Target girl

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Astrid Schollenberger rehearses with top knife thrower Rev Dr David Adamovich. One knife is captured in flight, fractions of a second before impact.

In circus and vaudeville acts, a target girl is a female assistant in "impalement" acts such as knife throwing, archery or sharpshooting. The assistant stands in front of a target board or is strapped to a moving board and the impalement artist throws knives or shoots projectiles so as to hit the board and miss the assistant. The image or character of the target girl has become an icon in fiction and visual media.

Introduction

Although some assistants are male, there is no common equivalent term for a male assistant. This reflects the fact that, historically at least, female assistants have predominated in the acts in question.[1] The presence of an assistant as a human target provides a powerful element of risk. Without assistants placing themselves in danger these acts would be simple demonstrations of accuracy, but with the potential for injury or death the show is much more dramatic. Target girls often wear revealing costumes, thus adding an element of overt sexuality to an act. In this respect there is some similarity to magicians' assistants, although there is a distinct difference in that any apparent danger to an assistant in a magic act is mostly an illusion, whereas impalement acts are demonstrations of accuracy, nerve and calculated risk and the danger is real.[2] Various theories have been put forward to explain the enduring appeal of the target girl. These range from simple awe at the display of steely nerves and complete trust to more complex psychological and philosophical theories. While some point to overtones of

hero's ordeal, in which the hero proves his or her heroic qualities through self-sacrifice or by facing extreme peril.[4] Jim Steinmeyer, a noted illusion designer who has written well-regarded books on the history of magic, has identified a fashion for female peril as entertainment in the post-First World War period. Steinmeyer has written that P. T. Selbit's stage debut of the Sawing Through A Woman illusion in 1921 marked the beginning of a trend for women as the victims of choice for acts simulating danger or torture. While Steinmeyer focuses on stage magic and attributes some of the trend to practical factors, he also points to a broader pattern in entertainment generally, which he links to social trends. He concludes that: "...beyond practical concerns, the image of the woman in peril became a specific fashion in entertainment".[5] A further view on historical trends is provided by performer and blogger Ula the Painproof Rubbergirl, who has acted as a target girl for New York-based knife thrower The Great Throwdini. In an extensive article on her experiences and philosophical approach to the art she notes: "Knife throwing is an old act. So is high wire. And rodeo. And stone throwing, witch burning, beheading, Roman gladiators, jousting, dog fights,you name it - we, humans, love it. And we love a vulnerable woman. Isn't there something oddly attractive about the woman in danger? I remember seeing lots of soundless black and white movies with a girl tied to the railroad tracks or a girl tied to a sawmill by some evil perverted landlord."[6]

Notable target girls

Like

magicians' assistants
, target girls often receive little to no formal recognition or billing. The notable exception is for husband and wife acts, common in this field, where both performers are billed together. This hinders making a name for one's self specifically as a target girl, but it's not unusual for performers who are known for their overall careers to have served as target girls at one time or another.

Books by target girls

A very small and select group of women are notable for having used personal experience to write about the impalement arts from the point of view of the target girl. They include:

Celebrity target girls

A small group of target girls are notable for the fact that they are well known celebrities who performed the role for charitable purposes or other reasons apart from their main career. These are examples of the target girl, rather than the thrower, being the main individual in the act. The annual Circus of the Stars television special, made by CBS between 1977 and 1994, provided a number of examples. They include:

