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| Practicing at home |
Hy-phen or no Hyphen?
Before I go any further...I want to settle this one... The Americans don't hyphenate the word sword swallowing, so I haven't thus far in my blog, either. But being a sometime grammatical pedant, I cannot go on without looking at the more correct version of the term. So from here on it's sword-swallowing. Phew.
Footage and Anecdotal musings
Here's a link to the showreel of some burlesque shows, and gigs with the band Psych Carni, during which I also played drums for the band and sang the odd tune (it was an odd tune, actually. Our cover of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', originally by bauhaus).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkbjOH1djH0&list=PLE0224F7683D43171
This link is Psych Carni's myspace page, witth Bio and film-clips:
http://www.myspace.com/psychcarni
Supplementary footage for this and the some of the band's film-clips was shot in an abandoned warehouse in a Melbourne inner west suburb. I remember swallowing dozens of swords for this shoot; very energy-sapping. I think I bruised my lower oesaphageal sphincer that day due to so many bows with a sword down my throat. Worse, though, was a casual camera moment at home, whence a friend took pics of 50+ sword-swallows, and I was left drinking tomato soup for a week due to the bruising in my throat from dozens of bows to get a decent pic. 'Soup for a week' is shorthand for me for overdoing it. I have learnt in the ensuing years to pace myself and do a variety of poses, not the same thing over again or it can make your throat a little sore. My throat has hardened and toned after nearly a decade now of swallowing swords...so I can cane it harder when need be, and know myself better, as to when to push it. My throat actually callouses after 60 or so swords a week over the summer season, but gets a softer when, as of late, I'm not working so hard.
I had one nasty incident about 5 years ago, the story of which I will save for a future post. I swallowed 10 swords over 10 street shows one night, 3 of which perforated my stomach wall. It was unnoticable at the time, dramatic in the aftermath, and I was fine in the end. For the most part, after years of practice, sword-swallowing is relatively safe unless you fall off a stage, someone in the audience or a performer on-stage pushes or knocks you, or you are distracted and just do it wrong. But of course, when it's not safe, it's deadly.
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| Apply sword to throat... |
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Down, down, down...
Da-na...
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and remove... |
