BY Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
He has peddled everything from dissolving cleaning tablets to "catch a lot" fish hooks.
Yet infomercial star Jack (Cactus Jack) Barringer needed more than a gift of gab to get his latest invention on air - he had to shed some serious pounds, too.
Investors told the Iowa TV salesman they would bankroll his pushup exercise machine - if he won his battle of the bulge.
He stepped on the scales in New York Thursday 30 pounds lighter than he was in August, and walked away with a $180,000 check.
"My doctor wanted me to get rid of some weight. He said the No. 1 thing to do is pushups," said Barringer, 66, describing how he came up with his latest quirky invention. "I couldn't do one, and there wasn't a machine out there to help me, so I created one."
Barringer appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank," where he pitched his business plan for the "Body Jac" to a panel of would-be investors, including New York real estate guru Barbara Corcoran and infomercial king Kevin Harrington.
The two said they would give Barringer $180,000 - but only if he dropped from 273 pounds to 243 pounds.
"I thought, 'Nobody's going to buy that product when they see that big gut,'" Corcoran said.
"I believed he was going to make a success of it because he's great with promotion and there's a huge market for it."
Barringer's Body Jac is made up of bars and rubber resistance bands that support the body during pushups.
It can support 25% to 75% of a person's weight, so the resistance can be increased as he or she tones up.
"I wanted a way to do a pushup, but in the process realized there are millions of baby boomers just coming into retirement age and the bulk are like me: overweight [and] out of shape."
His infomercial will air in January. The Body Jac will cost about $129, before hitting retail stores for $89.95.
Barringer says he improved his diet, started walking more and used his Body Jac to shift the pounds.
"Not only am I going to keep it off, but I'm going to lose another 30 pounds," he said.
"When I do that infomercial, I'm going to be in my cowboy boots and hat and Speedos," he joked.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/10/23/2009-10-23_cactus_jack_trims_30_pounds_picks_up_180g_to_push_new_gadget_no_gut__some_glory.html#ixzz0UyXkBLNN
