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Evenin' all, I'm looking for some suggestions to put into a Geek/Freak/Sideshow style act. I'm already doing the eating a balloon (thank you TonyB), Nail up the nose, Razor blades trick and "Non-Toxic" by Bizzaro for a laugh.

I've spent ages around the juggling scene so I juggle a few knives, but don't do fire eating. I know how vital it is to learn fire breathing/eating properly from a real instructor who knows what they're doing, and I think the same can be said for walking on glass. So what I'm looking for is a few tricks/stunts/ideas I can work on without a real life tutor for them.

Thanks for your help and suggestions

Needle thru arm?

And Blackhart does a cut-throat razor that might come in handy for such a routine. I think it's called Slasher.

DJBenz wrote:Needle thru arm?

And Blackhart does a cut-throat razor that might come in handy for such a routine. I think it's called Slasher.

Yeah i've seen Blackharts razor and I quite like it, but haven't thought of a decent bit to do with it. Haven't looked into needle thru arm, anybody know of decent sources of information?

Thanks for the ideas

Once I combined Blackhart's Slasher with a pulse stop for a stage show. It worked well.

Lord Freddie wrote:Once I combined Blackhart's Slasher with a pulse stop for a stage show. It worked well.

It's a short (10-15 minutes) stage show I'm piecing together so this is really good for me, thank you

Walk on glass. I learnt from Lawrence via pm a few years back. Simple

Beardy wrote:Walk on glass. I learnt from Lawrence via pm a few years back. Simple

I'll get in touch, or hopefully he'll see this. If he's at the manchester meet next week all the better.

Sounds a silly question but what glass did you use? I had a chat with a performer who advises against standard beer bottles and says you need to collect some thicker stuff like champagne bottles

Once I combined Blackhart's Slasher with a pulse stop for a stage show. It worked well.

Now that is an idea that I like...

Keith Hart

mrz0mbie wrote:

Beardy wrote:Walk on glass. I learnt from Lawrence via pm a few years back. Simple

I'll get in touch, or hopefully he'll see this. If he's at the manchester meet next week all the better.

Sounds a silly question but what glass did you use? I had a chat with a performer who advises against standard beer bottles and says you need to collect some thicker stuff like champagne bottles

Yes - wouldn't recommend beer bottles. I used wine bottles - I know a bar owner so it was easy to acquire also. Lawrence will tell you everything you need to know. Buy him at least 3 pints in return

mrz0mbie wrote: Haven't looked into needle thru arm, anybody know of decent sources of information?

You can have mine, gimme a text

Vanderbelt wrote:

mrz0mbie wrote: Haven't looked into needle thru arm, anybody know of decent sources of information?

You can have mine, gimme a text

I have two

Walking on glass is a cinch. I normally walk on it, then lie down with my face in the glass, and a woman stands on the back of my head for a count of twenty. I was influenced by how Jim Rose did the glass walk. It generally goes down very well. Here is a clip if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrd0ErMc8NI
I just smashed a dozen wine bottles. Beer bottles are fine; in my last two performances a drunk came up and smashed a pint glass into the pile, and that was fine too. Just take out the bases and the necks, and walk carefully.
Fire breathing is a lot easier than you would imagine too. Just use parafin rather than petrol. I made that mistake when I tried it for the first time. I siphoned a jar of petrol from my car and took a chance and nearly blew myself up. The front row almost ended up scorched.
You could try eating a lightbulb. Smash the bulb and put the pieces flat into your mouth and carefully begin grinding them with your teeth until they feel like sand in your mouth. Then swallow. It is deeply unpleasant but fairly safe, as long as you grind them enough. The pros recommend eating a banana before and after. I recommend not bothering with lightbulbs!

You may already have it, but Tomas Medina's Geek Magic DVD is worth picking up for this stuff. I'm working on a Bizarre meets Geek act (or horror/psychobilly magic), so PM me if you want to share ideas.

So I've been racking my brains for daft stunts, and I remembered a show a few years ago where a guy popped some party poppers into his mouth. Its not big and its not clever, but the way it was presented brought a laugh.

Anybody familiar with this? Is it as simple as just nutting up and popping one into your mouth or is there a trick to it? If I remember rightly you where supposed to rest your tongue against the cardboard disc but that's about all I recall

edit: It was a juggler who done this not a magician, but I'm thinking after firing the popper pulling a mouth coil out of my mouth would be quite funny

Stapling a bank note to your forehead is easy. There are two ways of doing it. The first is to do it genuinely. It stings slightly, but not much. The second is to use a dud stapler, and have a bit of gum on the bank note. Either gets gasps from the audience.

Nail up the nose is also easy. Use a blunted nail, disinfected, about five inches (but call it as six) and push it slowly straight back (not up). It will fit into one of the nasel cavities.