Name: Everett James Kilbane
Title of Act: Strongman
Description of Act:
I have been working on a strongman act since I got back from the European Conflict. I began a regimen of lifting iron weights and using pulley ropes while I was stationed in France and have since taught myself how to perform feats of strength like bending horseshoes and iron poles. I can snap medium-sized tree branches with my bare hands and have the ability to tear a phone book in half, if it's not too cumbersome. I have three leotard outfits that have a Tarzan-like tiger print to them and with my broad shoulders, small waist and arm musculature, I look more fit than most strongmen I have seen in the local traveling shows.
Other Talents: I can help shoe horses and lift trailers for hitching and repair. I am also a fair shot with a rifle, am versed in hand-to-hand combat and can cook a variety of foods over an open fire.
Notes: Mr. Kilbane suffers neither the skittishness I have observed in soldiers returning from combat duty, nor the aggressive surliness of most of the strongmen I have come across in my years of carny experience. In fact, he was quite soft-spoken, with an easy laugh and an appreciation for the small pleasures. As we held our talk, Kilbane wandered around my trailer, gently picking up various doo-dads I have accumulated over time and asked me for their history, nodding and smiling appreciatively at even the most mundane of stories. He was particularly taken with a small, carved wooden pony that was given to me by a blind Indian wood-carver named Shadrack that I had met in a small town in Iowa in 1937. I gave him the wooden pony as a token and near tears, he tried to refuse the gift, but I told him it was a requirement of his employment with the outfit to accept the wooden pony. He stuck the pony into his pocket with care and proceeded to bend a horseshoe with what appeared to be little effort and tore a local phonebook in half (population 3,200) with ease. I believe Mr. Kilbane will be a welcome addition to the company and his cooking ability may be an asset. His skills in hand-fighting will also likely come in handy when dealing with townie riff-raff, and he looks quite impressive in his leotards.
-Miller Hatsfield
Senior Roustabout and Hiring Manager
The Salty Peters Traveling Carnival, Roadshow and Burlesque Review
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