One thing I believe all class clowns love is a true, weird story. Just because you are a Class Clown does not mean everything has to be a joke. Everything, though, should be fun and entertaining. There is nothing better than getting a bunch of likes to something you post online. And even if you are not online there is still a way to get something you say liked—and that is to get someone to share a story you told. Here is a story, a true story, I have told many times. I know the story has been told and retold by people because every once in a while someone tells it to me, and I’m pretty sure they heard from someone who heard it from someone, who heard it from me.
Anyway, I once wrote a book called The Man Who Ate a Car and Tons of Other True Stories (look it up). Here’s the story—and I bet you’ll end up telling it to some of your friends.
It took him four years to do it—but he did it! He ate the whole thing…
In 1970 a man named Leon Sampson, who was a strong man in an Australian circus won a bet for $20,000 by eating a car, a real car. I’m guessing it wasn’t a giant pick-up, but something more like a little Volkswagen. And he did not eat it all at dinner one night. It took him four years to do it—but he did it! He ate the whole thing, the tires, the motor, the door, the windshield, the seats, the radio—the entire car! I’m pretty sure he didn’t eat anything that would poison him like the battery or the oil, but everything else went into his stomach. Here is how he did it: he ground everything up into tiny pieces, some not much bigger than a grain of sand or a pile of dust. Then he would mix it into his soup or mashed potatoes. And, after four years the car was eaten and he was $20,000 richer. He also became famous. So famous, in fact, that someone bragged he was going to do something even more amazing—he was going to eat a school bus! Whether he did or not, I don’t know. But I do know that Leon Sampson ate that car—and now, you know it too.
