AJ Silver

Growing up in the Bronx did not get in the way of young Angelo’s dream of becoming the next Billy the Kid. He often organized games of cowboys and Indians with the neighborhood children and even tried to hold up a local candy store with his Roy Roger’s cap gun.

His parents, fearing that their son was turning into a Bronx Bandit, enrolled him in Catholic school to set him straight. The nuns of St. Francis of Rome Academy for Wayward Boys were not amused by Angelo’s cowboy antics. When he refused to take off his Zorro mask during prayer, they vowed they’d had enough.

Using a gun they bought on the Bronx’s black market, the nuns shot out the stained glass windows of the convent chapel, and planted the pistol in Angelo’s Lone Ranger lunchbox, and called the police.

The nun’s plan backfired. Found guilty, Angelo was sent to a juvenile correctional facility in the Badlands of North Dakota…where he was forced to work as a cowboy. Dreams do come true!

After learning all the cowboy skills he could, Angelo escaped to run away with Wild Wilbur’s Western Circus and Farm Equipment Show. Overnight he became Wild Wilbur’s star attraction with his trick roping and riding act. He then changed his name to AJ Silver to avoid the law.

But he couldn’t avoid the nuns. Back in the Bronx, they heard about Angelo’s success in the Wild West and demanded he return to do a benefit show to raise money for a new microwave and lazy Susan for their Convent. They reminded him that his success was due to their intervention.

Angelo’s big heart forced him to accept. He gave his notice to Wilbur and returned to New York--where his first glimpse of the NYC skyline reminded him that there’s no place like home! From that moment on, Angelo knew he would always be the Cowboy from the Bronx.

You would probably assume that trick roper Angelo Iodice grew up on a ranch out West. Well you'd be wrong! He was born and raised in The Bronx, New York where he learned his riding and roping skills. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction!

Even as a child, Angelo knew he belonged in the exciting world of show business. Inspired by a visit to the circus, young Angelo first wanted to be an elephant trainer, but when his parents wouldn’t let him have an elephant, he settled on an after-school job at a local pet store… and he brought home enough animals to create his own zoo in the backyard. When Angelo accompanied his older brother to the Bronx’s Pelham Bay Park Stables his destiny became clear; he took to horses and riding like a natural. Then he saw his first rodeo at Madison Square Garden. The skill, speed and danger of the trick riding exhibition blew his mind, and at eleven years old he found his calling: He would be a trick rider!

As fate would have it he met the professional rodeo couple Nick and Helen Panzella, also Bronx natives. Helen, one of the nation's top trick riders, was so impressed with Angelo’s determination to learn that she agreed to mentor him. Nick, a blacksmith and rodeo competitor, taught Angelo trick roping and prepared him for life on the rodeo trail. Every day after school, while his friends were playing stick ball, Angelo was practicing the cowboy arts with the Panzellas.

Out of respect for his Italian immigrant Grandparents, he put his rodeo career on hold to attend Pace University in Pleasantville, New York, but even there he found horses. Pace’s equestrian program gave him the opportunity to train in many equine disciplines. He became captain of their polo team and represented the College in a three-day event competition in Wales. Pace was so impressed with his achievements that they selected him as a participant in the school funded Leadership Program.

After graduation Angelo taught high school for one term, but quickly gave it up for the rodeo trail. He was soon hired by the Longhorn Rodeo Company - the world’s largest producer of indoor rodeos. He traveled across the USA getting much attention for his outstanding skills and signature showmanship.

Within one year he was honored as the Act of the Year by the International Rodeo Association at The Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma and was accepted as a member into the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association. This Bronx boy’s dreams were coming true! He achieved a lifelong goal when he was featured trick riding in Madison Square Garden the place where his dream was born.

Angelo then decided to take a break from trick riding and horses and turned his career focus on the circus and variety Stage. He toured Europe to visit the world’s greatest circuses and “variete” theaters. The visit opened his eyes to new approaches to performing; upon returning he created a unique act combining trick roping, bullwhip artistry and boleadoras.

Now considered one of the top variety acts in the business, Angelo’s versatility has allowed him to perform his acts in a wide variety of entertainment venues.

All the world’s a stage for this talented entertainer.

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