Circus Peanuts
Cidu Bill on Feb 2nd 2010
Ed Rush: Google tells me that Circus Peanuts are a peanut-shaped marshmallow candy. This Frazz makes no sense in that context, so I’m wondering if “Circus Peanuts” is a recent slang term for some bit of male anatomy?
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Frazz, Jef Mallet, circus peanuts, comic strips, comics, humor | 31 responses so far
PeterW Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:16 am 1
Circus peanuts are nasty. The’re an insult to peanuts and to marshmallows.
Jane Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:16 am 2
What’s grosser, eating nasty circus peanuts or eating in the men’s room?
Kamino Neko Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:18 am 3
I like Circus Peanuts, personally - they’ve got a texture that I like, and I don’t find the flavour offensive - but they’re pretty much the canonical example of ‘gross candy’.
Fred Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:18 am 4
Maybe it’s a spoonerism of ‘Penis Circuits’. OK, that makes even less sense, but still, I’d be grossed out.
Frank the curmudgeon Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:21 am 5
Somebody eating food in a restroom is gross. Yet some people do. Nothing more sinister.
Hurt Locker Feb 2nd 2010 at 05:37 am 6
Frazz is a health freak who can’t stop yarp-yarp-yarping on about everybody’s awful, awful unhealthy habits. So he finds eating Circus Peanuts as bad, or worse, than eating in a toilet.
WHY ARE YOU SITTING DOWN READING THIS!? GET OUT AND PLAY!!!
Dyfsunctional Feb 2nd 2010 at 06:05 am 7
Frazz is grossed out by three things: Coach Hacker, Coach Hacker coming out of the men’s room, and Coach Hacker coming out of the men’s room while eating. Circus peanuts. Four, four things. Our chief weapon is surprise…
mkilby Feb 2nd 2010 at 06:53 am 8
I had completely forgotten what “Circus Peanuts” looked like, so I assumed that the joke in Frazz was similar to the “Baby Ruth in the pool” gag that I saw in a movie long ago. Everyone thinks the floating candy bar a turd, and exits the pool (screaming), except for one guy who picks it up, recognizes what it is, and takes a big bite (causing more screams).
Rasheed Feb 2nd 2010 at 08:09 am 9
Re: mkilby, it was Caddyshack
Bearman Feb 2nd 2010 at 08:18 am 10
They are the year-round peeps lesser cousin.
padraig Feb 2nd 2010 at 10:17 am 11
Circus peanuts are like Xmas fruitcake or that black and orange wrapped candy at Halloween. You always see it but you never see anyone actually eating it.
Rumor has it all the circus peanuts in existence were manufactured in 1932, and that there is a system for reclaiming and repackaging the ones that have escaped the factory.
1958Fury Feb 2nd 2010 at 10:19 am 12
Circus Peanuts are one of those things that are loathed to the point that the loathing is a meme in itself, like Jar Jar Binks or Comic Sans. If a comic strip artist needed a quick example of a gross food to fill out a joke, this is a good contender. He could just as easily said liver or spinach, but he needed something someone might actually carry around with them.
Here’s an old Straight Dope article on Circus Peanuts:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1159/does-anybody-actually-like-circus-peanuts
labradog Feb 2nd 2010 at 10:24 am 13
It really grosses me out to have to explain this, but, “Circus peanuts” is a slang for oiled, shaved balls.
Fried Feb 2nd 2010 at 10:27 am 14
As much as people claim to hate circus peanuts, the same material is used for the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, which many people love….AL Gore is full of @%&!
Skaloop Feb 2nd 2010 at 11:06 am 15
Circus peanuts… what thing at a circus stereotypically eats peanuts? Elephants! And what do they use to eat said peanuts? Their trunks! And what part of the male anatomy, that might be exposed in the men’s room, superficially resembles an elephant’s trunk?
Jeff S. Feb 2nd 2010 at 11:35 am 16
WARNING — Arlo Response Ahead!
I doubt if Hacker used his penis to feed circus peanuts into his backside like an elephant’s trunk… although, it WOULD just save the time of being processed through the regular path.
