{"id":474436,"date":"2026-09-24T18:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/474436\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:40:11","slug":"how-the-oddities-flea-market-in-la-transformed-the-peculiar-into-community-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/474436\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Oddities Flea Market in LA transformed the peculiar into community \u2013 Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some people collect coins, stamps<\/a>, books<\/a>, vinyl records,<\/a> comics<\/a> and trading cards<\/a>, but Ryan Matthew Cohn is not your average collector.<\/p>\n

As a teen, he went from accumulating rare rocks and minerals to picking up old dolls, medical ephemera and taxidermy from local antique and curiosity shops. Today, these artifacts are more commonly known as \u201coddities,\u201d but before the term entered the zeitgeist, a thriving community shaped its definition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no real place to go and communicate with other people who were interested in the same type of things before the internet existed,\u201d Cohn said in a phone interview. \u201cI was lucky enough to move to New York City at a very early age when it was really in the heyday of all the flea markets that were going on. I developed this niche group of people who would get together, interact with one another, sell or trade things and talk about our collections.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2017, he and his wife, Regina Cohn, launched their first Oddities Flea Market<\/a> at the now-shuttered Brooklyn Bazaar, which hosted multiple vendors selling everything from clothing and baroque jewelry to taxidermy with googly eyes and elaborate outfits.<\/p>\n

The following year, the couple brought the flea market to Los Angeles and has since made it an annual event in the city\u2019s Globe Theatre<\/a>, except for the last two years when the venue was being renovated. This year, the Oddities Flea Market will return to the Globe Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 4, and welcome back the community it\u2019s built over nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like this big party on a grand day where everybody can get together and just be themselves,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cIf there\u2019s anything that I enjoy more than the show, it\u2019s meeting up with my old friends, new friends, and seeing people\u2019s reactions to the vendors that we\u2019ve curated. Everyone\u2019s taking photos of everybody because people really bring it with their outfits, and it\u2019s the most fun day ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina Cohn run The Oddities Flea Market, which will return to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct 4. (Photo by Cody Smyth)\n<\/p>\n

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This Deadskull Curio artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Deadskull Curio)\n<\/p>\n

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This Blackhollow Fever artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Blackhollow Fever)\n<\/p>\n

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This Liz Huston artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Liz Huston)\n<\/p>\n

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This Natures Oddities artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Natures Oddities)\n<\/p>\n

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This Paul Abrahamian artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Paul Abrahamian)\n<\/p>\n

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The Oddities Flea Market will return to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of the Globe Theatre Los Angeles)\n<\/p>\n

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This Eyeba jewelry is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Eyeba)\n<\/p>\n

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This Seance artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Seance)\n<\/p>\n

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This Ampersand Curiosities artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Ampersand Curiosities)\n<\/p>\n

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This Scientific Woman artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Scientific Woman)\n<\/p>\n

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This Rooted & Stitched artifact is among the collections featured at The Oddities Flea Market coming to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 4. (Photo courtesy of Rooted & Stitched)\n<\/p>\n

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Ryan Matthew Cohn and Regina Cohn run The Oddities Flea Market, which will return to the Globe Theatre Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct 4. (Photo by Cody Smyth)\n<\/p>\n

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Guests can expect 60 to 70 vendors selling jewelry, home goods, artwork and rare vintage and antique items, curated by Ryan and Regina. One collector the couple is excited to host this year is author and researcher Brandon Hodge<\/a>, who has one of the biggest Ouija board collections in the world. Hodge recently released his new book, \u201cSupernatural Machines: The History of Spirit Communication Devices,\u201d and will also do book signings at the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to see him because I haven\u2019t seen him in many years, and I always like having authors at the event, but also for my own selfish needs because I\u2019d like to add a new book to my collection,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n

The Oddities Flea Market also offers flash tattoos, piercings, and other activations, including creative photography opportunities ranging from Victorian-era setups to Cosmic Eye, which turns a person\u2019s iris into key chains and jewelry. Ryan and Regina also curate the ambiance with music and have a bar with drinks named after items in their collection.<\/p>\n

