Monday, November 18, 2013

Mirin Dajo Book

Update: 11 Nov. 2013
I am SOLD OUT of this book. I will be getting more copies but this will not be until after my next tour in Europe (See tour information by clicking HERE ). I will post this again when I am restocked.

Mirin Dajo was a man who would have himself run through with a sharpened fencing sword, from back to front and from side to side, as well as some other astounding impalements. He did this hundreds of time with minimal injury. It was all real and verified by doctors who studied him and published the results of their investigations in medical journals. I have talked about Dajo many times over the years and have interest in duplication his wonderful deed, but every time I research it there seem to be more to learn.

 

There are only two books written on Mirin Dajo and neither is in English. When I was in Germany I managed to find one of them, Das Wunder - Mirin Dajo: Der unverletzbare Prophet (The Miracle of Mirin Dajo: The Invulnerable Prophet) by Luc Bürgin.
Many years ago I had corresponded with the author and we traded some of our files on Dajo. Some of what I sent him appears in this book.
 
I must warn you... most of this book is in Germany. There is a brief section in English, that being a reproduction of Mirin Dajo's letter to Albert Einstein (!) and there are many photographs. If you looking for light reading, forget it! Buy this book ONLY IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS RESEARCHER! I am working on a loose, researcher only translation of the book. If you buy it and include your email I will be sending out updates of my translation periodically.
 
The book is hardbound, 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches, 224 pages with many photographic illustrations. This book is new and still in its shrink wrap.
 
I am selling this for $20.00, postage included in the USA (outside the USA, email me at ZamoraKing@aol.com for postage prices). This is the lowest price you will find it in The United States.
 
There are a few listed on Amazon but at prices higher than I am offering here. I was only able to bring a few of these back with me from Germany, and it is unlikely that I will be able to replenish my stock once they sell out.
 
Update: 11 Nov. 2013
I am SOLD OUT of this book. I will be getting more copies but this will not be until after my next tour in Europe (See tour information by clicking HERE ). I will post this again when I am restocked.
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Latest News About the Upcoming UK TV Show Broadcast

Live Show Filmed at the Onyx Theatre Set for Broadcast on UK TV

 

This summer I did a live show in at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas that was filmed by a UK TV production company for broadcast on major English television channel. The producers have contacted me and have told me that the show is set to broadcast in the next 2 months they do not yet know the exact date of the broadcast and am told that it will be before Christmas. I also do not yet have permission to use the title of the show, which might change, or the name of the channel; I can tell you it is one of 4 major channels.

The Onyx Theatre is a great Vegas alternative venue that has made “best of” lists for years.  The show was sold out and ended with a standing ovation. My co-performer, contortionist Stephanie Castellone was definitely part of the reason for ovation; articles in the local Vegas press by Rick Lax and Jarret Keene helped fill the theater.
The show was attended by Dr. Joshua Prager, of California Pain Medicine Center, who has tested me previously and was interviewed about the scientific aspects of my act.

A highlight of the show was having UK celebrity Simon Farnaby break a building block on my chest while I was laying down on upturned sword blades.

I will post more information about the TV broadcast date and channel when I am able to; in the meantime here are a couple of links the articles that publicized the show filming.

> Click to Read Article from The Las Vegas Weekly <

> Click to Read Article from Vegas Seven <



Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
347-549-8766 mobile phone 323-366-9539 voicemail

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

List of Televison, Film and other Media


Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com

This in an incomplete list of television, film and other media that has featured Zamora


Films:

  • Spokanarcky! -- Carnage & Rouge (2011)
  • Sideshow Still Alive -- Pinhead Productions (2008)
  • Modify -- Committed Films (2005)
  • Freakshow -- Florida State University (1998)

 Television (United States):

  • Freakshow -- American Movie Channel
  • Oddities San Francisco -- The Science Channel
  • Stan Lee's Superhumans -- The History Channel
  • Full Throttle Saloon -- TruTV
  • Everything You Need to Know -- Discovery Channel
  • Is It Real: Superhuman Powers -- National Geographic
  • The Casino -- Fox
  • eXtraordinary People -- Discovery Channel 
  • Don Francisco Presenta -- Univision
  • Taboo -- National Geographic TV
  • Twisted Tour -- Travel Channel
  • World's Weirdest Performers -- The Learning Channel
  • Extreme Gong Show -- Game Show Network
  • 48 Hours -- CBS
  • Sideshow Celebrities -- E!
  • Beyond Bizarre -- Discovery Channel
  • The Living Edge -- Syndicated
  • Real TV -- Syndicated
  • Sideshow, Alive and on the Inside -- The Learning Channel
  • Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular -- FX
  • Guinness World Records Primetime -- Fox
  • Ripley's Believe It Or Not!!! -- TBS
  • Encounters: The Hidden Truth -- Fox

