freak show

noun
1.
a display of people or animals with unusual or grotesque physical features, as at a circus or carnival sideshow.
2.
any ludicrous, bizarre, or dehumanizing occasion, function, performance, etc.; grotesque, circuslike event: endless interviews and auditions that became a ridiculous freak show.
Origin:
1885–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  freak show1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a sideshow in popular entertainment, featuring grotesquely developed people or animals
00:10
Freak show is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Main Entry:  freak show2
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  any show or event that is in bad taste
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2013 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Example sentences
It's not about finding the grossest food in town and airing the ensuing freak
  show.
Forgive me for not wanting to visit the freak show next door.
These can range from the freak show to folk drama to tableau and beast-plays.
Yet across the screen there moves in lustrous color a beautifully photographed
  freak show.
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