Line #27 Main/Contortionist


1	[[quoteright:287:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/contortionist_4125.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:287:''[[Music/AliceInChains ♫~I'm a man in a box~♫]]'']]
3	Contortionists are circus performers whose act mainly revolves around bending themselves like pretzels. Occasionally, they will incorporate other things into their act such as spinning Hula hoops on an up stretched leg or shooting bows with toes while bent over backward.
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5	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 just give the performer a chair or have a strong man hold them up.
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7	Performers of this type are generally divided into front benders and back benders. Some can fold both ways but most still do one way better than the other. Anyone who can perform a split beyond 180 degrees also might find work in this area, touching a knee to a shoulder or feeding themselves [[HandyFeet with their feet]] work too. Some more extreme cases involve a contortionist slipping into a clothing trunk or barrel and those with good pain tolerance may dislocate their joints to bend them even further.
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9	A variant is the rag doll, where a flexible person will be violently shaken or otherwise abused by someone in an attempt to convince the audience they are not actually alive.
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11	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. See FlexibilityEqualsSexAbility for when contortionists are played for sex appeal.
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13	If a person ''without'' unusual flexibility undergoes the sort of contortions associated with this trope, [[FoldSpindleMutilation the results can be messy]].
14
15	!!Examples
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19	* ''Manga/TigerMask'' has Black V, a wrestler whose teacher decided to make him train under a circus contortionist to the point he fits the rag doll and [[KungFuProofMook is practically immune to submission holds]], with Baba calling him a RubberMan. He's not ''completely'' immune to submission holds, but what Tiger Mask resorts to knock him out with one would have ''killed'' a lesser man.
20	* The sequel ''Anime/TigerMaskW'' features Mister Question, an Indian wrestler who uses yoga training in this fashion, even able to dislocate his arm joints for extra stretch.
21	* Being set in a ''Creator/CirqueDuSoleil''-style Circus, the cast of ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' does flexible stunts from time to time. For example, the main character Sora Naegino does handstand splits in one scene, dodges a roommate's flying kick by bending backwards, and even tries aerial acts in later episodes.
22	* ''Manga/KarakuriCircus'': In one scene, 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?"
23	* The Rakshasa of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' are not truly rakshasa, 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.
24	* Natsuhiko Taki, an idiotic showboat tight end from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' who incorporates contortionist routines into his victory celebrations.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* A ''Comicstrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip involves a contortionist trying to make a car accident Dilbert caused look worse than it really was by attempting to make himself look mangled.
29	* ''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.
30	* Rag Doll was originally a foe of Jay Garrick, Franchise/TheFlash of the golden age, 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.
31	* The ComicBook/ElongatedMan has full-on RubberMan powers, but originally was fascinated with "India Rubber Men", a type of contortionist common in circuses and sideshows of the time. He discovered that many of them favored a drink named Gingold, created a concentrated version of it, and gained powers.
32	* The Creator/MarvelComics character named Scarecrow is also a contortionist who turned his talents to crime, using the skill to appear like a boneless straw figure. Nowadays mostly he's used to play up a Halloween connection more than rag doll with his flexibility.
33	* ComicBook/HarleyQuinn seems to have this talent in the New 52, as demonstrated by her incredibly hard-to-do pose [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--6elj0ZsXJg/VE6i47O1XXI/AAAAAAAAWYY/vBleAzPZ5fI/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/Screen%2BShot%2B2014-10-27%2Bat%2B3.53.38%2BPM.png seen here,]] from the 2013 ''Harley Quinn Annual #1'', where she's thinking up a plan while incarcerated.
34	* Franchise/{{Batman}} villain Copperhead is a contortionist in some of his [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins (or her)]] appearances.
35	* Discussed meta version: Google "Escher girls". (I.e. comic covers that show women in sexy but anatomically ridiculous poses.) Also in a {{ComicBook/Vampirella}} fan email where the fan complained that she were quite lithe but couldn't twist herself into the cover of Warren #90.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
39	* The vocaloid fanfic ''Fanfic/RottingCamellias'' has Miki as one of these, working in a circus.
40	* ''Fanfic/FateLongNight'': Nymeria Martell's body can bend and twist at near impossible angles, which she takes full advantage of in battle.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* Abi, TokenHuman contortionist of ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'', has an [[AssShove unfortunate accident]] and now cannot unbend himself with a performance coming up.
45	* ''Film/ShanghaiSurprise'', has Sean Penn visit a famous courtesan who lists contortion under one of her many skills.
46	* In Creator/CharlieChaplin film ''Film/TheCure1917'' 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.
47	* In the film ''Film/MinorityReport'' Anderton gets blasted through a window, where he encounters a group of contorting yoga practitioners. They are all bent up, and one walks over to Anderton with her head and arms contoured around her knees.