Television (International):

  • Czech and Slovakia's Got Talent -- xxx - (Czeck and Slovakia) In Production
  • Japanese TV Show -- ??? - (Japan) In Production
  • Real Freakshow -- FoxUK - (UK)
  • Das Supertalent -- RTL - (Germany)
  • Man vs Weird -- Channel 4 – (UK)
  • The Miracle of the Human Body -- TV-Tokyo (Japan)
  • Mucizeler Gecesi -- (Turkey)
  • Open Mike with Mike Bullard  -- (Canada)
  • One Step Beyond -- Discovery Channel Asia
  • Death Wish Live! -- (UK)
  • Troma's Edge -- (UK)
  • The Deni Petty Show -- (Canada)
  • Sorpresa!! Sorpresa!! -- (Spain)
  • The Word -- (UK)

Click Here to See Zamora on Internet Movie Data Base


Music Videos:

Fallen Leaves by Billy Talent (winner of Best Music Video 2007 Much Music Awards Canada)

Click Here to See The Music Video



Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com

 Click to Return to Zamora's Sideshow Web Site

Click to See A History of Zamora and Zamora's Sideshow

Click to See Press from the Past

Click to See Reviews of Past Vegas Shows

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Reviews of Past Vegas Shows


Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail


Zamora is the first performer of his kind to have a show in a Las Vegas casino. He moved to Vegas in 2003 when he was asked to star in the show SHOCK at The Bourbon Street Casino (now a vacant lot). Since then he has been featured in several shows in several hotels and Casinos including The Aruba, The Greek Isles and The Palace Station. Zamora currently has no regular show in Las Vegas however there is "something cooking" Join the mailing list for updates on Vegas shows and touring shows.






Zamora was the featured Midnight Act at Jeff McBride's Wonderground at The Palace Station Casino. This review was published in the Los Angeles Times and reprinted on the Vegas.com website.

Wonderground Review: Nov. 2008


The night is still young when a slight man with silver streaks in his hair quietly drags his personal bed of swords past the blackjack tables and into the Sound Trax Showroom at Palace Station.

"That's our midnight show, Zamora the Torture King," says magician Jeff McBride matter-of-factly, as he stands in front of the showroom welcoming guests to his new nightclub, Wonderground. "He's a faqir, a Middle Eastern holy man who can transcend the human realm. He was on "Ripley's Believe it or Not."

Later in the evening Zamora removes his silk smoking jacket and plunges a sharp skewer through his bicep to the horror and amazement of those in attendance.

"Did you see that!?" asks an excited McBride jumping up from his seat. "That's not an illusion. That's real. Not a drop of blood! It's mind over matter."

As tempting as it may sound, please do not attempt this stunt at home. This is the kind of thing that's best left to the professionals at Wonderground.

Every Friday and Saturday night following McBride's show, Magic at the Edge, the showroom is transformed into a mystical mecca for the weird, wacky and wonderful. Those thirsty for a diversion from the drunken Las Vegas club scene, gather for a magical evening, where velvet ropes and VIP table service give way to sideshow acts, performance art and close-up magic.
Yes, there's cocktail service, a DJ spinning techno music, scantily clad go-go girls and evanescent flashing lights. But there's also a painter putting her brush to a blank easel to create live art, jugglers skillfully traversing the room and balloon twisters blowing life into enormous multicolored, potentially popping sculptures.
While most Las Vegas clubs are specifically designed to help people forget their reality, McBride says Wonderground is built for those who want to remember.
"Our club is an alternative to alternative nightlife," says McBride, an acclaimed magician and director of McBride's Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. "We offer enlightened nightlife."
For More info about Wonderground click here.

Zamora produced a limited run show to tie in with the publication of his book Weird Las Vegas. The show, Vegas After Midnight, was in the showroom at the Aruba Hotel on The Las Vegas Strip and was "Pick of the Week" in Las Vegas City Life.

