French clown Chaz Chase's unusual stage act was an inspired unfurling of comic business that had audiences in disbelief as he ate a steady string of stuff (everything from paper to an entire book of lit matches) including the string itself while dancing inside a hugely oversized and disheveled suit.
During his long career he appeared in circus, vaudeville and on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1925 and in Sugar Babies in the 1980's.
I don't think the gentleman was French. I've seen a clip of him working in France, and after his routine of eating his costume etc he introduces his next bit in French, certainly, but the accent is very definitely American.
ReplyDeleteJohn.