48	* In the movie version of ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'', the first musical performance job Solomon is offered [[ConversedTrope is said]] to involve creatures which can contort themselves in unearthly manners. It is a trap of course, as the story has nothing to with circuses.
49	* In ''Film/OceansEleven'', Danny and Rusty recruit Yen (Creator/ShaoboQin), a Chinese contortionist/acrobat, as part of their heist team. His job is to cram himself into a cash box so he can be surreptitiously wheeled into the vault.
50	* 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.
51	* ''Film/YogaAndTheKungFuGirl'' true to its title, has its lead female protagonist (played by Phoenix Chen) being a yoga practitioner and expert contortionist.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* In ''Literature/TheNightCircus'' the resident Tattoeed Lady, Tsukiko, [[TwoferTokenMinority is also the contortionist.]]
56	* In ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', there is Colette, a contortionist who initially befriends the Baudelaires in ''The Carnivorous Carnival'' but winds up joining Count Olaf.
57	* A midget contortionist who folds himself up inside a suitcase is integral to the seemingly impossible theft committed in ''Literature/TheThinkingMachine'' story "The Lost Radium".
58	* One of the "player"'s friends in a ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'' story 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.
59	* Kara Swole from ''Literature/{{Ravenor}}'' is a former circus acrobat with some skill as a contortionist. She infiltrates Bonner’s Reach by tightly packing herself into a food casket, and has to pop her shoulders back into place when she crawls out.
60	* Thomas the Contortionist, one of four young carnival freaks starring in the ''Curiosity House'' mystery solving series. The others being Max the Knife thrower, Sam the World's strongest boy and Pippa the Mentalist. They are more interested in doing their jobs than playing KidDetective, but sometimes Thomas's flexibility can get him into areas professional investigators can't.
61	* Sergei Andropov of ''Literature/MissPeregrinesHomeForPeculiarChildren'' is a peculiar man who poses as a contortionist in various circuses, London's in particular during the events of the book, in order to scout other peculiar people and wights.
62	* Tanada of the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' books, although she uses her talents more for escaping imprisonment and performing assassinations than for attention.
63	* 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 super powers.
64	* Liliwin's ability to enter otherwise secure buildings at will is attributed to extensive contortionist training in ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'', particularly after he gets through ''the air duct of a barn'' in ''The Sanctuary Sparrow''.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* Avery in ''Series/DogWithABlog'' is a juggling contortionist.
69	* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' hired a contortionist to play a terminator named Rosie. Since [[{{Determinator}} terminators are implacable robots]], this falls under rag doll.
70	* ''Series/MissionImpossible'' had the team hire a contortionist when they came upon a mission that seemed to require someone taking an AirVentPassageway.
71	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': The victim of the week in "[[Recap/CSINYS01E14 Blood, Sweat and Tears]]" performed as a contortionist in a circus. He was found folded up inside a rather small box buried in the beach sand.
72	* The serial killer known as "Sqweegel" on ''Series/CSICrimeSceneInvestigation'' was notable for his creepy, seemingly inhuman "spider-walking" gait and ability to fit through small spaces. The character's history (though not quite the same person, [[spoiler:considering that "White Sqweegel" ''died'' in the book, and very messily]]) goes back to the SpinOff digital novel ''Level 26''; both specifically feature Sqweegel cramming himself into the spare tire compartment of a car. Both incarnations are played by real-life contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, creeping around in a body suit.
73	* The host of ''Creator/StanLee's Superhumans'' is one of these in RealLife, and is introduced as "the World's Most Flexible Man" in Mr. Lee's narration.
74	* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Played supernaturally in the [[Recap/TheXFilesS01E03Squeeze two]] [[Recap/TheXFilesS01E21Tooms episodes]] featuring Eugene Victor Tooms, a serial killer with extreme contortionist abilities that allow him to squeeze through almost any opening to get to his victim.
75	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': In "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS3E3WalkOfPunishment Walk of Punishment]]", the [[PowerPerversionPotential prostitute]] Kayla at Joffrey's wedding is a contortionist, and she's advertised as a SexGoddess due to being one of the few women in the known world who can [[FlexibilityEqualsSexAbility bend her body to the extent that she can perform]] the "[[ComicSutra Meereenese Knot]]". She was (perhaps obviously) played by real-life contortionist Pixie Le Knot (born Jennifer Keith).
76	* [[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 her body matured became too painful. It led to back problems and a broken growth plate that stunted her growth.