  • Lynda Carter, the actress best known as television's Wonder Woman, appeared as a target girl on the very first Circus of the Stars in January 1977, with actor David Janssen throwing knives at her.[23][24]
  • Actress and model Ann Turkel performed the role of target girl for knife thrower Skeeter Vaughan in the second Circus of the Stars in December 1977.[25]
  • Charlene Tilton, the actress best known for her role in the television series Dallas, famously appeared in a gold bikini as a target girl for knife thrower Skeeter Vaughan in the 1979 Circus of the Stars.[26]
  • MASH, appeared as a target girl for knife thrower Larry Cisewski on the 1981 Circus of the Stars. She was seen holding balloons for Cisewski to burst and also braved being spun around on his "Devil's door" target board as he planted knives around her.[27]
  • Linda Blair, the actress who rose to fame as a child star in The Exorcist, appeared as a target girl for knife thrower Paul Lacross on Circus of the Stars in 1983.[28]
  • Actress Britt Ekland appeared as a target girl for knife thrower Fritz Brumbach on Circus of the Stars in 1986.
  • Television presenter and actress
    Stars in der Manege in 1967. She performed with a duo called The Williams Boys.[29]
  • Actress Simone Thomalla was a target girl for world-record breaking impalement artist Patrick Brumbach in the final edition of the German television charity show Stars in der Manege, recorded in December 2008. During the act she rode a rotating target board as Brumbach threw knives around her and she also held out targets for him to cut with a whip.[30]

Fictional and artistic representation

The mixture of peril, nerve and sexuality inherent in the idea of a target girl has proved attractive to writers, artists, moviemakers and television executives.

Movie and television

There are many instances of target girls as iconic or emblematic images in film and television. The most notable movie example is the character Adele portrayed by Vanessa Paradis in the film Girl on the Bridge (1999), in which the knife throwing act is at the centre of the plot and serves as a powerful erotic metaphor.

Other examples include:

  • The fourth season of the television series Bones, featured an episode (first aired in 2009) in which title character Temperance "Bones" Brennan goes undercover as a target girl with Special Agent Seeley Booth as a knife-thrower.
  • An interesting inversion can be found in the animated series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, in which female knife-thrower Catherine Bloom uses a male assistant, Trowa Barton. Although several characters through the series express an admiration for Trowa's good looks, the costume he chooses to wear during performances has little to no sexual appeal—notably, half of his face is hidden by a mask. In contrast, Catherine's costume while performing as knife-thrower is more in line with the revealing and hypersexualized target girl image.
  • Cameron Diaz's character Jenny Everdeane acts as a target girl in a scene in the film Gangs of New York (2002) which was used in promotional clips.[31]
  • In the television series Nikki, an episode aired in 2001 featured the characters played by Nikki Cox and Susan Egan taking jobs as target girls.[32][33]
  • The television play The Act (1987) revolved around a knife throwing act and a girl who applies for a job as the assistant. It was made for the BBC and was a co-production involving the Royal College of Art. It starred Caroline Embling and Bill Rourke. Real life knife thrower Jay Ruffley provided throwing skills in one scene and also appeared as the owner of a club.[34][35][36]
  • Courteney Cox's character in the 1987 television movie If it's Tuesday it still must be Belgium becomes a target girl in a circus knife throwing act.[37]
  • In the movie Bronco Billy (1980), actresses Sondra Locke and Tessa Richarde are both seen as target girls for a sharpshooter and knife thrower played by Clint Eastwood. Locke's role in the act is central to the plot.[38]
  • In the television series
    Kris Munroe
    goes undercover as a target girl in an episode titled "Circus of Terror" (1977).
  • The spy thriller Masquerade (1965) features Marisa Mell as a target girl named Sophie.[39][40]
  • Target girls were iconic figures in a series of horror films set in circuses that were made in the 1960s. These include:
    • Circus of Horrors (1960), in which Vanda Hudson played a target girl called Magda von Meck.[41]
    • Circus of Fear (1966), which features British actress Margaret Lee as an assistant facing danger in a knife act.[42]
    • Berserk! (1967), in which Judy Geeson played a target girl in a circus knife act.[43]
  • The film Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) has an early scene featuring one of the female leads as a target girl.[44][45][46]
  • In "Lucy Tells the Truth" (1953), an episode of the television series I Love Lucy, a white lie leads to Lucille Ball's character ending up as the assistant in a knife act.

