Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal, Erika Ervin as Amazon Eve. (Michele K. Short/FX)

If you saw American Horror Story’s Halloween episode, you’re familiar with Mat Fraser, whose character said he was “tired of being called ‘seal boy.’” But Coney Island sideshow habitués are already fans of the performance stylings of Mat “Seal Boy” Fraser. Fraser has phocomelia — his mother was prescribed thalidomide while she was pregnant —resulting in foreshortened arms and no thumbs. A drummer, actor, and performance artist, he regularly hosts burlesque shows around the city, and when he’s not performing in London or shooting AHS in New Orleans, he lives on the Lower East Side with his wife, the endearingly disturbing downtown darling Julie Atlas Muz.
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