 

Las Vegas City Life


 06/09/2007


CityLife doesn't make a habit of recommending variety shows, but this one sounds so cool we just couldn't resist. Running Sept. 9-20, Vegas After Midnight: A Late Night Variety Show stars Zamora the Torture King -- he of Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, and TV's Ripley's and Guinness World Records infamy. Zamora's real name is Tim Cridland, and when he's not walking barefoot on broken glass or having concrete blocks smashed against his chest with a sledgehammer, he pens articles for the world's top paranormal magazines. Cridland co-authored the just-published Weird Las Vegas and Nevada: Your Alternative Travel Guide to Sin City and the Silver State, which he'll be signing copies of at every nightly performance. If you're looking for uncanny kicks, Zamora's show should satisfy. Jarret Keene





Zamora was a performer, researcher and occasional tour guide in The Haunted Vegas Tour and Show at The Greek Isles Casino. It was a Las Vegas City Life Pick of The Week.
Las Vegas City Life Pick of the Week 03/09/2006
The horror-inspired Haunted Vegas sideshow starring "Ripley's TV" fire-eating geek Zamora precedes the Haunted Vegas tour in order to prime your senses for brain-stem level gooseflesh reactions while on the bus. However, the creators insist this is no "ghosts and goblins' amusement park ride" for the kiddies (16 and older please) but one meant to educate the public about documented spectral activity in Sin City. Most of the two-hour tour is spent safely on the bus with the exception of one leg-stretching foray into a haunted park. The morbid ride will take you to the alleged otherworld digs of unquiet celebrities. Many will be familiar to longtime Las Vegans: from Bugsy Siegel's reputed attachment to the Flamingo to the spot where Tupac Shakur was murdered. There is even a stop at an unspecified "Motel of Death" where a number of celebrities are said to have checked in, never to leave.
Check out the ghost tour website at Hauntedvegastours.com for a series of skepticism-allaying blurry photographs taken by actual passengers on Haunted Vegas tours such as the mysterious blur shot in front of Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens captioned simply, "Liberace." B.B.
For more info about Haunted Vegas click HERE




Zamora was the featured performer in show SHOCK at The Bourbon Street Casino. SHOCK was the first show of its kind in a Las Vegas casino. Below are some reviews of the show.
 Insider Veiwpoint of Las Vegas
Show Review -
by Insider Viewpoint of Las Vegas Staff
Ratings Range from 1-10, 10 is the Best, 1 is the Worst
"Shock!"
Overall Show Review: 7
Show Location: Bourbon Street
Show Type: Variety
Insider Viewpoint of Las Vegas staff delivers an in depth show review that gives you the complete picture of what to expect when attending this show. In determining the Overall Review Rating we research many categories as well as evaluating the ticket price versus entertainment value.
Show Review
As the name implies, this show will shock you! You may be shocked even before the show starts. We would like to state, that this show is not for everybody. For those people who think they have seen it all, step up and see this show.
The show opens to a punkish rendition of 'Strange' by The Doors, song by a young lady in leather with a bad retro haircut. This 'opening song' really set the mood for the show. The male host of the show had an excellent script thanks to writer and co-producer Robert Allen. The small venue makes the audience feel part of the show with the performers often coming off the stage and into the audience.
They introduce us to Zamora, the torture king, the star of the show. Zamora appears throughout the show performing classic sideshow stunts and other acts of pain that will have the most macho man grimacing. You will not see things like this in the popular TV show 'Fear Factor.'
Other acts appear throughout the show that may not shock the audience, but are sure to make you laugh. The show fits nicely in the aging Bourbon Street property. It would not surprise us to see this show take off and be picked up by a more prestigious casino property.



