Carnival/Fair

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Basic building blocks when creating your fictional carnival or fair or freakshow or sideshow! These are obviously just basics to build off of and expand -hope these help!

Rides & Attractions

Pendulum Rides (ie: Ali Baba, Frisbee, Kamikaze, Looping Starship, Pirate Ship, Ranger, Screamin' Swing, Speed, Swing Boat, Topple Tower)

Water Rides (ie: Bumper Boats, FlowRider, Lazy River, Log Flume, Old Mill, River Caves, River Rapids Ride, Water Slide)

Drop Towers (ie: Double Shot, Space Shot, Super Shot, Turbo Drop, Hurakan Condor)

Train Rides & Roller CoastersSwing Rides (a variation on the carousel in which the chairs are suspended from the rotating top of the carousel.)

Dark Rides or Ghost Trains (an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects.)

Spinning (Starship, Gravitron, Tilt-A-Whirl, Zero Gravity etc)


Food

Meals [BBQ, Turkey Leg, Wings, Burgers, Chicken on a Stick, Hot Dog, Hot Tamale, Pizza, Gyros, Steak & Cheese, Sausage & Peppers, Grilled Corn etc]

Snacks [Nachos, Corn Dog, Fries, Soft Pretzel, etc]

Drinks [Lemonade, Soda, Beer, Frozen Alcoholic Drinks, Bottled Water etc]

Sweets [Sno-Cone, Cotton Candy, Popcorn, Ice Cream, Doughnut, Funnel Cakes, Elephant Ears, Caramel Apple, Candied Nuts etc]


Some Terminology

86'd - To be banned from the lot
Agent - The person working a game
Al-A-Ga-Zam - Greeting among carnies
B.C. - Be cool; a warning to stop what you are doing or saying
Bally or Ballyhoo - The spiel of the outside talker to draw people into the show
Beef - A complaint from a player or policeman
Blow Your Pipes - When a carny is hoarse from yelling at marks
Blowoff - After a show, this is an offer of another attraction for an additional fee
BR - A big wad of cash rolled up to entice marks
Building a Tip - The job of the outside talker is to gather a crowd (tip)
Butcher - The person who walks around selling food and drinks
Cake Cutting - Short-changing someone
Carny Roll - This is a bank roll with one or two big bills rolled around a bunch of one dollar bills
Cool Out - When you convince a mark that you did not take his money
Cowboy - A trouble maker
Crack - A very effective phrase used by carnies to get marks to play
Crank, Cradle, or Strom - The handle or pedal that controls a rigged game
Dog House - This is a booth where the person sits who controls the ride
Donniker - Restroom
Ducat or ducket - A free pass or ticket
Dukkering - Gypsy fortunetelling
Gaff - The mechanism used to control or fake a game
Grifters - This term covers criminals who run crooked games, shoplift, or pick pockets
Grind - This is end of an outside talker's spiel that moves the crowd into the show
Heat - Any problems in the carnival between any people there
Joing - This means to fix a game so that no one can win
Joint - A concession
Juice - Bribes paid to local law enforcement
Keister - A portable case holding things to display and sell
Kick - Where a carny keeps his money
Nut - A show's operating expenses
Poke - Money belonging to a carny
Popper - A wagon with popcorn, candy apples, and other edibles to sell
Possum Belly - A box under a wagon for storage
Punk - A child
Racket - Any operation that uses deception
Reading the Midway - This is walking around with your head down, looking for money or valuables on the midway
Tip - The crowd gathered in front of a show who listens to the outside talker's bally
Zamps - Rides for children

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