For those of you unfamiliar with the cult of “carnival cabaret,” it is literally sweeping the nation, and in the realm of alternative circus acts, the Yard Dogs Road Show is definitely the thing to see. YDRS is the brainchild of Eddie Joe Cotton, author of the cult lit-hit Hobo: A Young Man’s Thoughts on Trains and Tramping in America (Three Rivers Press, 2002). Cotton started the “troupe” in 1998 and has since built the show’s reputation by maintaining a dedicated touring circuit through underground and alternative clubs and venues. The Road Show, a kind of indoor wild west extravaganza, confounds, astounds, and delights with the vaudevillean-burlesque rock-and-roll teases and skits that are interspersed throughout the boisterous presentation. The first incarnation of the Yard Dogs was just a three-man jug band, making the rounds on the acoustic-folk circuit and rubbing shoulders with other members of the avant-guard (like Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters). As legend has it, on one particular evening all three members of the original Yard Dogs reported strange “visions”—of dancing girls, feathers, fire eaters, sword swallowers and the like—and these apparitions, having become solid flesh, joined the Yard Dogs to form a magical, motley, traveling cabaret. With the publication of Hobo, Cotton and his merry band of freaks began to garner mainstream media attention, collaborating with Cirque du Soleil and Teatro Zinzanni, among others. This success hasn’t tamed the irreverent spirit of the show, though: It is still brazen and bawdy, and may or may not be appropriate for children and elders, depending on the threshold for exposed nipples and surreal weirdness.

—k. o’day

Thursday May 25 at 9pm. The Tralf, 622 Main St. (462-4427). $14-$16.