Las Vegas Review-Journal 01/31/2003
SHOCK
Bourbon Street show better fit for Vegas than one might imagine
By Mike Weatherford
 "You gotta be kidding!"
"Don't do it!"
"Oh, that's sick."
You don't hear this at a Wayne Newton show. Well, you might, but that's another review.
But if the show is called "Shock," such audience response is high praise indeed. In fact, there was a suitably dark "Twilight Zone"-worthy twist in store for the college-age guy providing the most vocal feedback on this particular night.
The guy was quick to volunteer for the hypnotism segment by Victoria the Enchantress (Victoria Wayne). She seemed nice enough, and in her sensible pantsuit, appeared to offer a harmless diversion at best, and an annoying detour at worst.
Instead, Victoria took only two minutes to hypnotize the young man. She then peeled off the pantsuit to reveal boudoir lingerie, before subjecting the poor guy to the gentle caress of a boa constrictor, a tarantula and a cage full of rats, one of which nestled right into his spikey hair gel and made itself at home.
The little show in the dinky Bourbon Street lounge lives up to its title with several surprises, and it wouldn't be fair to spill them all here.
The surprise I can talk about is that "Shock" is not only well-staged in its Spartan venue, but lighter and funnier than its obvious inspiration, the Jim Rose Circus.
Time will tell, in fact, if it's a good fit to have one genuine "geek act" -- Zamora, the Torture King -- as the star of what would otherwise pass for the type of late-night cabaret show the Strip has been in need of for a long time.
There's a definite "Rocky Horror Show" vibe to much of the revue, from the bad TV horror-host puns of emcee Malakai (Ron Keck) to the singer (Kelly Carl) covering the Doors' "People Are Strange" and Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party."
But that stuff easily could lapse into the realm of community theater if it weren't backed up with something of genuine skin-crawling gravity. Zamora (Tim Cridland) gets right down to the nitty gritty early on, unwrapping long sterile needles and proceeding to thrust them through his biceps.
Later he will smash and eat a light bulb. For a grand finale, he piles up broken glass and walks on the pieces, then lies flat on the rubble while an audience member hops on his chest.
But even Zamora lightens things up a bit. "People say, `If you're gonna play Vegas, you've got to make your show a little more classy,' " he notes, before hanging Christmas ornaments on a string that he's purportedly swallowed, then extracted from his stomach.
Other acts, such as Aryha, "The High Voltage Girl" (Deanna Hinshaw) offer what are more obviously illusions, striking a sometimes uneasy balance with the real stunts. Producers Robert Allen and Scott Lewis eventually may lean more in one direction than the other, particularly if the show catches on and the budget provides for more genuine sideshow performers.
Hopefully, those won't come at the expense of the humor and clever structure. The big irony here is that a show dreamed up for a niche market might be more for today's Las Vegas mainstream than anyone realizes.


Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail







Press from the Past

Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail

Press about Zamora and Zamora's Show from more than 10 years ago.

In Reverse Order


HOW DO THEY DO THAT THEN?

Edinburgh Evening News - April 24, 2003
by Sam Sheringham
 
It is probably every child's dream to be a superhero - whether it's the ability to see through metal with x-ray vision, to have superhuman strength or even to be able to fly. But, of course, as with all childhood fantasies, they are put aside and such feats remain restricted to the pages of comics or on the silver screen. Not that the fascination with weird and wonderful abilities ever recedes though, otherwise movies from Superman to the X-Men would never have been the blockbusters they were. And as the X-Men sequel is set to hit cinemas next week - with a star-studded premiere in Edinburgh on Tuesday - fans are eagerly waiting to discover just what new talents the genetically mutated characters will have in their battle against evil. However it does seem that some of their super abilities are not complete fiction and that there are humans out there who have talents which could win them a place in Professor X's private academy for superheroes. Tomorrow night, a satellite tele-vision documentary will reveal some real life X-men with a remarkable range of strange "powers". Xtraordinary People on the Discovery Channel reveals how some seemingly normal people have abilities which make them stand out from the crowd, be it reading minds or having a magnetic body. As the programme's director Simon Kerfoot explains: "I decided to use the X -Men theme to look at people who can do amazing things with their minds or bodies. But this is no freak show, we explore the science of how they do it." Perhaps the most horrific moment in the documentary is when American Torture King Tim Cridland thrusts skewers through his chin and arms. In a startling display of mind over matter he also walks on hot iron and extracts string from a hole in his stomach. Kerfoot says he was amazed: "I was expecting an angst-ridden angry person but Tim was really laid-back. When I saw him put the skewer through his chin I could not believe it was real. He didn't even bleed. That was the freakiest thing for me - it was incredible. And when he put the red hot poker on his tongue I had to take a step back, that's something I will never forget."



