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Zip the Pinhead

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Circus Performer

The Resume

    (1857-April 28, 1926)
    Birth name was William Henry Johnson
    Toured with the P.T. Barnum and Ringling Brothers circuses
    Billed as ‘the What-Is-It?'

Why he might be annoying:

    He pretended to be a wild subhuman creature, despite being intelligent.
    He was marketed as a microcephalic (pinhead), but he actually suffered from a different disorder.
    He attempted to learn the violin but was terrible (people actually paid him to stop playing).
    He loved cigars.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He grew up in poverty.
    His parents basically sold him to the circus.
    He was one of P.T. Barnum's most famous performers.
    He was one of the best-paid circus entertainers of his time.
    He once saved a small child from drowning at Coney Island.
    His friends called him ‘the Dean of Freaks.'
    He inspired the cult comic strip ‘Zippy the Pinhead.’

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 10.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 23 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 62 Votes: 61.29% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 30 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 33 Votes: 42.42% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 65 Votes: 50.77% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 209 Votes: 43.54% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 76 Votes: 36.84% Annoying