Theatre

The play Pin Cushion, by Clay McLeod Chapman is based around a husband and wife knife throwing act and consists of the target girl delivering a monologue while her husband throws knives around her. It was performed as part of Chapman's Pumpkin Pie Show at The Red Room Theatre, New York, in May and June 2002. The performance involved a genuine knife throwing act, with actress Niabi Caldwell as the target girl and professional knife thrower Dr. David Adamovich (aka The Great Throwdini) playing her husband.[47]

Photography

The target girl has also been used as an image in fashion and art photography. Examples include:

  • Model Karen Elson is seen spinning on a "wheel of death" target in a picture by photographer Steven Meisel that formed part of a series titled "The Greatest Show on Earth" in the April 2007 issue of the Italian edition of Vogue magazine.[48]
  • Model Kate Moss appeared on a "wheel of death" target in two of a series of fashion photos by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in the April 2006 issue of W magazine.[49]
  • Actress Jennifer Ellison appeared strapped to a "wheel of death" target and surrounded by knives in the UK edition of Maxim magazine in 2005. The picture was reproduced in the Daily Star newspaper on 1 December 2005.[50]
  • Drummer Meg White appeared as a target girl on a "wheel of death" target in a photo of The White Stripes by Annie Leibovitz in 2003. The picture was part of a series that appeared in a book and an exhibition, both titled Annie Leibovitz: American Music.[51][52]
  • Singer and musician Shakira appeared standing against a target with knives around her in a photo in the April 2002 issue of FHM magazine (UK edition).
  • Actress Goldie Hawn appeared in a circus costume strapped to a "wheel of death" target for a photoshoot in 1990 that was later featured in Rolling Stone magazine in 2001.[53]

Literature

  • Steven Millhauser's short story The Knife Thrower features a thrower who specialises in nicking those who stand at the target board for him, including his female assistant. It was published as part of a collection that bears the same title. At least one edition features as its cover a painting of a girl standing in front of a target board.[54]
  • The relationship between a target girl and a circus knifethrower is the central motif in the poem cycle Das Mädchen und der Messerwerfer published in 1997 by noted German poet Wolf Wondratschek.[55]
  • The novel Knives of Desire by Marion Zimmer Bradley (writing under the pen name Morgan Ives) is about a woman who becomes involved in a lesbian relationship after joining a circus to be the target girl for a female knife thrower.[56] The cover of the original edition, published in 1966, shows two women in skimpy bikinis, one standing against a target board and the other throwing a knife.[57]

