FIRE EATING AT THE CRUCIABLE (a short rant)

[firegirl]

Originally posted by jester

I like the fact that most fire breathers (like most smokers) do not encourage other people.

THANK YOU! that is my feeling, too!

It is absolutely not an event for a night school novelty class. It is an advanced activity that should be kept strictly in trade.

this is exactly what i've been trying to say. btw - "weekend hippies"... i'm SO going to have to steal that phrase & use it somehow... very funny!

It is not a pastime for amateurs. It is not a pastime. For the same reason that not just anyone is allowed to drive Petrol Tankers, not just anybody should be allowed to juggle fire.

or, eat/blow/spin... etc... this is exactly my point. very clearly put. thank you!

Of course when it is done right, by proffessionals, it is the most majestic and beautiful thing which can be watched over and over again.

that's what i'm saying.

peace out,
k

[Pyromancer]

Every now and then I give workshops to interested people. I make them pretty clear what the risks are and them that firebreathing can be performed relatively safe, as as long as they keep their head together. And that it still can go wrong if they do so. For most it's big fun and a one-time-in-life event.

Firegirl, you mention Coleman. I really do hope you don't put that stuff in your body for firebreathing, it's quite risky to do it with that stuff.

I sense a concern of 'protecting the trade', like a magician should keep their secrets. Well, I am not that much afraid of it. Just puffing out a flame is not that difficult, admit it. It's what you do with it that counts.

Speaking about... I made a new video

[firegirl]

pyro,
by firebreathing you mean blows, right?

i don't do blows as a part of my act & when i have i've used lamp oil... i use coleman for my torch tricks. not for doing fireballs...

yah - i had a friend who burned the hell out of himself using coleman for a blow... i think that is one of the silliest things one can do - use a really light weight fuel to spray a fireball... dur, it's going to blow back on you.

[Pyromancer]

Yes, I meant a blow... And I'd hardly imagine you using Coleman for a blow. Like this unfurtunate, but not very clever man...

[firegirl]

OMG - that's hideous.

i know a magician - kevin the uncanny - who used coleman to do a blow out on a pitch in jackson square, new orleans... that place is a notorious wind tunnel -- i cannot even imagine what posessed him - he had a monster blow back on the fireball & tried to block it with his hands -- sustaining burns to his face, hands and chest... i know he was being stupid & using unsafe fuel on a dicey pitch -- but, hearing about that alone made me stop doing blows in my THEATRICAL show... let alone in outside theatres/pitches...

anyhow - i need to pretend like i'm working now.
peace out,
k

[Ivan Bellari]

pyromancer!!!!!!

wow!

nice new video dave!

[firegirl]

yah - no joke, eh?

that's a really amazing video, pyro!

what venue were you using? the theatre is beautiful & just fit with the action so well...

great job!
peace,
kate

[Pyromancer]

Cheers...

The venue is a squatted church in The Netherlands... It's a beautifull place indeed!

(And thanks to the people that let me use the place!)

[MissFire]

I did this interview once where the interviewer asked me if I'd ever had an accident or injury. I naturally said the first thing that came to mind - " oh, here and there - no major disfigurement or anything" - she nearly wet herself laughing and all I could do was look at her with a wry smile thinking "Lady - if only you knew". Sure enough it was a highlighted quote under my photo the next day in the paper. I don't know whether this was a good or bad thing but it kind of brought it home to me how close maybe I'd come from major injury.

[jester]

Don't understimate your skills pyro.

It may be easy to you, but it isn't so simple to everybody. I don't fire breath so I have no vested interest in keeping these things a secret.

It's not just what you do with it. And I have no objections to workshops if done correctly. But I don't think it's an evening class down at the local community centre or college myself.

[The Pretty Good]

David nice video. But the other one you posted. Woah. If anoyone out there does blasts and is still using coleman fuel look at the video. Thats exactly what happens. I guess I was lucky. I dont do that stuff anymore. Has anyone ever tried using a non gasoline fuel? I read somewhere about using powdered coco mix in a tube. someone try it and tell me what happens.

