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What you didn't
know about the Capt. you'll find in the many pages of Madame
Chinchilla's biography - Capt. Don Leslie Sword Swallower -
Circus Sideshow Attraction.
The Capt at his
worst was a fascinating character and at his best was an
amazing talented showman.
As you wonder
through the pages of Madame Chinchilla's book you will find an
amazing story that will captivate and entertain you.
Filled with a life time of photographic history of the Capt
and the people he knew.
A must read for
anyone that knew the Capt or has an interested in the Circus
Sideshow and Tattoo History.
John Robinson
Sideshow World
"Ladies and
Gentlemen! Now I am going to put this sword down my
throat
past my cardiac muscle and into my stomach...isn't anyone
going to stop me?"
Over the course of
his lifetime, Captain Don Leslie swallowed a staggering number
of swords. As a performer in the circus sideshow, he performed
18 to 22 times a day. During each performance, he would
swallow fifteen times, whether it was a bayonet, a knife, a
sword, a saber, an oil dipstick, a screwdriver, or a lit neon
tube (which one could see glowing through his chest!). During
his street performance days in San Francisco, Boston, and New
Orleans, he sometimes swallowed a bayonet ten times an hour,
five hours a day, six days in a row... Add that up over a
fifty year career...
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In my lifetime I
touched three centuries of circus. When I was nineteen,
people in their fifties were from the 1890's.
I met entertainers
who worked for P. T. Barnum.
Captain Don
Leslie -
1997
December 26th 1937
June 4th 2007
Last Photograph
Taken of Capt Don Leslie
Photo Credit
Marc Laita 2007
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Center or Entrance
Banner 4' x 16 - by Capt Don Leslie
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