Fire eating techniques?

[Fangy]

So I am ordering the supply's to make some practice torches for fire eating.
In the meantime I have been playing around with burning cotton balls in my mouth.

I have read that there are two ways of "eating" the fire.
One way is exhaling just as the wick enters your mouth.
The second way is closing your mouth around the flame(I wasn't clear whether there was exhaling or not).

Also I have seen people put the flame in there mouth and make it seam to go out, and then remove the torch and have it burst immediately into flame.
My guess on this trick is that they exhale just enough to subdue the flame with out completely putting it out. Am I right, or is there another trick to this?

Anyways, I feel comfortable with putting fire in my mouth now, I cant wait to start playing with my torches! =D

[heckler]

You seem determined to do this after all the advice to give it up.
Probably like most of us; you will learn it enough to decide it's a drag and too dangerous to do every show.

Blowing out the torch as it enters your mouth is one way, but won't work all the time. The other way is to close your TEETH around the shaft holding the wicking, this cuts oxygen to the flame. You must also always be slowly exhaling the whole time to keep the flames away from your lips and mouth. Use your teeth so you don't burn your lips and practice it lots before lighting the wick.

Better yet just don't do it at all.

Juggle torches or spin your poi's if you want to play with fire. Don't make it such a part of your show that you can't perform without it, as others have mentioned in your intro thread.

You should always have a fire extinguisher and a bottle of 100% aloe around.

If you are serious about being a variety performer you will get gigs indoors...fire is not always an option. More importantly remember that in a career you will do over 10 - 20,000 shows, things go wrong, tricks will fail...always think about the worst case scenario because somewhere...at some time...it WILL happen. It's not an IF it is always a WHEN. Consequences of of fire eating are just too great,

Case in point:
I have juggled torches inside and out, I can do a show with or without it. I have a 99.9999 % success rate with fire tricks...which means that in that .0001 % of the time things will go wrong. (beyond a harmless drop) I have managed set curtains and hay bales on fire, flung torches into the audience, suffered third degree burns on my palms...

No one but myself has gotten hurt in any of my 15,000 shows (less than half involved fire, But all involved tall unicycles and kniives and razor sharp Dube' clubs) ...something I am proud to say. But...I have been lucky too.

The old adage is true...If you play with fire you WILL get burned. How bad that burn is is up to you!

good luck.

[Fangy]

heh,
I know, I probably sound like a thick headed Idiot. I am just determined to find out as much as I can about the pros and cons of fire in the mouth tricks before I can really make up my mind whether its worth it, I do appreciate all the input I have received and have taken all you guys are telling me into consideration. I understand the risks of playing with fire ,and anything else dangerous for that matter.

I mainly want the fire for after dark shows outside, which I only plan on doing sometimes, and with a group of a few other performers and musicians. For the most part, I just plan on doing magic and juggling tricks with a few friends downtown, one we get our acts down.

[Isabella]

Learn from a person you trust, in person.

Get your show and your skills to the point where you have something to trade for someone else's time and skill. Or be prepared to pay someone to teach you this valuable, money-making skill. There's a facebook group devoted to fire-eating, and they also sell a dvd. I still think you should learn from someone you trust, in person.

And while every fire eater does things a little differently, I feel it would be irresponsible of me not to comment that the advice given below does not match up with most of what I know about fire-eating. The only part I can endorse is, "don't do it." Because if your source for how to eat fire is an internet forum full of strangers, you don't have the chops, the networking, or the information to figure out how to do it properly.

Good luck and best wishes.

[fireperformer911]

Fangy

The advice above is spot on. I learned to eat fire but very limited venues you can do it so know you will have a show that has lots and lots of limitations but if you must this is the best book. http://www.youcaneatfire.com/