[Stephon]

That's a very cool promo video, Pyro. The other one was horrific; so much for God watching over fools. I posted something similar on the "Link a Day" thread, but the guy was drinking flaming liquor.

Jester, Pyro isn't being falsely modest; eating a torch just isn't that difficult. Intimidating, yes. Dangerous, YES. But the mechanics are pretty simple. And, in terms of it's entertainment value, just like magic or juggling, it is what you do with it.

I guess we all know "someone who". A friend of mine was doing a fire blow at an indoor venue. I don't know what fuel she was using, but just as she started the blow, the air conditioning kicked on and blew the flame back onto her.

She was mostly lucky: she has some only slightly noticable scarring on her chin, but on her upper chest you can still she each individual link of the necklace she was wearing.

I have no horror stories of my own--I'm not a very skilled fire eater, so I don't do it much (and vice versa). The worst I've suffered is singed mustache hair and a blistered inner lip.


Firegirl--yep, I'm a perennial at the MD festival; this was my 15th season. It goes well, and my show seems to be building a following. What I'd really like is to get hooked up with a real sideshow.

I didn't do FLaRF this year. Speaking of which, have you heard how Brian is doing on his recovery?

[Ivan Bellari]

for the record

lots of us work with fire,

but dave ( pyromancer ) is mostly out of our league when it comes to fire manipulation ..

i saw him in 2001...i almost died... there are few chances to see someone work the way pyromancer does, or to see the quality of the skill.

the skills in theory are easy to grasp, but in practice much more difficult...
and to wrap a whole show around fire performance is even more difficult ..

some people just make it look easy ( damn them)

[Pyromancer]

Jester, I don't underestimate my skills. I am kind of proud of what I do... And thanks to the kind words of Ivan I don't have to brag too much about it here. But let's be plain honest: just breathing a flame, just a flame, is damn easy and can be tought in a couple of hours. I always tell people about all the risks and the dangers and keep a close eye on what everybody's doing and make sure no one is taking it all lightly. It's great fun for people who are normally behind desks doing boring stuff...

I know many people who had accidents. Including myself. It all comes down to keeping your head together. People fall of unicycles too and I have always been able to track down every incident to that moment where I got carried away for some reason and the big advantage of learing and growing up is that you don't get carried away that easily anymore...

I am very aware of the dangers of working with fire. And maybe that's why it pisses me off that some festivals are more than a little reluctant in hiring a firebreather. Just that so many people make a mess and work very dangerously, doesn't mean I do... Ivan, I'd love to show more people what I do, if only I get the chance to. But I guess that's a different topic...

Brendan, I have seen people work with powder. Licopodium works best and it does create funny dust explosions, similar to what will hapen if you throw a handfull of coffee creamer on top of a flame. But firebreathing creates a bigger and more explosive flame. The same for organic lamp oil. I have experimented with it, but it smells like burned fries and doesn't nearly give as beautiful flames as mineral oils. And it is'n't if much use anyways, if you get it in your lungs, you are fucked anyways.

[firegirl]

Originally posted by Stephon
I guess we all know "someone who". A friend of mine was doing a fire blow at an indoor venue. I don't know what fuel she was using, but just as she started the blow, the air conditioning kicked on and blew the flame back onto her.

She was mostly lucky: she has some only slightly noticable scarring on her chin, but on her upper chest you can still she each individual link of the necklace she was wearing.

I didn't do FLaRF this year. Speaking of which, have you heard how Brian is doing on his recovery?

you're talking about alison from the daring devilinis - aren't you?

brian is well - he and maria got married (so i hear) -- he is mostly recovered from his injuries... he's retired the suspended straight jacket escape... which i'm sure makes many of us who care about him & have seen injur himself multiple times doing it over the years rest a little easier...

i haven't actually talked to him in a while... was hoping to hook up with mr. & mrs. howard when i'm in la-la next month... among other people. ;P

and - for the record - i agree... sticking a torch in your mouth isn't that hard. it is completely what you do with it. just like most variety stunts are... blows are seriously impressive & anyone who does them (well & with flair) injury free (mostly) has my respect.