Historical Staff Performers
Price “Scuba” Osborne
He held a Guiness Book record and was listed in Ripleys Believe It Or Not! for carrying 34 mugs of beer 100 feet, without spilling a drop. He came to the Bowery from Eden, NC, and left to be a crew member with Alabama when they left in 1980.
“Don’t Cry Joe” Shotkus
Poured beer at The Bowery from the day it opened until he passed in 1997. In the 1930s, Joe and his sister Mary set a marathon dancing record of 5,295 hours (7 months, 10 days, 15 hours) that still stands. In his younger days Joe delighted Bowery audiences by being packed in a coffin full of ice for as long as an hour.
Bouncin’ Betty
The legendary 300 Pound Go-Go-Girl was a crowd favorite at The Bowery in the late 1970s.
Toni McDaniel
Dancing on the ceiling as stage name “April”. Jeff Cook’s description to Lionel Ritchie about this was the inspiration for Ritchie’s 1986 song and album title ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’
Count Desmond
A three-time Guinness World Record holder for his sword-swallowing feats, and was a performer at The Bowery during the summer of 1979. He swallowed a “live” microphone while on stage with “Alabama” to hear his heartbeat.