i'm a dork... you're a dork... wouldn't you like to be a dork too?

[firegirl]

i am dumb.

~so, i ran out of white gas last nite during my second set at 'the world famous krazy korner on bourbon' and only had enough left to really keep my torches lit thru the final set... meaning i couldn't do a suspend or a transfer... so, being the master impoviser that i am i get the bright idea to have an audiance member pour part of a shot of 151 into my mouth ~ me light it on fire ~ them light a ciggarette out of it... what a spectacular sight this will be for all the drunken mardi gras idiots... right?

two things:

NEVER let a drunken frat boy touch your fuel. (he poured the entire shot into my mouth instead of the few drops i'd envisioned... hence i had to swallow an entire shot of 151 ~ which tastes like shit ~ and, obviously leaving too much 151 in my mouth...)

151 burns at a much higher tempature than white gas. (i have no taste buds left on part of my tounge... perhaps i exagerate... but, you get the point.)

other than that ~ the shows went really well.

thought i'd share one of my 'stupid performer' stories for the week... i'll post the 'firegirl pole dances' epic later.

~firegirl

[Stephon]

Ouch.

I have always heard that fire was verboten down there. Did you get some kind of permit or just take your chances?

[Todd]

Well, well, well you learned alot this weekend. There is arule of thumb that I try to follow when working the street. One is never try to crush a kid hekler, the other is never, never get a drunk up on stage with you. The false sense of superiority and alchol fuled 'balls' makes it tough for you to control the drunken fucks. Frat guy just adds to the dangerous mix of booze, balls, peers, and wanting to fuck with the performer.
Cool for you.

Ok, so here is my story. I was doing sets at Church Street Station a number of years ago. Doing some work on the rolla bolla and then fire. I think I did like 6 sets that night. The streets were packed and I wanted to try to make as much cash as possible. I was doing the tounge transfer in the fire work. So when you do that you end up swallowing a bit of fuel. Ok alot of fuel if you are not carefull. 6 sets very close together, 6 transfers. I stopped to get some food with a buddy and I got that fuzzy feeling you get after a few beers. And it kept growing and growing. I made myself drunk on Coleman fuel. Not a good feeling. There is that moment, like when you are in the middle of doing acid, when you think "What if I'm like this forever?"
The only other person I know who got drunk on Cloeman was Jim Frank of Whipflash. He was doing a proster pic for the Maryland Ren Fest where he spits a fireball for the shot. He did 18 in one afternoon. For those of you who dont spit fire, you end up swallowing, or absorbing through your mouth, ALOT of fuel. So Jim does 18, and he spits with Colman fuel. Jim said he was "Not right for a day and a half." from the spitting.
(For the record, dont spit fire with Coleman. The fumes are what makes it burn and it is very very explosive. Most spitters use kerosene.)

[Triona]

Yikes Todd,

Both of you are lucky you didn't kill yourselves (the other guy more than you). Swallowing too much fuel doesn't make you drunk, it poisons you. Renal failure is common in those situations. I realize that fire eaters/breathers make a good buck doing it. I just can't see where the dangers make it worth while (can you say blow back?).

As my partner always says, never rely on the skill of an audience member. This doubly applies to drunken audience members.

[Todd]

I'm well aware of the danger of fire-eating and have for a while been living well and having regular check ups. I'm the last person to be casual about the risks of fire eating. This was more or less a story of "Hey a mistake that isnt a good one to make". The big thing is to keep your liver heathy to deal with all the toxins running through your system. I know more street performers taxing thier livers with after hours parties.
As for fire eating, its a risk, but so is falling off a 7ft uni. Go out get some knowledge of the risks involved and do what you can to train the body and keep it in top shape.