Torture King's Sideshow Stunts Stun Audiences

Las Vegas Review-Journal January 17, 2003

by Mike Weatherford
 
Zamora, 'The Torture King,' knows a thing or two about show business. 'My experience is, you don't want to scare 'em too much,' says the star of Bourbon Street's new show, 'Shock.' 'If you do the skewer thing right away, there's a chance people will run away. You've got to build up to it.' So he builds his show, paces it. He often starts out by walking on eggshells, literally, without breaking them. Then he moves on to what he calls the 'very classical' art of fire-eating and sword-swallowing. 'The skewer thing' properly takes its place as the grand finale. That's when Zamora, formerly the mild-mannered Tim Cridland, takes the surgically sterilized lance and thrusts it through his bicep. 'You can tell it's no magic trick,' says 'Shock' co-producer Scott Lewis -- himself a performing hypnotist -- in a hushed tone of awe. 'You can see the skin bulge right before the needle comes through.' After seeing Zamora do his needle thing during Knott's Berry Farm's annual Halloween show, Lewis knew he'd found his star. 'Shock' is a blatant nod to the success of 'Jackass: The Movie,' though co-producer Robert Allen says his idea for a sideshow on the Strip is 7 years old. Lewis and Allen tested 'Shock' with a brief run at the Riviera in the fall, but the hotel put a wet blanket on the more extreme efforts to justify the title. Bourbon Street proved more accommodating for the show that will run on weekends only, barring further demand. Zamora has been punishing himself in public since the Jim Rose Circus became a Lollapalooza festival highlight in 1991. He left Rose in 1994 to go his own way,and now stages his own shows as well as working as a geek-for-hire. During his downtime as the mild-mannered Cridland, the Torture King shrugs and explains his strange line of work as 'just kind of an obsession of mine that kept building throughout my life.' But sideshows were on the wane when he was growing up, and books often contained dangerously misleading how-to information. 'After awhile I was teaching myself how to do some of this, after long research,' he says. Cridland says he 'got into the whole thing from the entertainment aspect, but began to study where it all came from. I was learning these meditative techniques from people who do this not in an entertainment context, but in a holistic context.' It really is mind over matter, he insists. (Hence, his Web site, www.mindandmatter.net). 'I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm very focused.' But he doesn't want to bore you with that unless you really want to hear about it. 'People come to Vegas to have fun and that's what we give them.' Like David Strassman's ventriloquist act, Zamora says his stunts work best as a live antidote to television or movie magic. 'When you do see this live, it's absolutely real and you're certain of it.' Still, he understands skepticism in a city full of magicians. 'The power of belief is strong. Also the power of disbelief is strong, I've found,' he says. He's swallowed swords in front of an X-ray machine and let people examine the aftermath. 'The sword's obviously been in the body, but they're still not going to believe if they don't want to? What can I do?' Most customers need less convincing. Zamora is especially pleased when big, obnoxiously drunken fraternity guys pass out cold. 'A falling ovation,' Lewis volunteers.


PERFORMER GOES TO GREAT PAINS

The Ottawa Sun July 7, 2003

by Derek Puddicombe

 

For Tim Cridland, the blues is all about pain. With 180 acts at this year's Bluesfest, Cridland, 39, is probably the only performer that doesn't carry a guitar, drumstick or horn or sing a note when he steps on stage. But he knows all about pain and grossing out his audience. Although Cridland, who hails from Las Vegas and is also known as the Torture King, doesn't sing the blues, his show is in keeping with the carnival theme of this year's Bluesfest. "My act lends itself to outdoor performances, but it's not crude or rude," he says. Rude and crude is a matter of interpretation, which he leaves up to his audience. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. And as Cridland tells his audience before his shows, he hopes they have successfully digested their meals. To warm up his audience, Cridland demonstrates his taste for fire-eating. He then moves on to sword swallowing -- just a "light snack," he explains. Still feeling a little peckish, Cridland smashes a light bulb with a hammer and begins to chew its shattered remains. At this point, it's about 10 minutes into his 30-minute show and the first time groans, gasps and nervous laughter are heard from the audience as the crunching sounds of glass between his teeth are amplified by a microphone. The gasps return when Cridland reclines on four sword blades. A few cover their eyes as a cinder block is placed on his chest and smashed with a sledgehammer. "I don't think this is disgusting at all. I think it's great," said Justin Trudeau, 19, from Montreal. "I can't believe that someone has such great command over his body." The part of the act that had most squinting was when Cridland penetrated his body with long, sharp skewers. He took one skewer, pierced his tongue, then let it work its way down so it popped through skin underneath his chin. But it didn't bother Trudeau or his friend. "The blues is all about pain," said Steve Joncas, 20. But what had 24-year-old Lindsay Ross wondering was how Cridland was going to digest the glass. "I want to know how he goes to the bathroom the next day after eating the light bulb."


