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Stretch's Lair

Charlie the ClownCharlie Stron  writes

In 1986 Brent Van Rensburg and Charlie Stron worked at the Ringling Brothers Clown College as teachers. They had lots of free time, so they started working on a low wire. They then moved onto an 8 foot wire. Charles got some dry wall stilts and managed to walk over the new wire, with a safety and then without one. It was quite high up, so a lot of the students came to watch. They had drawn quite a lot of attention because of Brents grand loops on the wire. This was done with wire loops under the feet, so he could do 360 degrees around the wire and come back to balancing. This trick and the stilt walk got them an audition with the owner of Ringling, Kenneth Feld. He liked the new act and offered them a job in the Gold Unit in Japan. After Charlie th Clown coming to reality and getting other offers, they decided to not work in Japan. They did however go on to Vegas and work on the act. This is where Brent came up with the two man high on stilts idea. They built a ladder from a RV ladder, the curves fitted perfectly over Charles 's shoulders. Then they put another ladder on the bottom to make it long enough. Then cut a small length of pipe in half to make something that could fit onto the wire and hold the ladder in place. The end result was that Brent managed to climb up the ladder while Charles, with the help of a balancing pole stood on stilts. They worked on the trick on a low wire for about a week and then took it up onto a 12 foot wire without a net or safety. This was a little gutsey, but got the attention of the local Las Vegas media. They appeared on two different news programs and were quite the talk of the town at the time. The photo's were taken by a local with a very cheap camera, so they are not to clear.


Charlie the ClownThanks Charlie, great story, thanks for sharing it with us.  Bill

Charles Strachan  a.k.a. Charlie Stron
CLOWN, STILT WALKER, JUGGLER, GENIUS
Cell - (702) 324-8501
P.O. Box 7323, Las Vegas, Nevada 89125
www.CharlieTheClown.net
mailto:CharlieTheClown@yahoo.com

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