New book from LFP resident Charles the Clown

Charles the Clown performing in Harlem

Charles Kraus, alias Charles The Clown, didn’t start his career by running away to the circus. He began at age five by performing magic tricks in his New York City living room.

Charles appeared on his first television show before he was ten, and has been entertaining audiences ever since.

After more than 75 television appearances and close to 12,000 live shows, Charles has come up with an answer for people who have questions about his career.

It’s his latest book, a memoir, You’ll Never Work Again In Teaneck, N.J.

“I was very fortunate to grow up in New York City where I had access to live theater, variety entertainers, especially magicians … and major media outlets,” he said.

He even performed on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour.

Charles has been interviewed by Oprah, and Katie Couric, among others.

His children’s video was filmed in front of a live audience on the Charlie Chaplin Sound Stage in Hollywood. Chaplin produced many of his movies on that stage, and Red Skelton originated his long running television series in the same studio.

“The location inspired me,” he said.

Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight, praised the award winning A/M Records video, telling the audience his daughter watched it “over and over again.”

Charles travels throughout the West Coast providing shows for libraries, schools, and concert stages and private parties. He’s worked with and for major film and television stars, made thousands of hospital appearances, and … as is bio states, performed from Alaska to San Diego, New York To California, and Europe and Asia.

No stranger to the printed word, Charles has written three books, television and stage shows, edited and written for magazines, and over a hundred of his newspaper columns have been published by papers such as USA Today, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald and both the Seattle Times and the Seattle PI.

You’ll Never Work Again In Teaneck, N.J. is available online exclusively from The Book Patch. It takes reads through the New York and Hollywood portions of Charles’ career and also discusses the performances he gave in Vietnam.