Austin's Oddities
Science Channel delves into Richard Garriott's cupboards
By Richard Whittaker, 3:02PM, Sat. Jun. 9, 2012
You always knew that Austin is full of the weird and unusual, and tonight the Science channel will be showing off some of its Oddities, including the amazing collection of the bizarre and baroque owned by famed game creator/cosmonaut Richard Garriott.
Oddities brings the owners of New York's Obscura Antiques & Oddities to a city to look for anything from mummies to Fiji mermaids (or, as we call them around here, the norms of interior design.) Tonight's show opens the doors on Garriott's famed Britannia Manor II and his astonishing collection of, well, collections: Everything from automata to crossbows to antique astronomical equipment. And just don't ask what's down in the cellar.
However, Garriott's cabinet of curiosities is not the only archive of the eerie under the camera tonight: The show also visits purveyors of carnival treats Big Top Candy on South Congress, and the uncanny Museum of the Weird on Sixth Street.
The Austin episode of Oddities airs tonight, June 9, at 8pm Central on the Science Channel. Check out the trailer below.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Richard Whittaker, Aug. 7, 2018
Richard Whittaker, July 31, 2018
James Renovitch, April 17, 2014
Monica Riese, Sept. 12, 2013
April 20, 2024
April 19, 2024
reality TV, Richard Garriott, Britannia Manor, Museum of the Weird, Big Top Candy