Ryan credits the Discovery\/Science Channel reality television show \u201cOddities,\u201d a documentary series that ran from 2010 to 2014 and followed the daily operations of New York City\u2019s Obscura Antiques & Oddities in the East Village.<\/p>\n

He added that the term \u201coddity\u201d has become a broad term since the show premiered, and that many people didn\u2019t really know what they were collecting was considered odd. As the show went on and the community of collectors thrived, Regina and he brainstormed ways to bring vendors, creatives and fans under one roof. The result was the Oddities Flea Market.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe first one we ever did, we had a line like six blocks down the street in Brooklyn and said, all right, well, we need to continue this on because clearly there\u2019s a demand for this type of collecting,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cThat is where it started, and it\u2019s still like a very popular thing today, even with there being so many people that do similar things, but we do it in our own way with our own unique take on what oddities means to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its early days, the internet and social media have advanced and allowed the couple to find other creatives by scoping out their work from a distance, which has helped broaden the community. They said that before social media, potential vendors would send photos of their work, but today they can get a feel for an artist\u2019s style and level of mastery from their Instagram page.<\/p>\n

Regina said they review every application carefully, ensuring the vendors they curate are the quality they\u2019re looking for because the community has grown to expect that standard. Over the last several years, they noticed a tremendous interest in older, odd and interesting things from an increasingly younger audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger kids are into upcycling and learning about older things,\u201d Regina said. \u201cKids are also more into politics, so a lot of them are anti-big box stores, so you see a big shift to supporting community and local and small businesses, and that\u2019s been really awesome to see. Parents are also way more accepting now and want their kids to be interested in things and be authentically themselves, whereas before, this kind of collecting was more taboo.\u201d<\/p>\n

New media, including podcast platforms and YouTube, are also where younger audiences are consuming content. Ryan said they\u2019ve been asked numerous times over the years to create a YouTube channel, a podcast, and even another TV show. When asked if one of those is in the works, he teased they have some surprises coming.<\/p>\n

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The couple said they want to remain mindful not to stretch themselves too thin, ensuring the quality of their events and work doesn\u2019t slip. For now, they host only three Oddies Flea Markets a year in Los Angeles, New York and Connecticut, where they\u2019re currently based.<\/p>\n

Ryan and Regina also run other oddities-focused enterprises, including House of Wax<\/a>, a macabre Brooklyn bar with a 1800s-era wax sculpture collection of over 100 anatomical models and 25 wax death masks, which opened in 2016.<\/p>\n

They also help curate movie sets that call for a cabinet-of-curiosities style or ancient artifacts. Their most recent curation was for \u201cThe Whisper Man,<\/a>\u201d the Netflix psychological crime thriller adaptation of Alex North\u2019s 2019 bestselling novel.<\/p>\n

Ryan also runs Cvrated by Ryan Matthew Cohn, a shop that opened in February in Bridgeport, Conn.\u00a0and showcases rare antiques, oddities and natural history objects from around the world. In February 2027, they will also open the Museum of Mortal Beauty, a Memento Mori museum, Latin for \u201cremember you must die.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new space will connect to the store and showcase art collections, illustrating how artists have interpreted the theme of death from ancient to contemporary times. On Sept. 24, The Octagon House in Irvington, New York, will present a limited exhibition drawn from Ryan\u2019s collection that will be part of the Museum of Mortal Beauty when it opens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all started with the Oddities Flea Market almost 10 years ago, so everything is coming full circle now,\u201d Regina said. \u201cThis will be the biggest project we\u2019ve ever done, and we will continue to do the Oddities Flea Market, but the museum will definitely become the priority. However, I will say we are planning our 10th anniversary in Los Angeles in March, and we\u2019re working with a big celebrity to join us and make it extra special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Oddities Flea Market<\/p>\n

When: 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4.<\/p>\n

Where: Globe Theatre Los Angeles, 740 S Broadway, Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Admission: $28.52 at theodditiesfleamarket.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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