http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/17......936.html

I thought there was another female sword swallower that was 12?

If Amy (Miss Behave) is still under 20, she's it, but the 12 year old was a guy.

My daughter did it at 19.

Second paragraph down, it says "youngest /professional/ female sword swallower" in the world. I reckon that's the distinction that let's 'em get away with it.

And, of course, there have never been any exaggerated claims in the world of sideshow. . .

Not everybody needs to exaggerate, CJ. Only the ones with mediocre abilities and inflated egos.

Like THIS GUY?

Originated nothing. Made many claims of origination. Got lots of attention. Yup.

Still, with regard to Ms. Ray's claim, it seems to be that she is CURRENTLY the world's youngest professional female sword swallower. It doesn't mean she started swallowing swords at a younger age than anyone else.

As with any advertisement, puffery or not, carefully chosen words can often make a claim true.

It's not like calling a capybara a "giant rat," not that anyone would ever do that, of course. . .

I do believe the claim was made by Dan Meyer, not Asia herself. In her defense as well, she has been swallowing swords for a quite some time prior to this show, so.....

Now get on your ROUS and beat it!

How many performers in history have been touted simultaneously as "the one and only original..." or "the smallest woman who ever lived" or whatever? It's a carny thing, let the girl have her bally.

Besides, she's hot.

Harley, Asia also learned to swallow swords when she was 19. She currently does over 20 shows a day at the Freakshow and has been doing that since she was 13. Do the math....that's at least 36,000 shows she has actually performed in front of a paying audience inside a real Freakshow/Sideshow. I don't even think you can say you've done that......I doubt there's anyone on this website that can say that and it's not exaggeration. She does many acts in every show including the Rubber girl (contortion), Fire Eating, the Electric Lady and Sword Swallowing. When you say the name Asia Ray, you are speaking of a female Sideshow Legend in the making.....and I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter....I'm saying that because I have seen them all come and go and she's the only one that can do it non-stop without whining. On top of everything, like Ross says, she is beautiful and is a sweetheart of a person. The guys LOVE her, the girls want to be her and thanks to the millions of people who have now watched our TV show FREAKSHOW on AMC, she could be the Most Famous Female Sword Swallower In The WORLD!!! Can you tell that I'm proud of her?

I don't blame you for being proud of your daughter, nor for your practice of hyperbole. She's obviously a cool kid, and you're doing what you need to do, to keep your show going.

We may disagree about the value of 36,000 performances. Quality and quantity are not necessarily related. We all know, for example, that a lousy band can play a lousy song 1,000 times. It still won't be a good song, and it still won't be something that anybody wants to listen to. One problem I've seen frequently with performers who keep that kind of schedule, is that they become stuck in a particular presentation and style, and have great difficulty shifting gears. I hope this doesn't happen to Asia.

You make an apples and oranges comparison. I haven't worked that many shows in that amount of time, but I do not work in the same venue, or have the same performance conventions. Technically, some of our material is the same, but our goals and presentations are very different.

Harley, I would expect you to be a little more supportive of a young female Sideshow performer. Maybe I'm reading your posts wrong?

I'm not being unsupportive at all. She has potential to go far in this business.

I AM hesitant about things like records, because too many of them are BS. And hyperbole, while it runs a lot of our business, should never be believed.

Ok....Well, we are having fun over here.......

That's FAR more important! Hooray!

None of MY records are BS, and SHOULD be believed.... I have LOTS of fun with it. Personally, setting and breaking world records has become addictive, like tattoos.... and shaving. Having a GWR is also like being in a club of sorts. You see one hanging on a wall and you know your in good company. Kind of like a gang totem. We spent our anniversary in a downtown Philly hotel and took a wine flight at the bar. Hanging up on the wall is a GWR for largest wine taps, over 950!

I prefer the letter that rejects me for being too dangerous.