Jim Malina eats fire at the City Museum in St. Louis, MO, USA in fall of 2004

A set of simple cast iron fire eating torches

A fire eater is an entertainer, often a street artist or part of a sideshow. The performer places flaming objects into their mouth and extinguishes them. They also practice controlling and transferring the flame. Image File history File links Fireeater-jim. ... Image File history File links Fireeater-jim. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1161 KB) Summary A simple set of fire eating torches made from rods cast in the shape of twigs, and wrapped with one foot each of 3/8 Kevlar-blend rope wicking. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 1161 KB) Summary A simple set of fire eating torches made from rods cast in the shape of twigs, and wrapped with one foot each of 3/8 Kevlar-blend rope wicking. ... An entertainer is someone who is hired to entertain people. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into busking. ... In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction. ...

Fire eating was a common part of Hindu, Saddhu, and Fakir performances to show spiritual attainment. It became a part of the standard sideshow acts in the late 1880s and is often seen as one of the entry-level skills for sideshow performers. A Hindu (archaic Hindoo), as per modern definition is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of the Indian subcontinent and the island of Bali. ... According to Herbert Ponting, who took this photograph in 1907, this is a fakir in Benares (Varanasi), India. ...

Other than sound fire safety precautions and some practical advice regarding the laws of physics (i.e. "hot air rises"), there are few secrets to eating fire. There is no such thing as "cold flame" nor is there any special substance in the performer's mouth other than saliva. According to Daniel Mannix's excellent 1951 sideshow memoir Step right up!, the real "secret" to fireeating is enduring pain; he mentions that tolerating constant blisters on your tongue, lips and throat is also necessary. It is a very dangerous act and should not be attempted without professional training. A Superconductor demonstrating the Meissner Effect. ... Saliva, often informally known as spit, is the moist, clear, and usually somewhat frothy substance produced in the mouths of some animals, including humans. ...

Fire eating tricks

These are arranged in alphabetical order. The acts should not be attempted without professional training.

Vapor tricks

Vapor tricks utilize the fuel vapors held in the mouth during or before an extinguish.

• Human candle - slowly feed a candle sized flame with vapors you hold
• Cigarette light - light a cigarette with a Human Candle
• Vapor transfer - ignite one torch with the vapor from another
• Volcano - shoot vapors straight up

Transfers

Transfers are methods of moving a flame from one area to another, by using the body, or another surface or medium.

• Body transfers - transfer the flame from one torch to the other with other parts of your body, e.g. arm, leg, chest, buttocks, etc.
• Finger transfer - transfer the flame from one torch to the other with your finger
• Fire floor transfer - transfer the flame from one torch to the other on the floor
• Palm transfer - transfer the flame from one torch to the other with your palm
• Spit transfer - spit the fire from one torch to the other during an eat
• Tongue transfer - transfer the flame from one torch to the other with your tongue
• Toss transfer extinguish - puts out one torch, while making the flame "jump" to the other torch
• Torch in teeth hold - hold a lit torch in your teeth

Extinguishes

Extinguishes are methods of extinguishing torches, and are the traditional hallmark of fire eating.

• Double fire eat - basic fire eat with 2 torches at once
• Extinguish cigarette/cigar on tongue
• Extinguish fire on palm
• Flaming cotton ball extinguish - put out a cotton ball as you would a torch
• Hand snuff of torch - put the torch out by snuffing it with your hand
• In-mouth extinguish - basic fire eat with 1 torch
• Triple fire eat - three torches at once
• Toss extinguish - pull the torch down out of the flame to extinguish it

See also

• Fire breathing
• Fire-twirling

A man demonstrates his skill at fire breathing 65 fire breathers perform simultaneously at Burning Man 2005 A simple fire breathing torch Fire breathing is the act of creating a large flame by spraying, with ones breath, a flammable liquid upon an open flame. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Fire dancing. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fire eater

• Fire Eating World-wide fire eating trainers & performers.
• North American Fire Arts Association
• [1] Marina, fire eater and other fire weapon performers.

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

References

• