Arts Entertainment

Under The Big Top

Shrine Circus clown
hammers his way to kids' hearts.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

y

2001 Michigan
Press Association
"Newspaper
of the Year"
award winner!

ou literally could call Jerry
Weiner a home wrecker, but
you also could call him
Wrecker the Clown.
Weiner's business, Jerry's Wreck &
Haul, gave him the . idea for the clown
character he portrays in the Shrine
Circus Xtreme, which comes to the
Silverdome May 29-June 2 with both
traditional and new wave entertainers.
Weiner, whose recreational interest
had been athletics ; decided to switch
to entertainment in 2000. Softball and
racquetball had become too strenuous.
"My business involves tearing out
room fixtures to make way for house
renovations and taking away the debris
so the construction crews can do their
work," explains Weiner, 63. "I'm usu-
ally in a hard hat and thought that
would be a good start for a costume."
The West Bloomfield resident had
never been in the performance spot-
light until he decided to try clowning.
Starting with the hard hat, he next
bought a pair of oversized
jeans, which he cut off at
an awkward angle. He
then added a pair of
long socks.
A visit to a
clown store in
Westland
ended with

Jerry Weiner as
Wrecker the
Clown: 'My love
for children is
what intrigued
me to become a
Shrine clown."

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2002

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his buying a Styrofoam hammer,
which he uses to tap young members
of the audience. He then lets them
tap him back.
"The hammer started out as a way
to interact with the kids, and it snow-
balled," says Weiner, who keeps the
clown's name in big print on his hat.
."When the kids see me coming, they
run to the edge of the stands, call out
`Wrecker' to get my attention and wait
to be tapped."
Now part of the largest Shrine
Circus in North Atherica, Weiner will
appear with aerialists and acrobats as
well as more edgy, daredevil acts,
including motorcyclists on an incline
wire and a flying trapeze troupe. The
show also features a carnival with an
exotic petting zoo, elephant and pony
rides and games.
The five-ring production will have
celebrity ringmasters, such as Florine
Mark, president of the largest Weight
Watchers franchise. During her appear-
ance at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 1,
Mark will reveal the trick of eating cir-
cus foods without adding pounds.

Doing For Others

Weiner, who became a Shriner after 35
years of affiliation with the Masons,
feels proud to be associated
with the organization
that supports 22 med-
ical centers treating