In this house, we celebrate International Lizard Day- the birthday of sideshow performer Erik Sprague - by posting pictures of him before he was fully lizardy.
Erik has had a handful of monikers over the years; when I met him he was Spidergod5, then Amago (during his brief stint in The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow), and finally The Lizardman. His act, like his persona has evolved over the years from the standard Sideshow gimmicks expected of fully tattooed 1990s performers to a mix of acts and comedy.
Erik was not the first person to have a tongue splitting performed, nor was he the first documented, but it could be easily argued that his global media presence has made him the most visible poster boy for the procedure.
If you have a kindle, you can check out Erik's old BME column in e-book form here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M4CBSVX
Photo taken in May, 1999 by Philip Barbosa at the first Modcon, Toronto Ontario Canada.