THE BALLOON MAN

Pinal county fair: Godfrey bringing his magic, humor back


 

Godfrey the Magician
By SUSAN RANDALL,Staff Writer
from: trivalleycentral.com
March 9, 2012
ELEVEN MILE CORNER — One of Pinal County’s favorite tricksters will be back at the fair again this year.


Godfrey the Magician will climb something never seen before in Pinal County — a ladder made with six sharpened machetes for rungs.


Godfrey said the machete ladder walk is “dangerous, exciting and still very funny.”


“I do it barefoot,” he said during a telephone interview from his home near San Diego.


“I’m lucky I don’t cut my foot. It’s an old side-show stunt that I learned when I traveled on the circus.”


That was the “Circus of the Fantastic,” which Godfrey joined after graduating from East High School in Phoenix. He learned the stunt from Amanda Vanteen, the “Indestructible Child” of circus owner C. Vanteen. Godfrey said he did 12 to 18 shows a day as the circus’ magician, fire eater and announcer for the alligator boy.


The last time he climbed the machete ladder was two years ago at a theater in Reno, Nev.


“It played pretty well,” he said. “It’s pretty wild.”


Godfrey also will perform many of his favorite tricks and stunts from previous years, including Stinky, the mind-reading skunk.
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http://www.trivalleycentral.com/articles/2012/03/09/maricopa_monitor/news/doc4f5a46abeeeaa918556218.txt