After quite the drawn out speal the "Italian" was finally announced, "...The Fabulous Feathered Freak, FELICIANO!"
This is where Adrian made his grand entrance, with a power walk, in full costume, including an outlandish top hat adorned with peacock and quail feathers, a masterful make-up job creating a creepy maverick appeal, gems amid his forehead and deep-lined eyes to create shameless stares at his crowd, adding just the right amount of scandalous. He was one to always make an audience connection. His Siberian husky trotted just behind him. Then of course there was the full-length purple cloak that he swooshed open with a fierce jerk one side at a time, releasing at least 10 purple glossy starlings from each side out into the air. That's when the music blared, the area went black, and laser lights shot colorful beams like arrows splitting the darkness turning the stage reminiscent a rock concert or heavy metal rave. This is also when more starlings went soaring out. Adrian had 300 all together that he pulled in a trailer behind his RV. If their feathers weren't reflective enough as they were, their beaks and feet were coated with a paint that glowed in the dark as black lights hit them making the whole show a sensational vision.
Adrian jumped up on an ego-riser platform like a crazed symphonic conductor leading his orchestra with a heavy narcotic look in his eyes. He pointed and flailed his arms looking like a deranged version of Fantasia's Mickey Mouse commanding the stars only with birds whooshing and turning flips, and sailing V's, and dangerous criss-crossing flight patterns, and purposeful near misses, causing audience Ooohs and Ahhhs. It was choreographed to his own homemade mix of sounds to Last Resort/Papa Roach, Marilyn Manson, Korn, Cypress Hill, and Hollywood Undead.
There was even a creative story line inter-weaved into his feathered rock opera. Larger birds chased smaller ones showing the cruelties of nature as there was even a moment his falcon "appeared" to capture and devour his pigeon-sized prey. But, he showed the beauty of nature as well. He mimicked birth having several finches fly from a palm cockatoo's large nest. His ravens, one white (the representative of good) one black (the representative of evil) painted an inner-struggle with the conductor, who appeared to be losing his mind unable to choose sides. The ravens flew through hoops then through blazing rings of fire. Near the end the white one led Adrian up a high platform through soft white lights angled skyward. But, then his black one tugs him, urging him to jump through the fire. Off to the side a cockatoo is lighting the fuse of a cannon. Then with arms stretched wide, he lets himself fall with no net, directly through the ring of fire (the crowd gasping) just as the cannon detonates bombarding the area with smoke and hundreds of starlings. Adrian's body just disappears into the torrent flock, only his costume hitting the ground below. This is when the lasers and the music halt. The birds all swarm to perches set throughout the audience and around the arena left only with the dog who sniffs around scratching at the costume to show he isn't there, giving the audience time to whisper wondering where the heck he went. Then moments later Adrian reenters the same way he did before with his arms out-stretched wide wearing a similar outfit only all black instead of the purples like before, with the black raven on his shoulder, a boom of scary music and lights come on to make it look like he’d just crawled up from the fires of Hell. Then it was over and the lights went up and Adrian put his boyish friendly grin on, bowing and blowing kisses to the crowd as some softer ending music came on and he began thanking the audience for coming.
It was the kind of shit you could only see in Vegas, but there it was under some seedy big top packed to the hilt. CarnEvil? What kind of Gimmick was that? Old as the hills. That’s what. The freak show circus still knew how to draw a crowd, a niche’ community maybe, but the first night of curiosity seekers was all it ever took. Word would spread with each town they stopped in and then they’d just keep coming till the moment they pulled away and disappeared.
Adrian would be sitting out back of the tent after the show putting his birds back into their proper holdings and then he would usually go into his RV for drinks to celebrate his show. Often someone would approach him somewhere in the middle, kids, hecklers, fans, autograph hounds, one never really knew, but it was rare he made it from the show to the RV without a run in, especially on their last day in town. They always vanished without a trace like they were never there.
