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Jelly Boy the Clown (a.k.a. Eric Broomfield) was always one of the main
attractions of the The Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow, one of
these modern day 'freakshows" that isn't about exploiting human
deformities and the like, but about performers who enjoy to do
freaky stuff - and Jelly Boy's specialties were actually sword swallowing
and fire eating. It's bitter irony then that one night, he woke up in a
burning apartment and couldn't make it out in time - and he was literally
saved from certain death by the fire brigade in the last possible moment.
But Eric has been burned so badly that nobody believes he might be able to
make it. After a few days in a coma, and days hanging on machinery
because he can't breath on his own because of the damage the fire has done
to his lungs, his progress is a painful one, especially for himself who's
a free spirit, and now he can't leave his bed even because he's connected
to so much life-saving machinery. Plus he spends most of his time heavily
sedated, which makes him have hallucinations and that sort of stuff ...
but he fights on, while the sideshow community has his back, putting on
fundraising show after fundraising show to pay for his medical bills.
Eventually, he checks himself out of the hospital and takes himself off
drugs, even if that means a few days of cold turkey ... but soon he can
think clear again, and only a few months after his horrible ordeal, he's
back on the stage, his act being wilder and more insane than ever ... A
Clown's Recovery is above all else a loving homage to a great sideshow
performer by his own brother (and fellow performer), but it's also a story
about perseverance, about a battle for life being won ... and all in front
of the backdrop of some really wild sideshow performances that certainly
keep one entertained - but the film also gives great insight into the
sideshow community, contrasting the wild acts these people perform on
stage with the caring persons they really are. A very interesting movie,
actually.
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