Coney Island USA and Sideshows: Preserving American Vaudeville
Why is it significant?
Look across Surf Avenue at the festive hand-painted banners and flashing marquee of 1208 Surf Avenue: Coney Island USA.
Key Facts
| Place | Coney Island USA and Sideshows: Preserving American Vaudeville |
|---|---|
| Address | 1208 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.57520, -73.97980 |
| Part of Walk | New York: Coney Island Boardwalk and Vintage Amusements |
| Generated | Generated |
Look across Surf Avenue at the festive hand-painted banners and flashing marquee of 1208 Surf Avenue: Coney Island USA. Housed in a handsome 1917 terra-cotta building that originally served as the Childs Restaurant, this non-profit arts organization was founded in 1980 by performance artist Dick Zigun, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Coney Island. When Coney Island was written off as a decaying slum, Zigun fought to celebrate and preserve the unique American folk arts of sideshow, burlesque, and vaudeville.
Inside this building operates Sideshows by the Seashore, the last permanently operating ten-in-one circus sideshow in the United States. Audiences marvel at real, live human wonders performing authentic traditional feats: fire eaters swallowing blazing torches, sword swallowers lowering cold steel blades down their throats, human blockheads hammering iron nails into their noses, and snake charmers dancing with pythons. Here, there are no digital illusions—everything you see is performed through genuine physical skill and fearlessness. By honoring the extraordinary physical talents and unapologetic eccentricities of traditional sideshow performers, the organization preserves a vital, irreverent chapter of American theatrical history that continues to inspire modern avant-garde artists.
The building also houses the Coney Island Museum, displaying antique funhouse mirrors, vintage bumper cars, historic bathing suits, and rare postcards from Dreamland and Luna Park. In 1983, Zigun founded the famous Coney Island Mermaid Parade, an annual summer solstice spectacle that attracts hundreds of thousands of costumed mermaids, sea creatures, and marching brass bands to Surf Avenue.
Look up at the sculpted terra-cotta sea creatures decorating the facade, reminders of Childs Restaurant's early twentieth-century seafood heritage. The theater continues to champion the wonderful eccentricities of American popular culture with joy and authenticity.
Walk half a block east along Surf Avenue to West Tenth Street to stand before the roaring wooden beast of American roller coasters.