Carny, also spelledcarnie, is an informal term used in North America for atraveling carnival employee, and thelanguage they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper", or "floss wagon"), or ride ("ride jock") at a carnival. The term "showie" is used synonymously in Australia, while "showman" is used in the United Kingdom.[1]
Carny is thought to have become popularized around 1931 in North America, when it was first colloquially used to describe one who works at a carnival.[2] The wordcarnival, originally meaning a "time of merrymaking beforeLent" and referring to a time denoted by lawlessness (often ritualised under alord of misrule figure and intended to show the consequences of social chaos), came into use around 1549.
The carny vocabulary is traditionally part of carnivalcant, a secret language. It is an ever-changing form of communication, in large part designed to be impossible to understand by an outsider.[3] As words are assimilated into the culture at large, they lose their function and are replaced by more obscure or insular terms.[citation needed] Most carnies no longer use cant, but some owners/operators and "old-timers" ("half yarders") still use some of the classic terms.
In addition to carny jargon, some carnival workers used a specialinfix ("earz" or "eez" or "iz") to render regular language unintelligible to outsiders. This style eventually migrated into wrestling, hip hop, and other parts of modern culture.[4]
The British form of fairground cant is called "Rocker".[citation needed]
In the 2013 filmWe're the Millers,Emma Roberts' character Casey meets a carny named Scotty P, played byMark L. Young, who works a "Monkey Maze" at the local fair. However, he doesn't know the meaning of the word, and when asked whether he is a carny, he responds: "I drive a motorcycle".
In the 2022 filmElvis,Colonel Tom Parker speaks in Ciazarn to some of the carnival workers when preparing forHank Snow’s trip to the next town.
InThe Bob's Burgers Movie, released in 2022, the plot revolves around the murder of a carny named Cotton Candy Dan. The children visit the carnies' section of town, when investigating the murder.
Television
InThe Blacklist season 5, episode 1, two carnies speak carny among each other, andRaymond Reddington says he understands some carny. In season 5, episode 11, Reddington speaks carny to an associate while being involved in illegal dealings.
InThe Simpsons episode "Bart Carny",Bart Simpson andHomer Simpson are forced to work as carnies after Bart destroys Hitler's car. After failing to bribePolice ChiefChief Wiggum, the ring toss game that they are fraudulently running is shut down. Throughout the episode carny jargon is used. One of the carnies is voiced byJim Varney.
The fourth season ofHeroes features several characters that live and work in a traveling carnival.
The HBO series "Carnivàle" centered around a traveling carnival in the American Southwest during the 1930s.
InThe Fairly OddParents episode "The Grass is Greener",Timmy Turner feels unwanted at home and decides to run away to a carnival. There he is met by several carnies and quickly outperforms them.
"Rusholme Ruffians," released on the albumMeat is Murder (1985) byThe Smiths, recounts a schoolgirl's infatuation with a greasy-haired carney, a "speedway operator": It "is all a tremulous heart requires." After her advances are denied, she wonders, "How quickly would I die if I jumped from the top of the parachutes?"
Literature
InMichael Kurland'sThe Unicorn Girl, one of the Greenwich Village Trilogy, first published in 1969, some of the main characters are from a carny travelling between the stars in an alternate universe. Sylvia, one of the travellers, uses carny cant when she and one of the two Earth-born protagonists go into a carnival apparently in Earth's 20th century.
InTheodore Sturgeon's novelThe Dreaming Jewels, the hero flees with carnies to escape a brutal father. The head carny collects unusual people because he has discovered strange jewels that create people as works of art. Sturgeon himself worked as a carny for a time.
Barry Longyear'sCircus World booksCircus World,City of Baraboo andElephant Song are science fiction, set on a planet populated by the descendants of a crashed space-going circus, with preserved and evolved carny culture elements including performance as a means of barter.
The 2005Bryan Johnson andWalter Flanagan comic book seriesKarney follows the exploits of a murderous band of "carnies" who travel from town to town slaughtering the residents with the intention of turning them into barbecue meat.
Theater
InLiliom by Ferenc Molnár, the main character is a carnival Carousel Barker.
InCarousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein, based on Liliom the main character, Billy Bigelow is a Carnival Carousel Barker.
Carnival Games (known in Europe asCarnival: Funfair Games) is a video game made for theNintendoWii andNintendo DS featuring a carny who helps to present and explain gameplay.
Many Carny words are still used byprofessional wrestlers, e.g. mark, work, snozz, et al. Pro wrestling originated in the carnivals of the 19th and early 20th century, where wrestlers not wanting to face regular injury and wanting to make bouts more entertaining would "stage" their fights. Carny language was used to disguise the staged nature of the bouts with all involved keeping "kayfabe" or protecting the secret.
Ron Bennington a formal carnival worker and stand up comedian states to his radio partner, "All the world is just carnies andrubes." Insisting you're either part of the gimmick or "a pigeon walking down the midway, enjoying his cotton candy, waiting to lose his rent money on the midway".