77	** Abby ''loves'' to have contortion tricks in her choreography. It makes sense given that she's an Acro dance teacher. She seemingly tried to have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq2D8ajhJlo Kalani Hilliker do contortion]] to replace Brooke, who left the show. Although, how much of this was really Abby or ExecutiveMeddling is up in the air.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live Performance]]
81	* Theatre/MidwayOfTheBizarre is a carnival, rather than a circus, but in 1999 they shoved a contortionist in a box as part of a horror show.[[/folder]]
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83	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
84	* As it grew out of carnivals, professional wrestling has always had contortionists among its ranks. Yes, even in the days when it was [[UsefulNotes/CatchAsCatchCan not a worked sport]], and the rise of UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts have only strengthened the notion that it is pretty hard to make a contortionist submit.
85	* Dianne Von Hoffman's brothers were champion amateur wrestlers and she said they would use her flexibility to come up with new holds.
86	* Wrestling/LannyPoffo, who was described as so limber [[PowerPerversionPotential he could blow himself]]. This claim was not enough to convince Wrestling/{{WCW}} to give him the GorgeousGeorge gimmick Wrestling/RandySavage had been pushing for him to have, despite Poffo undergoing rigorous training specifically to be a bendy [[Wrestling/GeorgeWagner Gorgeous George]].
87	* 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 {{combination attack}}s 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.
88	* Vinnie Valentino rather infamously. In the Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation, birth place of "shoot style", where high flying was shunned by no less than "Tiger Mask" Wrestling/SatoruSayama, Valentino was determined to remain a high flyer. It was his contortion skills that let him endure everyone else's attempts to keep him on the mat.
89	* Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka worked in reverse to most cases, using his flexibility to create new grappling positions and submission holds, such as the TK Scissors.
90	* Innovator and world record holder of a lift of the same name (which involves lifting a dumbbell while doing a split between two benches), Wrestling/RobVanDam, is known for being deceptively flexible(and agile) in spite of often having a visible gut. He can counter just about any hold that does not put him in a seated position by kicking the other man in the head, and sometimes the seated part does not apply either. He is also a decent back bender.
91	* Wrestling/LowKi isn't a traditional example, but he's very limber around his joints, not only being able to do splits and such but also being able to bend his arms in extremely painful looking ways.
92	* Wrestling/DaffneyUnger was described as one by commentator Don West, after seeing all the submission moves that failed to put her away. Even Amber O'Neal, who likes to show off by doing the splits, was taken aback by Daffney's displays of flexibility.
93	* One of Wrestling/MsChif's main draws is that her flexibility, pain tolerance and deceptive strength make her a very adept escape artist in regards to submission holds and also allow her to apply some nigh inescapable holds herself. Primarily a front bender but can go both ways.
94	* Chif's old rival Wrestling/MattSydal developed into a "yoga master" as his career progressed. Unfortunately for him, the benefits of his yoga regiments are most commonly displayed in the clutches of Kyle O'Reilly as he tries to wrench out a submission.
95	* WWE played this up with Wrestling/{{Melina}} Perez even before they had her wrestle with her now famous splits entrance, then with signature big boot and finishing hog locked leg drop which ended in a split pin. Her back bending worked against her though when Wrestling/BethPhoenix made Melina kick the back of her own head.
96	* [[Wrestling/BlackRose La Rosa Negra]] put on such a demonstration for a referee at Fighting Evolution Wrestling trying to check her person for concealed weapons. Wrestling/MickieJames tried to do something similar at a Traditional Championship Wrestling event but was told she was on a family show.
97	* In addition to his jumping spots, Jack Evans of Generation Next was known for his uncanny flexibility, which allowed him to survive {{squash\|match}}es from Wrestling/RingOfHonor Champion Wrestling/BryanDanielson that likely would have snapped a stiffer man into pieces ([[SpotMonkey and were probably safer for Evans in the long run]]).
98	* Back bender Wrestling/AJLee did a mild contortion demonstration for the NXT season three talent contest and commentator Matt Striker pointed out a lot of submissions probably were not as effective as they appeared to be on her.
99	* While [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Heidie Lovelace]]'s {{red baron}} "Punk Rock Rag Doll" mostly seems to be in reference to her [[VisualPun ring gear]] rather than this trope, it was inspired by a beating she received from Wrestling/LeiDTapa which made her look as lifeless as a...
100	* Ladybeard is quite flexible, which works well with his [[WrestlingDoesntPay cross dressing male pinup model gimmick]]. He will show you his hairy bikini clad body and toned backside from all possible angles!
101	* 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.
102	* 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]]
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104	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
105	* Xiaodan Li of ''TabletopGame/Deadlands'' ''Doomtown'' has a talent for breaking, entering and escaping imprisonment based mostly around contortion. His card even has special rules to account for it.
106	* Non human though still humanoid "Chimney Trolls", of the '' Tabletopgame/DungeonsAndDragons'' inspired ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', are an entire species of them. They get their name for being large by humanoid standards but frequently being found in tight places, like chimneys...
