Oklahoma Kid #1

Posted By on October 3, 2011

 

All of the knife throwing acts that I knew and worked with always made their own throwing knives because they had to be perfectly balanced. I also learned that each revolution of the blade, is from anywhere within 8-10 feet from the target. Note they usually stand 8-10 feet away from the target board so the knives go through one revolution before hitting.

Jack Cavenah told me that when he was a young man in vaudeville doing his knife throwing act, a marine drill instructor approached him to look at his blades and to observe his technique. Jack later found out that he was a hand-to-hand combat trainer during the second world war and part of his training was knife throwing. So just maybe our military got their first lesson in knife throwing from a vaudeville performer.

Throughout the Circus Blog there are pictures of Jack Cavenah and Bernice Dean. These types of acts were very popular pre 1970s.

It is plain to see these blades are home made.

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About the author

My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.

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