His act involved pursuing lions and tigers around a cage utilising whips, pistols and knuckledusters.

He wrote that Maccomo approached the menagerie at Greenwich fair, claiming he was a sailor who was interested in working with the animals.

Frost wrote that Manders gave Maccomo the chance to prove himself in the lion's cage, "and displayed so much courage and address in putting the animals through their performances that he was engaged forthwith".

[7] The writer Archibald Forbes, in his 1872 book Soldiering and Scribbling, wrote that there were two Maccomos; the first was a man called Jemmy Strand who owned a gingerbread stand and volunteered to perform with Hylton's Menagerie shortly after the usual lion tamer did not show up.

[3] While performing at Great Yarmouth in January 1860, Maccomo accidentally fired one of his pistols into the audience during his "Lion Hunt" act.

It was freed around five minutes later when one of the keepers pressed a hot iron bar against her teeth, causing the tigress to recoil and release Maccomo's hand, which had been lacerated.

[11][12] In 1862, Maccomo performed in Norwich where his show consisted of him pursuing lions and tigers with a whip and firearm.

[14] In February 1866, Maccomo was awarded a gold medal by Manders during a presentation at Joseph Battley's Lodge-Lane Hotel in Liverpool.

[15] Whilst performing in Sunderland in 1869, Maccomo was attacked by a maneless lion known as Wallace and was only able to escape its grip by using his brass knuckles.

[20] Advertisements for Manders' shows were put in national newspapers, where Maccomo was given such names as "the African Wild Beast Tamer",[21] "Angola's Mighty Czar of All Lion Tamers",[22] "the Black Diamond of Manders' Menagerie",[23] "the Dark Pearl of Great Price",[24] "the most talented and renowned Sable Artiste in Christendom" and "The Hero of a Thousand Combats".

[25] Maccomo's outfits when performing exemplified the idea of the "noble savage"; a contemporary illustration from 1860 depicts him stylised in a stereotypical "African" way—different from that of the white lion-tamers of the time, who tended to embody imperialism by wearing military clothing.

[7] Maccomo eventually moved away from his African characterisation, abandoning a tunic and headdress to wear a suit and gold watch.