 


JIM ROSE AND TORTURE KING WAGE WAR OF CARNY CARNAGE

WINNIPEG SUN Winnipeg, Manitoba 1999

by Jill Wilson

Jim Rose is slick, eloquent, egomaniac - a man who's equal parts snake oil salesman and Tony Robbins. Of course, that's the perfect combination for someone who makes his living as the ringmaster of a travelling circus. The charismatic frontman is probably best known as the leader of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow - a collection of self-made freaks who toured with Lollapalooza. He and the troupe are back in Winnipeg tomorrow with their Secrets Of The Strange tour One mystery the entertainer is eager to explain is the appearance of former Sideshow member Zamora The Torture King at the same venue one day after his gig. "It's not a strange coincidence. He is intentionally booking shows, trying his hardest to screw me and to puff himself up," says Rose of Zamora, who contributed to Circus of the Scars, a less-than-flattering book about the troupe. "I guess I'll have to fear him when he no longer has to say, 'Formally of the Jim Rose Circus' - He didn't resonate and I guess the reason he's doing this is because there's nothing more bitter than an opporunist that miscalculated." But there's really not much else Zamora, whose real name is Tim Cridland, could do. There's not a lot of call for a sword-swallowing, egg-walking, human pin-cushion outside the entertainment world. Or maybe there is. The soft-spoken Cridland recently appeared on a 48 Hours segment dealing with chronic pain management - if you've seen The Torture King calmly stick skewers though his neck, you'll know he's got a handle on pain control. "There's nothing abnormal about me physically," says Cridland, 35, who's been studying circus feats and anatomy since he was a teen. "The things I do have to do with the mind and the body - I've changed the way my brain reacts to an external stimulus. I feel it, but it's not a negative feeling." Cridland also denies negative feelings towards Rose. "He just took the show in a different direction," says the performer, who travels with a contortionist and a strong man. "It was more comedy stuff, more crude. I'm bringing traditional stunts back from the past." He says he didn't set out to stage a showdown with Rose's show but admits that the publicity is to both of their benefits. "Perhaps it's a friendly feud," he says. "It's going to help both of us it it's newsworthy and gets both our names in the press." You get the feeling the two men may be playing the duel up for dramatic effect - no real feat for such consumate showmen. But as P.T. Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute - and whether they're playing us for fools or not, they're both probably worth the price of a midway ticket or two




New Generation of Fans, Performers Take in the Show


St. Cloud Times December 10, 1999

by Scott M. Larson
"No, he can't do that," one man gasped as Zamora the Torture King cut into his stomach Thursday night at the Java Joint. Yes, he can. He is the Torture King and this is his touring sideshow. Using surgical scissors, Zamora dug into the hole in his stomach and started pulling out about three yards of twine he had swallowed. "I don't want to see this," a woman yelped, just as Zamora, otherwise known as Tim Cridland, dangled Christmas ornaments then pulled the twine free of his body. It is a technique known as a Yogi internal floss, which Cridland used to clean out the glass he just swallowed from a broken light bulb. Gather round, one and all. Come see the resurgence of the sideshow - a lost art that was seemingly doomed after circuses quit sideshows to go for a more wholesome, family appeal. "This used to be family entertainment," Cridland said before the show. "It's strange. It's bizarre. It's shocking. But it's a fun type of shocking." Cridland has been on the road for about eight months. He and his cohorts play five shows a week. He laments the fall of the sideshow from its glory days as part of the circus. But he is trying to resurrect the lost art through his show, which includes driving needles through his muscles, licking a red-hot iron and bending it with his feet and using his chest as a butcher's block. "The advantage is people see so many special effects on TV that when people see it up front there is no question that it is real," Cridland said. Like Patrick Wyman and Emily Streit, who debated the merits of the show with squeamish sounds and painful noises. They said they knew it would be interesting, but they still were not prepared. "Not this, man. I didn't think he was going to cut his stomach open," Wyman said. "I'm astounded that someone could do something like that," Streit said. Cridland said his goal is to entertain. He equates his act to the same feeling a person gets from riding a rollercoaster. "It's scary, but you want to get right back on," he said. He uses meditation techniques to diffuse any pain he might feel on stage, and he controls his body's reaction."The reaction is what you have control over," Cridland said. "By changing your external output you can change the world around you." The crowd was wary at first. It wasn't sure what to think. But as the show went on, the crowd got more and more into it, yelling and screaming and clapping wildly. "If you were squeamish, you wouldn't be here in the first place," Cridland said on stage with an overly dramatic tone. But some in the crowd still squirmed and gasped at each act of torture. "Don't worry, I know my anatomy well," Zamora the Torture King announces.