Music

See also

References

  1. ^ Stanley Brion in the foreword to Adamovich, Heil & Schollenberger, A Day on Broadway: The art of being a knife thrower's assistant, (pub. Turnshare, London, 2005), p.x
  2. ^ "Artist 'undeterred' by crossbow accident". BBC News. 16 January 2001. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  3. ^ The most extensive evidence of the debate on this topic is to be found in various online forums, including the Dangerous Circus Acts groups on Yahoo!
  4. ^ Dr Joachim Heil PhD, "A short philosophical essay on the art of knife throwing", in Adamovich, Heil & Schollenberger, A Day on Broadway, pp.83-114
  5. .
  6. ^ a b Ula, The Knife Thrower's Assistant Archived 12 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, painproofrubbergirls.com, (2003)
  7. ^ Carinci, Justin (24 November 2007). "Final Salute: Her husband missed her a lot, and that was good". The Columbian: C1. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  8. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  9. ^ "Los Alamos Messer-, Lasso- und Peitschen-show". Patrick Brumbach. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  10. ^ "Die Geschichte der Dynastie Stey". Zirkus Stey. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  11. ^ "2003 Knife Throwing Pioneer Award". International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 26 November 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  12. ^ Gracia, Scott. "Issue #102". The Great Throwzini Newsletter. Scott Gracia. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  13. ^ "2006 Pioneer Award". International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  14. ^ "Claude Chantal Blanc: artist for circus and variété". WebArt, E. Gehrig & Co. Archived from the original on 24 May 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
  15. ^ "Official website". Claude-Chantal Blanc. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
  16. ^ Tevlin, Jon (27 June 2004). "The bullwhipper and the bellydancer". Star Tribune (Minneapolis).
  17. IMDb
  18. ^ Cooper, Amanda (3 July 2005). "A Curtain Up Review: Maximum Risk". Curtain up.
  19. ^ "Performer Bios". Rev Dr David Adamovitch. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  20. ^ "World of Knives: Blade Target". FHM. March 2006.
  21. ^ "Lynda Carter: Other TV appearances 1956-1979: 016 The Circus of the Stars 1979". Wonderland - The Ultimate Wonder Woman site. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  22. ^ It has been suggested that Janssen and Carter's act was faked using a trick target board that worked in a manner similar to the method exposed on the Masked Magician television show. Professional throwers have observed that Janssen's throwing style is wrong and would result in wildly inaccurate throws if he were really throwing knives. This seems to be the only occasion when a knife throwing act was faked on Circus of the Stars. All the other occasions when the show included a knife act involved professional throwers and the genuine nature of the acts has been confirmed through study of video footage.
  23. ^ "Kristy McNichol on TV". J Wilson. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  24. ^ "Circus of the Stars #4". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 4 April 2007..
  25. IMDb
  26. IMDb
    . She was pictured in costume and holding a set of throwing axes on the cover of the 18–24 December 1983 issue of TV News magazine
  27. ^ "Vier Jahrzehnte Zirkuszauber". BR online. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
  28. ^ "Glück oder Können? Patrick Brumbach spielt mit den Messern". Augsburger Allgemeine. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  29. ^ "Gangs of New York". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  30. ^ "Nikki: Season 1: 11. The Jupiter and Mary Chain". TV.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  31. ^ "The Many Moods of Mary - Susan on the dance set of Nikki". Susan Egan. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  32. ^ The Act was 25 minutes long and was originally transmitted on BBC2 on 18 August 1987 at 10.20pm. See details at "The Act". The British Film Institute database. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  33. ^ Jay Ruffley sometimes performed under the name Cetan Mani. See " 2006 International Achievement Award". International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame. Retrieved 30 March 2007.[dead link]
  34. ^ "Bill Rourke". MBA Agency. Archived from the original on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  35. ^ "If it's Tuesday it still must be Belgium". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  36. ^ "Bronco Billy". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  37. ^ "Masquerade". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  38. ^ For a publicity still see "Masquerade promo picture". Knifethrower.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  39. ^ "Circus of Horrors". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  40. ^ "Circus of Fear". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  41. ^ "Berserk!". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  42. ^ "Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  43. ^ "Phantom of Rue Morgue promo picture". Knifethrower.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
  44. .
  45. ^ Bacalzo, Dan. "The Pumpkin Pie Show in Big Top". Theatermania. Archived from the original on 22 December 2006. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  46. ^ Meisel, Steven (April 2007). "The Greatest Show on Earth". Vogue Italia. Condé Nast Publications. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
  47. ^ Alas & Piggott (April 2006). "Kate Moss: performance". W Magazine. Style.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  48. ^ "Jennifer Ellison: Ell on Earth". Maxim (UK). Maxim magazines. 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  49. ^ "Annie Leibovitz: American Music". Andrew Smith Gallery, San Francisco. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  50. .
  51. ^ "2nd September 2006 Posed". fotopic.net. Retrieved 6 November 2007.[permanent dead link]
  52. ^ Millauser, Steven (December 1999). The Knife Thrower. Phoenix Press. .
  53. ^ "Das Mädchen und der Messerwerfer". Institut für Buchgestaltung, Bielefeld. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  54. ^ "Book details: Knives of Desire". AbeBooks.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  55. ^ "cartoon". knifethrower.com. Retrieved 23 September 2007.

Further reading