I apologize for having to chop this into two parts. The act runs almost 12 minutes, which is two minutes longer than YouTube allows, so I had to cut it.
Joe Jackson Sr.
Joe Jackson Sr. (1873 – 1942) was born as Joseph Francis Jiranek in Vienna, Austria. He was Austrian cycling champion, and a member of a world champion bicycle polo team before he became an entertainer. He started with a serious bike riding act, and then developed it into a comedy break. Preferring intimate settings, Jackson worked almost exclusively in Vaudeville and European one-ring circuses. His act took him to England, the European Continent, Russia, Siberia, Turkey, and most of the United States. He encouraged his son to take over the act and it was performed by either father or son for over 100 years. Following a performance at New York's Roxy Theater, he took several curtain calls, and then died in the wings. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1994.
~From Wikipedia
Once again, my friend, color me grateful for the amazing things you post here. Until today, I'd only heard of Joe. Now I'm suitably impressed. Thanks
ReplyDeleteBruce L Warner
Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but.....
ReplyDeleteJoe Jr did a television recording for Billy Smart's Circus here in England more than a few years ago. I attended the recording. He worked the act without any music whatsoever - and to complete silence. The only applause was the polite variety once the act had finished. It did not make it to the transmission.
John.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJoe jr. was my grandfather. I have a VHS copy of the video that youtube yanked. I've watched it over and over... I wish the videos were still up so I could have a digital copy that won't break.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeletePLEASE contact me ASAP at:
cashincomedy@yahoo.com
and I'll make you a DVD copy of your grandfather's entree.
~Pat
I met Joe Jr. in Lake George NY. in 1983. I was a Police Officer at the time. He came up to me and told me who he was and singed a post card with his pic. on it. I thought what a nice guy this man was. I thanked him and he was on his way. I still have the post card.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the name of his music? I'm a member of the swedish circus academy and we have the bike, costume and makeup in our collection but I dont think we have any reference to the music.
ReplyDelete