From TV Guide

 October 31, 1998
by Mark Schwed
 
Meet Tim Cridland of Seattle, one of the "stars" of the new Fox series Guinness World Records: Primetime. His claim to fame, or should we say pain? He's the Human Pincushion, who, in trying to set a Guinness world record, skewered his chest with about 100 pins. By the time the pin man got to 98, one burly camera operator was so unsettled that he nearly hit the deck while shooting the record attempt. "He got that look you get when you're about to pass out," says our spy. "And he says to the guy behind him, 'Take the camera now! I think I'm going to faint.' And he quickly sat himself down and put his head between his knees." We can only hope home viewers don't have the same reaction this November.



 DAILY DISH

1998

by Susan Campbell Beachy
 

"What kind of man likes to eat fire and swallow swords? Meet Zamora the Torture King, one of the featured performers in . . . The Secret World of Circuses and Side Shows. "What I do isn't causing me pain or injury," insists Zamora, a king of pain who also answers to the name Tim Cridland. "I'm showing that I'm overcoming situations that would normally be painful or cause injury." He doesn't take his "classic sideshow feats" - which include walking on broken glass and having sticks broken over his back - lightly. "Everything I do is very dangerous," says Zamora, who researches all the stunts very carefully before he attempts them. "Almost everything has life-threatening potential. In sword-swallowing, the sword actually does go down my throat and into my stomach. If I punctured the stomach lining, it could lead to peritonitis, which happens when the stomach acid gets into the system. That can be a fatal injury." The Secret World . . . isn't, strictly speaking, the first TV appearance for the Torture King, who caught the attention of The Simpsons' writers when he toured with Lollapalooza in 1992. When the Fox toon had an episode featuring a Lollapalooza-like festival, says Zamora, "There was a character on there named Impervo the Painless who seemed to be based on me. He showed up again on the carnival episode of the show. So I can say I've been on The Simpsons twice, a brag most people can't make." What's next for Zamora? He's preparing to take his show . . . on tour throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, and has also begun learning a new act. "There was a guy in the '40s who would take a sharp fencing sword and have it put through his back. It would come out his front, underneath his solar plexus - right through the middle of the body," says Zamora, who has been researching the stunt through newsreel footage and medical journals. "I've got a long way to go. Obviously, it's a major feat. But that is something I'd like to do."






 

SIDESHOWS ADD AWE TO HERITAGE FESTIVAL


The Palm Beach Post - November 9, 1995

by Tim O'Meilia

 

Remember the fire-eaters and the sword-swallowers of the old-time traveling carnivals that stopped for a weekend and then went down the road? Maybe your parents or grandparents told you about them. How they weren't quite certain how much was trickery and how much mysticism. Let's hear it for the Torture King, who holds a razor-sharp meat cleaver to his chest and lets his assistant wallop it with a two-by-four, leaving only a red mark on his torso. The Torture King offers a taste of art of the old sideshow at the Heritage Festival at the South Florida Fairgrounds through Sunday. A few of those who weren't listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter in the entertainment hall Wednesday stopped by to see ``Beyond Belief,'' a glimpse at skills that are slipping away as sideshows have disappeared. The Torture King, otherwise known as Tim Cridland, walks on crushed glass, besides eating fire and swallowing swords. In the finale, the Torture King slides a skewer through his upper arm, creating a shish-ka-bicep. ``I knew a guy in Vermont. He swallowed razor blades. The double-edged ones,'' said 74-year-old Francis Pawlusiak, who now lives in Boynton Beach. ``I think he's still alive. In Massachusetts,'' he said, as if that was an even greater feat.

 


Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail


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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Condensed History of Zamora's Sideshow featuring The Torture King


Tim Cridland / Zamora TK www.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail

   Click To Go To Zamora's Web Site

In reverse order

  • 2014
TV show Man vs Weird airs in The UK on Channel 4, one of the largest networks in England. A large portion of the episode Superhuman Strength is devoted to Zamora.

Walks barefoot on glowing hot metal plates on the TV show Freakshow broadcast on American Movie Channel.

Photo from AMC Freakshow Season 2, Episode 11. Photo belongs to AMC. More info HERE
  • 2013:
Performs at the Medieval Week in Gotland, Sweden in a 13th Century Church that was converted to a theater.

A show is Las Vegas is filmed for a Man vs Weird for UK Channel 4 to be in 2014.

Appearance on The Science Channel TV show Oddities: San Francisco.


  • 2012:
Performs outside the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditrium in St. Augustine, FL the original Ripley’s Museum.

Returns to Sturgis Bike Week with a week of performances at The Easyriders Saloon.

Performs at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt 40th anniversary. Zamora has now performed at the Knott’s Scary Farm 16 years in a row which may give him the longest consecutive run of any show performer at the Haunt (verified). Shortly after this, Knott's removes all shows other than Elvira and The Hanging from its Halloween event.

