Most people want to avoid a sideshow at their wedding.
For those who don’t, Valentine’s Day is your chance to get married by Coney Island sideshow impresario Dick Zigun. Coney Island USA is throwing its fifth annual Valentine’s Day for Lovers and Losers on Feb. 14, And Zigun, an ordained minister and certified marriage officiant, will be giving couples a first-class ticket to the tunnel of love. The unofficial mayor of Sodom by the Sea said the church that ordained him is more paper mache than a Spook-A-Rama prop, but his credentials are rock solid.
“There is an online church — the Universal Life Church — that exists so wackos or celebrities can get ordained without actually going to seminary college,” Rev. Zigun said, adding the city recognizes him as a legit man of the cloth and issued him a certificate to officiate marriages in 2012.
Zigun will also be officiating vow renewals, and if you’re not ready to take the plunge, you and your paramour can still have Zigun formalize your exclusivity.
“Being our Coney Island huckster, I’ll also be issuing ‘going steady certificates,’ ” he said.
Beyond weddings, the party will also feature burlesque acts, a musical performance by local LED-emblazoned six-string shredder Blazes, and a raffle with prizes, Zigun said.
And the romantically un-entangled needn’t let the stigma of going stag stop them from coming out — you may just get lucky, one organizer said.
“Some people without a lover sit at home or wherever they are, so they’re considered losers, but if they come to our show, they’re probably going to get somebody who will put a smile on their face,” said Princess Pat Muko, the sideshow’s resident snake charmer, risque dancer, and ambler over broken glass.
Muko held similar events living in England, and when she moved state-side, she pitched it as a way to get folks out to wind-swept Coney in the winter time. It was an uphill battle, but she came out on top, she said.
“I said, because I’m a hustler, you give me the chance,” she said. “They did, and the place was packed.”
“Princess Pat presents: The Fifth Annual Valentine’s Day for Lovers and Losers” at Coney Island USA (1208 Surf Ave. between Stillwell Avenue and W. 12th Street, www.coneyisland.com). Feb. 14 at 9 pm. $15. Marriages are $100 — for information, e-mail Rev. Zigun at dzigun@gmail.com.
