful 7 year career with Ripley, from 1933 to 1940, during that time …
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Snowflake was a western lowland gorilla born in 1964 with Albinism - the congenital absence of any pigmentation or coloration. Albino animals usually have characteristic pink or red eyes due the lack of pigment in the iris allowing the blood vessels of the retina to be visible, however Snowflake strangely had blue eyes. He presented traits and char…
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Welcome to Unusual As Usual, the show that explores the strange and bizarre. Whether it be Anatomical Oddities such as 'The Gripping Tale of Grady Styles The Lobster Boy’ who was born with claws instead of hands or ‘The Unfortunate Tale of The Hilton Twins’ - conjoined twins chained for life. Or maybe you're more interested in Modified Marvels such…
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