Igelino Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:01 pm 17
@labradog #12: I couldn’t find any references to your definition, but I couldn’t help thinking that Frazz had some Arlo meaning in mind. Nice to see there might be one. lol
Fred Feb 2nd 2010 at 12:20 pm 18
Maybe it was a spoonerism of ‘Penis Circuits’. OK, that makes less sense, but man, I’d be grossed out too.
acad1228 Feb 2nd 2010 at 01:17 pm 19
mkilby, The Baby Ruth in the pool was from “Caddy Shack”. It doesn’t work. The candy bar sinks like a stone. A Three Musketeers bar might work but lacks the fecal facsimile.I love Circus Peanuts. They’re second on my favorites list right after Zero bars.
paperboy Feb 2nd 2010 at 01:32 pm 20
Jeff S. #15- I’d say your comment is an “Eww”, not an “Arlo”. And what’s wrong with eating in the men’s room? It’s called “multi-tasking”, people.
Keera Feb 2nd 2010 at 03:41 pm 21
acad1228 #18, I love you for actually trying to float a Baby Ruth. That’s my kind of people!
Paperboy #19, you have a point: The kitchen is germier than the bathroom.
Ted in Fort Lauderdale Feb 2nd 2010 at 04:02 pm 22
There seem to be too many people trying to find an Arlo here when there isn’t one. That’s Nicole’s job, people!
And Keera - which is germier depends on where in the bathroom and where in the kitchen. In general, as long as I avoid eating things off the sponge, I’d prefer to eat in the kitchen than the bathroom…
Jesse Feb 2nd 2010 at 05:04 pm 23
@10, my wife is the only person I’ve ever met who actually likes those orange and black halloween things. I make fun of her about it all the time.
John Small Berries Feb 2nd 2010 at 05:23 pm 24
Circus peanuts are exceptionally postmodern. They’re peanut-shaped, but spongy, and far larger than a real peanut; and although they’re colored orange, they’re banana-flavored. It’s like whoever invented them deliberately went out of his way to make every definable physical quality wholly incompatible with the others.
Jeff Feb 2nd 2010 at 09:20 pm 25
When I was an exchange student in Japan, another one of the exchange students had someone ship him some circus peanuts from America. So that guy liked them.
DevilDan Feb 2nd 2010 at 09:43 pm 26
I’m thinking this joke is connected to a previous strip, in which Caulfield is plannning to play a practical joke on coach Hacker in the bathroom. Admittedly, Caulfield describes setting up the towel dispenser to scatter a group of M&Ms on the floor rather than Circus Peanuts. Frazz’s final line, however, is: “You’re assuming that a guy who eats M&Ms on the bathroom floor would wash his hands.”
Coincidence? Possibly. But I’d rather believe in that than go with some of the picturesque theories above.
David Feb 3rd 2010 at 08:13 am 27
….and they aren’t Kosher or Halal! “…mass-produced Circus Peanuts are made from sugar, corn syrup, gelatin (Note: some gelatins are derived from pork [1]), soy protein, food coloring and artificial flavor.” No wonder Frazz was grossed!
John Everett Feb 3rd 2010 at 08:56 am 28
I love Circus Peanuts! And I don’t mean that in any off-color way. Although I suspect they are partially responsible for my diabetes.
I think Frazz was grossed out by the fact the the coach was eating in the men’s room, and that he was eating junk. Frazz is kind of judgmental for a school janitor.
Molly J Feb 3rd 2010 at 05:47 pm 29
Jesse (#23) - I actually really like those orange and black wax paper wrapped peanutbutter candies from Halloween. Your wife is not alone.
Circus peanuts are gross, though. I think I’d like them if it wasn’t for the banana flavoring. Ick.
As for the greased balls thing, you can’t believe everything you read in the Urban Dictionary. A slang term among who exactly. And where would this come up in conversation to become a slang term? I’m not buying it.
Hunt Feb 4th 2010 at 11:19 am 30
In terms of cleanliness of bathroom vs. kitchen:
http://www.happyslip.com/2006/10/19/morning-meest/
Lola Feb 7th 2010 at 10:58 pm 31
Circus Peanuts are great. But you have to “cook” them and have lots of patience. First you open the package. They you forget about them for at least 2 weeks. After they’ve lost their sponginess, they are divinely chewie.