HE’S A real urban cowboy.
Bronx-born rodeo star AJ Silver has lassoed and trick rode his way around the globe — and now he’s back in the city showing off his skills for a show in Times Square.
Taking his cue from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows and other vaudeville acts, Silver said his prowess equals — if not surpasses — his peers from Deadwood and Dodge City.
“I always knew, growing up in the Bronx, that I was living in the greatest city in the world,” said Silver, 45, who grew up in Wakefield. “I knew anything was possible.”
Silver, real name Angelo Iodice, is one of the stars of the Bello Mania circus show, beginning Friday at the New Victory Theater on W. 42nd St.
When I started rodeoing, I learned that I was just as good – if not better – than the riders from out West.
In his performance, Silver twirls a trick rope around himself in a move known as the “Cowboy’s Wedding Ring.” With a flick of the wrist, Silver jumps side-to-side through the large, hooped lasso, as if he’s skipping rope.
Then, he takes a bullwhip and cracks a target out of his own mouth.
“Not every cowboy can do it,” he said. “It’s really specialized. It literally took me thousands of hours to be this precise.”
It’s all in a day’s work for the Cardinal Spellman High School alumnus, who said he’s always loved animals and spent his childhood riding horses in Pelham Bay Park and tending a horse stable on Pelham Parkway with his brother.
Silver said a trip to the rodeo at Madison Square Garden when he was 11 inspired him to put on his spurs.
Back at the horse stable, he learned the wife of one of the stable workers was a former trick rider. The woman, Helen Panzella, and her husband, Nick, took Silver under their wings, teaching him all they knew about trick riding.
After graduating from Cardinal Spellman, and later Pace University, Silver spent 10 years on the national rodeo circuit, staying at ranches between shows.
“When I started rodeoing, I learned that I was just as good — if not better — than the riders from out West,” he said.
His tip for would-be trick ropers? Take advantage of the resources the city offers. “All it might take is a subway ride to get to someone who can make your dreams come true.”
jcunningham@nydailynews.com
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