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Todd Robbins V.I.P. New York 2922 Posts |
I get a lot of emails from performers wanting to learn how to eat glass. And they have read that if you eat a banana beforehand it makes glass eating safe! I just got one these this morning and this was my response. Some of my graphic description of the consequences of eating glass might violate the rules here on the Café, but it is important, VERY important to make the risks clear. And since we have had glass eating come up as a topic here on a number of occasions, I am going to ask this be locked and put as a sticky topic at the top of this forum. Here's my response:
"There is A LOT more to glass eating than what you have written here. It is VERY dangerous. I learned from an old pro decades ago and he asked me not to teach it to anyone since it can cause some very serious problems. It caused problems for him, and it has caused problems for me as well, even though he taught me all the secrets to making the stunt as safe as possible. And even with these precautions, it still is very risky. The danger comes from the fact that you have no control over what the glass does to your body once you swallow it. It takes a day or two to go through your system and during that time it can do so much damage or even kill you. If the pieces are too large they will lacerate your intestinal tract and if you chew it up into very small pieces they will get into your blood stream and cause a heart attack or stroke. And add to all this that most people think that glass eating is impossible and will say that the light bulb is made of sugar. Therefore, if you eat glass you will be risking your life AND many will think it is fake. I think you are getting my message. I'm sure it is not the one you wanted. So it is possible that you will go ahead and start eating glass anyway even though you don't know what you are doing. And it is possible that at first you will not have any problems from it. If this is the case, you have dodged a bullet without even knowing it. You might continue doing it, and if you do, if you are lucky (and I do mean VERY lucky) you will only crack open a tooth and need an emergency root canal. If you are not lucky, then you will wake up one morning with blood in your urine or blood flowing from your anus...that is, if you wake up at all. So, is it really worth it? Again, I'm sorry to bring this message to you, but you are young and have a whole life ahead of you and there is no reason to waste it by trying to do a kewl bit that will end up injuring or killing you." Todd Robbins |
rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
Boys and girls, if it shakes up Todd, it's something to get seriously shook up about. There's enough good sideshow stunts out there that you can take a pass on this one and not miss a thing.
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petekoloz Elite user 479 Posts |
Can I still eat the banana if I skip the glass?
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FacadeTheStiltBoy Elite user Greensboro NC 474 Posts |
No, bananas are just as dangerous, if not more. The glass makes the banana less dangerous.
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The Curator of the Unusual Inner circle Tampa FL 1399 Posts |
Due to the Hazardous Nature of Circus Performing...This program is subject to change...also, Our Clowns are NOT to be laughed at!...
You come to a point in your life when you really don't care what people think about you, you just care what you think about yourself.
Evel Knievel contact: curatoroftheunusual@hotmail.com |
petekoloz Elite user 479 Posts |
That's what I was afraid of...
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DonDriver Inner circle 1790 Posts |
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petekoloz Elite user 479 Posts |
T/Y Don!!
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thegreatnippulini Inner circle of Hell because I've made 2582 Posts |
When it glistens, it's okay.... when it glistens red then there's a problem.
The Great Nippulini: body piercer, Guinness World Record holder, blacksmith and man with The World's Strongest Nipples! Does the WORLD care? We shall see...
http://www.greatnippulini.com |
fredr500 Loyal user Cary, NC 287 Posts |
I had just read a book that covered glass eating. I had a clear lightbulb in one hand, a hammer in the other, all set to break it and eat it.
Then I stopped and asked myself - how do you explain what you did to the wife and kids if this goes wrong? I read it in a book, I don't see why I couldn't do it? Luckily, sanity prevailed and I put everything away and did a four king card trick instead.