107	* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Third Edition'', the Escape Artist skill makes one a contortionist. At extremely high levels of ability, it allows a character to [[ImpossibleThief slip through openings smaller than the size of their head]]. Somehow.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Video Games]]
111	* Wraith from ''VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlammasters'', as if being a 7'2 WrestlingMonster was not enough he also incorporates amazing bends into his attacks.
112	* ''Videogame/SoulCalibur''
113	** Yun-seong is of the high kicking and over 180 degree split example. In fact, one of his victory poses is just him jumping into the air, doing the splits and landing in that position. There is an unlockable demonstration in "II" where he shows off (along with sword handling because it is a fighting game).
114	** Voldo is an even better example, who besides his own unlockable demonstration goes so far as to have a curled up {{rolling attack}} among his crazy multiple angled strikes.
115	** Tira can also, given her harlequin tendencies. Her movies are very acrobatic, and at times she raises her legs clear over and behind her head to take a swipe at her opponent.
116	* ''Videogame/{{Tekken}} 6'' gives Voldo a more modern {{expy}} in the form of Zafina.
117	* ''Videogame/StreetFighterIV'' introduced Juri Han, who can bend her legs in an incredible number of positions, to the point that a taunt has her stretch one over her head.
118	* ''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(his secondary gimmick is {{poison\|ousperson}}, making him [[StealthPun quite]] the SmugSnake)
119	* Tahrust Inmee of the ''Videogame/AceAttorney'' series is a performing ''priest''. He's also dead, which gives Phoenix Wright pause when Maya, who is most definitely not a contortionist, decides to channel his spirit.
120	* Pop star Terrence has front bending contortion among his many talents, although despite years of practice he still has a little ways to go during the events of ''VisualNovel/ComingOutOnTop''.
121	* ''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]]
122
123	[[folder:Web Original]]
124	* [[http://justsayins.tumblr.com/post/14957660366/this-needs-to-stop-and-let-me-tell-you-why An article by a contortionist]] suggesting new poses for comic books, after listing [[BoobsAndButtPose a few recurring ones]] that border on impossible.
125	* The limbo dance record stands at 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) above the ground. Watch the successful attempt [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVj1wTVy-4#t=97 here]].[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Western Animation]]
128	* {{Exaggerated\| Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' where [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Rag Doll]] is so good at this he can fit inside of a hat! Even more so later, where he is crushed in the gears of a clock tower (much to Catwoman's horror) and not only ''survives'', but comes out smiling, saying, "that sure worked the kinks out!" He doesn't seem to have an obvious ''origin,'' but there is a scene where he shows up getting a drink out of costume, where he's no less bendy.
129	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had Phil and Lil's mom fix up a date between a friend of hers who was a contortionist and Chuckie's dad. The contortionist appears in the episode walking on her hands. The following episode, Chuckie's dad tells his son that he is going on another date and says that the lady "will not walk on her hands this time".
130	* An early episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' had the two visiting the circus, and seeing one of these in the show. They visit her in her tent, and she reveals to them that she's double jointed. She's also a prostitute on the side, so she asks the boys what they like. Not getting her meaning, Butt-Head asks if she can pick her butt with her nose.
131	* Ty Lee on ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is a circus acrobat who often performs casual feats of contortion.
132	* A few moments from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
133	** In "Bart's Nightmare (The Monkey's Paw)" from "Treehouse of Horror II", the family meets a yogi-style contortionist on the streets of Morocco.
134	--->'''Bart''': I could do that. I just choose not to.
135	** In "Homer and Apu", Bart learns some yoga from Apu, and uses it to get out of school early, by pretending he got mangled in a car crash.
136	** In "Lisa the Tree Hugger", the environmental activist Jesse Grass does yoga (he started before it was cool). He has his legs behind his head when Lisa meets him in jail.
137	** In "Skinner's Sense of Snow", some acrobats at a ''Creator/CirqueDuSoleil''-style circus gives Marge the idea to clean her bathroom this way.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' implies, though never outright states that exterminator Dale Alvin Gribble is a former contortionist. He can walk on his hands while both of his feet are bent behind his head, so he definitely could be one if he wanted to.
139	* The Pie King of ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' combines this with MasterOfDisguise to appear much smaller than he actually is by bending in ''half''.
140	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'':
141	** In London, Owen and Noah accidentally bend Tyler into a pretzel. He doesn't mind too much, and walks off on his hands.
142	** In Greece, Heather brags about her ballet-given flexibility to Alejandro, demonstrating it by lifting her foot behind her head. He one-ups her by doing a split, and then tying his hair into a ponytail with his feet, ''with his boots still on them''. Everyone is suitably stunned.
143	--->'''Gwen:''' No man should be that flexible.
144	[[/folder]]

Context Main / Contortionist