Meph knew the "Mechanical Man" on the Hall and Christ shows". His name is Fred and he did wax man I think at one time in the sideshow bally. He was the "Man" on Hall and Christ" World Of Wax" Celebrity Wax Museum" Fred AKA Mephisto AKA Meph was also manager of the wax WOW at the major fairs. And did a superb job. He was also instrumental in our ending up owning the two big permanent museums: World In Wax" Wildwood New Jersey and the "20th Century Wax" museum at Seaside Heights, N J.

Fred also did a fabulous job in remaking some wax figures and building terrific props in recent years.

His talents seem unbounded. Of course he is the master fire performer. The best. My admiration for him is endless. Cordially, Ward Hall
 

We got the first wax show in 1974.

In 1973, Since I'd had some mime experience, I wanted to try doing a mechanical man bit, like I'd seen Jimmy Alexander do several years earlier. Cliff King was talking on the bally one day and let me try something. The agreement was that I'd take a "statue" pose, and he'd "turn the switch" to make me animated. Well, he forgot, and I stood there till people noticed the statue shedding tears! After that, I never waited on somebody else to start or stop the animation! The glass cabinet on the wax show was a perfect place to experiment with different "themes." Of course, I could stand on the front of the show, and people coming in couldn't make me flinch or blink. I even had a couple cute girls whisper come-ons to me, which got no reaction. They didn't know they were trying to whisper to a deaf man!

So now the secret's out. The dummy was deaf! lol!

-Meph