Born in India in 1888, Piramel Sami possessed a parasitic twin brother growing out of his chest. For the sake of showmanship, the poor half-creature was represented as Piramel’s sister and dressed in the clothes of a small girl, and the “two” of them were called Piramel AND Sami. I imagine he got very tired of correcting people. He initially toured with a cousin of his, a dwarf named Soopromanien Munsamy, and a pair of pinheads named Gondia and Apexia. From ca. 1900-1915 he toured with the Ringling Bros sideshow. He reportedly hated life in the U.S. and turned to India as soon as was practicable.
To find out more about the variety arts past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
And don’t miss my new book Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc
