An autographed photo of Paul Wenzel from my personal collection
Paul Wenzel was a clown for almost 70 years and was most famous for creating elaborate collapsible props from silk and piano wire. Frosty Little's book CIRCUS STORIES describes Paul's fishing gag where he would enter with a 2" thick green box that would instantly expand to 36" by 36". Once expanded, Paul would beginning fishing in it with an enormous 20' bamboo fishing pole and would hook a beautifully painted 15' collapsible green fish made with the same silk and wire method as the box. Frosty describes it as an impressive sight to see 6'4" Wenzel waving a 20' pole with a 15' fish hanging from it.
The gag was revived on the Red Unit in the 90s by John Lynch and is the inspiration behind a come-in gag currently being performed by Mitch Freddes on the Gold.
According to Frosty, Paul's original fish was discovered in 1987 in a clown storage facility at the Venice Arena winter quarters, little more than a pile of wires and shredded cloth. They had it refurbished and it now resides in the Feld Entertainment head offices in Vienna, VA.
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