Show at The Magic Bar in Stockholm, Sweden

  • 2011:
Appears on the Japanese TV show Mysteries of the Human Body; has brain scanned by California Pain Medicine Center proving his brain functions differently while in pain.


Performs at the Los Angeles County Fair.

Returns to Sweden for Metaltown, Peace and Love Festival, The Stockholm Street Festival as well as performances at the Guinness World Records Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark and The G! Festival in the far away Faroe Islands.

Is on-ship entertainment for Smyril Lines Ocean Liner from Denmark to the Faroe Islands.

  • 2010:
Return to Sweden followed by US tour and appearance at Sturgis Bike Week, the largest biker festival in the world. Appears on Full Throttle Saloon on TruTV and Stan Lee's Superhumans on The History Channel.

  • 2009:
Returns to Sweden for the West Coast Riot and MetalTown festivals.

On The Pedal to the Metal Tour with Mudvayne and Black Label Society.

  • 2008:
Appearances in Music Festivals in Sweden with the Bros. Grim Sideshow.

Featured on the Turkish TV show Mucizeler Gecesi (Night of Miracles).

Featured Midnight Act at Wonderground at Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas.

  • 2007:
Tours with Ozzfest, the largest music festival in the US, with the Bros. Grim Sideshow.

Appears in the Music Video Fallen Leaves by Canadian group Billy Talent. The Video wins Best Music Video of the Year at The Much Music Video Awards.

Click Here to See The Video


Zamora is the cover story for Shocked and Amazed magazine.

Click Here to See The Magazine


Zamora's 2nd book, Weird Las Vegas, is published by Sterling Publications

 Click Here to See The Book


  • 2006:
Jesse James Dupree of Jackyl runs over Zamora The Torture King while he lays on a bed of nails at The Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, SD.

Click Here to See Video



Episode of English TV show Death Wish Live devoted entirely to Zamora. Zamora has a 2 ton SUV drive over him while he lays on a bed of nails.


See the Death Wish Live Micro Site BY CLICKING HERE.
  • 2005:
SHOCK! Moves The Greek Isles Casino and changes format to become The Haunted Vegas Show and Tour.

  • 2004:
Featured in the book Freaks and Fire: The Underground Reinvention of Circus by J. Dee Hill (Soft Skull Press, 2004).

  • 2003:
Contacted by Producers of Las Vegas show SHOCK! At The Bourbon Street Casino. Moves to Las Vegas.


  • 2001-2002:
Tours as "Male Member" of all girl show Girly Freak Show.

  • 2001:
Moves base of operations to Los Angeles. 2nd appearance on Ripley's Believe it or Not TV show: Walking barefoot on red-hot metal.

  • 2000:
1st appearance on Ripley's Believe it or Not TV show: Run over by a car while on a bed of nails.
  • 1999:
Faces off with ex-employer/now rival Jim Rose in "The Battle of the Sideshows" in Winnipeg, Canada. Local media declare Zamora the winner.

Click Here to See The News Report


Zamora is the subject of a segment of 48 Hours with Dan Rather.

  • 1998:
Appearance on Guinness World Records Primetime causes cameraman to faint.

2500 pd car drives over Zamora while he lays on a bed of nails as publicity stunt for Evolving Times Expo in Sacramento, CA.

Click Here to See The Video



Zamora's 1st book, Circus of the Scars, is published.


Click Here to See Info About the Book


  • 1996:


first shows for Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt. He has been a feature act every year since then.

  • 1994-2002:
Moves to Napa Valley. Tours US and Canada with Zamora's Touring Sideshow.

Banner Art by John Hartley

  • 1994:
Splits off from Rose Sideshow, forms own show.

Poster Art by Madame Talbot


  • 1993:
Tours US and Europe with The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow.

  • 1992:
Tours with the Lollapalooza Festival, bringing sideshow to a new generation.

  • 1991:
Co-founder of the original Jim Rose Circus Sideshow in Seattle, WA.
  • 1984:
Opens for Henry Rollins early spoken word performance at The Meatlocker in Seattle, WA


 Click to Return to Zamora's Sideshow Web Site

Click to See A History of Zamora and Zamora's Sideshow

Click to See Press from the Past

Click to See Reviews of Past Vegas Shows


Tim Cridland / Zamora TKwww.astoundingshow.com
323-366-9539 voicemail
Skype Name: Zamora TK