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Check out Funeral Sampler and over 200 reviews http://rosemagic.com Author of The Sweet Psychic, http://thesweetpsychic.com ECSS I, II, III IV, and V alumnus PEA Member, IBM and SAM Life Member |
rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
To all (especially fredr500 - glad you stopped when you stopped):
I just got a little shaken up when I went over to Youtube and searched for "how to eat glass" and "how to eat light bulbs". I found seven "how to" videos and also many more that depicted the stunt without trying to teach. WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING? At a certain level of frustration I'm tempted to step down off the soap box and ask "How dumb do you have to be to try something like this based on a website or video??" Todd certainly knows whereof he speaks, and he has done us all a favor by posting a public reminder that sideshow stunts are not "harmless fun and games". It's frustrating that people have to be reminded. I haven't seen many sideshow-how-to sites or books that don't carry an explicit warning not to try to learn from books or even videos. As I phrase it, "The performances and stunts described are not safe even for experienced performers. Never attempt them without the direct supervision of someone who already performs them. Please, use your common sense, and if you don't have any, stop listening now." It's a shame that foolish copycat urges motivate people to try to win a Darwin Award, but clear and reasoned warnings don't sink in. Thanks, Todd! |
bubbles New user The 5th Dimension 99 Posts |
" Never attempt them without the direct supervision of someone who already performs them."
Even this isn't a great disclaimer. Just cause someone does it doesn't mean they are doing it right! You need a good teacher, not just a teacher. |
Eric the Excellent Loyal user Montana 234 Posts |
I'm surprised that this /hasn't/ been made into a sticky.
Quote:
On 2011-03-13 12:14, thegreatnippulini wrote: They always told me all that glitters is not gold... |
dave_matkin Inner circle 4522 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-03-12 13:45, DonDriver wrote: ROTFLMAO Is that from a bind Italian artist who has heard about bananas! I wouldn't have said banana from the picture. Is it safe to eat a glass banana? What about if its glistening red? |
ringmaster Inner circle Memphis, Down in Dixie 1974 Posts |
On a maybe related note, swallowing neon tubes.
If you've read about Frank Dorn aka Sir Frances Duran's accident on RBBB and decided you're luckier or better than that, be advised, everything I ever read about that incident is a pack of lies. Frank was in the hospital for months and never regained his health. Don Mannix' research came out of a RBBB press release. And Chris Christ is a flat out liar. I opened for Frank in the late seventies and my father worked with him on the Daily Bros. Show in Canada twenty years before Ward Hall supposedly "taught him how to swallow swords".
One of the last living 10-in-one performers. I wanted to be in show business the worst way, and that was it.
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Harley Newman Inner circle 5117 Posts |
I have been present when a neon tube broke in someone. I do not wish to duplicate it, nor to ever witness it again.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” -Mark Twain
www.bladewalker.com |
JessicaSilver New user 49 Posts |
I once got an email from a kid saying something to the effect of "I'm super sick and I don't know why." Now, I've seen this kid eat glass, and it's pretty obvious he was doing it wrong. (Hint: if you're choking on the glass, you're doing it wrong.) So I write him back, essentially outlining the myriad things he did wrong, and suggesting (in no gentle terms) that he mention the glass-eating to his doctor, just in case. He writes me back with an excuse for everything, (ie: "I wasn't choking on the glass, I was choking on the water I used to wash it down,") and he's pretty sure his illness is unrelated, so he probably won't mention it. (He's lucky this exchange was via email, or he'd have got a swift boot to the head.)
This is the same kid who bleeds ON audience members in his impaling act, and has an audience member wield a sledgehammer for his cinder block smash. Oy... |
thegreatnippulini Inner circle of Hell because I've made 2582 Posts |
Todd Robbins had a neon sword break during a swallow. It was a lucky break (pun intended) as I believe it happened at the tip, so the withdraw was injury free. Unfortunately the poisonous neon gas killed him.
The Great Nippulini: body piercer, Guinness World Record holder, blacksmith and man with The World's Strongest Nipples! Does the WORLD care? We shall see...
http://www.greatnippulini.com |
dave_matkin Inner circle 4522 Posts |
Yes I believe neon starts at your little toe and painfully, over about 4 days transforms you in to a complete *** hole ..... .... Dd you notice Todd stopped posting 5 days before McB started?
Only kidding! There is no way ANYTHING could remove that much talent from Todd and leave home with NEGATIVE talent! |
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