History Main / Contortionist

* A victim of the week on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' was one. He was found folded up inside a rather small box buried in the beach sand.

[[caption-width-right:287:Don't try this at home!]]

* VideoGame/AtomRPG has a circus featuring a contortionist with a talking spleen. [[BiologicalMashup And it's ruder than the voice that come from her mouth]].[[/folder]]

* Vita VonStarr is an aerial hoop circus acrobat drawn to professional wrestling in search of more "dangerous things to do for other people's entertainment" and is known for boating with unnecessary stretches as she escapes holds.[[/folder]]

* Vita VonStarr is a circus acrobat and contortionist drawn to professional wrestling in search of more "dangerous things to do for other people's entertainment" and is known for boating with unnecessary stretches as she escapes holds.[[/folder]]

* This is OVW wrestler Rebel's role in Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s [[CircusOfFear Menagerie]], which includes strong man The Freak and Crazy Steve the clown. She often incorporates flaming objects into her routine but does not bring them into the Impact Zone, which has a history of fire trouble.[[/folder]]

* One of the "player"'s friends in a ''Give yourself Goosebumps'' is bent into the shape of a balloon animal by a MaybeMagicMaybeMundane birthday party performer. In one possible ending, she reveals that it was all a ruse made to scare you and that she was able to be "folded" such because she's a contortionist.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

* Played supernaturally in two of ''Series/TheXFiles'' episodes featuring Eugene Victor Tooms: a serial killer with extreme contortionist ability, that allows him to squeeze through almost any opening to get to his victim.

---> '''Bart''': I could do that. I just choose not to.

[[folder:Film]]

* In Creator/CharlieChaplin film ''Film/TheCure'' Charlie goes to a spa. He enters the massage room; on the table next to his a big burly male masseuse is giving his client a once over. The client is played by a circus contortionist so the masseuse bends him into seemingly impossible angles.

* ''Film/YogaAndTheKungFuGirl'' true to its title, has its lead female protagonist (played by Phienix Chen) being a yoga practitioner and expert contortionist.

* Stan Lane of Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress was said to have unusually limber legs, that in addition to that were unusually strong for being so bendy. Most of the team's CombinationAttacks centered around this particular attribute of his. Some less flexible men have managed to duplicate some of the Midnight's famous double team maneuvers, but the manner they are applied in usually has to be modified.

While not required, many acts involving rope climbing and or elevated dangling from aerial silk, tissue, The Spanish Web, aerial hoops and ''corde lisse'' frequently involve contortion as well. More mundane sets much just give the performer a chair or have a strong man hold them up.

* The Rakshasa of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' are not truly raksha, but executioners trained in the art of contortion to help them appear as man-eating demonic creatures. Hopefully scaring the capital's populace and cutting back on the need for executions.

* Rag Doll was originally a foe of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Franchise/TheFlash, who used his contortionist abilities to imitate a lifeless dummy in his first crime...and just kept the disguise as his costume. His eventual children inherited varying levels of his contortionist abilities--the Rag Doll who was a member of the ComicBook/SecretSix "cheated" by having surgery done to increase his flexibility.

* ''Videogame/StreetFighterV'' has an assassin known as F.A.N.G., who in addition to using this to hide, is so limber he can invert the way these performances are typically done by temporarily adding inches to his height. His main gimmick is to confuse opponents by delivering strikes from odd angles.

* ''Yoga and the Kung Fu Girl'' true to its title, has its lead female protagonist (played by Phienix Chen) being a yoga practitioner and expert contortionist.

* Alek of ''Literature/RipleysBureauOfInvestigation'' was a world class gymnast, power lifter ''and'' contortionist all before age sixteen. But every kid on the team is an absurdly gifted athlete, super genius or has [[StockSuperPowers super powers]].

* ''Yoga and the Kung Fu Girl''
trie to its title, has it's lead female protagonist (played by Phienix Chen) being a yoga practitioner and expert contortionist.

Also see WorldsStrongestMan, GirlsWithMustaches, TheFreakshow, and NonIronicClown, other circus acts which sometimes go hand in hand with this one. {{Circus brat}}s are also natural companions. A StagedPedestrianAccident is a common scam contortionists are not necessary for, but excel at. For more fantastic stretches not usually seen in this performance art, see AbnormalLimbRotationRange and RubberMan.

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' does painful looking contortions as if they are a second nature to him and he used to have his own performance act making use of his web shooters before he took to fighting crime (perhaps the Spanish web taken to its logical conclusion, but no one remembers because most adaptations cut out his for profit ventures at professional wrestling). He's predominately shown to be a front bender.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the [[PowerPerversionPotential prostitute]] Kayla at Joffrey's wedding was a contortionist. She was (perhaps obviously) played by real-life contortionist Pixie Le Knot (born Jennifer Keith).
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bcL96ua7Vk Brooke Hyland]] of ''Series/DanceMoms'' specialized in Acrobatic dance and contortion. She aspired to work in Cirque du Soliel, but doing all of those bendy tricks as she her body matured became too painful. It led to back problems and a broken growth plate that stunted her growth.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]

* Rag Doll was originally a foe of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Franchise/TheFlash, who used his contortionist abilities to imitate a lifeless dummy in his first crime...and just kept the disguise as his costume. His eventual children inherited varying levels of his contortionist abilities--the Rag Doll who was a member of the Secret Six "cheated" by having surgery done to increase his flexibility.

[[folder:Table Top Games]]

[[/folder]]

* In [[http://www.gomymanga.com/manga/Karakuri_Circus/4/18 one scene]] from ''Manga/KarakuriCircus'', Shirogane does a DopeSlap to [[BoisterousBruiser Narumi]] by whipping her foot up ''from behind her back'' to kick him in the head. Masaru [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this with an aside, saying, "Shirogane, are you made of rubber?"
* The Rakshasa of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' are not truly raksha, but executioners trained in the art of contortion to help them appear as man eating demonic creatures. Hopefully scaring the capital's populace and cutting back on the need for executions.

* ''Shanghai Surprise'', has Sean Penn visit a famous courtesan who lists contortion under one of her many skills.

* Brooke Hyland of ''Series/DanceMoms'' specialized in Acrobatic dance and contortion. She actually wanted to work in Cirque du Soliel, but doing all of those bendy tricks as she her body matured became too painful, and even stunted her growth.

* In ''Film/It2017'', Pennywise the Clown uses contortionist tricks to show up in disturbing places. Actor Bill Skarsgård apparently underwent extensive training to pull it off, no CGI needed.[[/folder]]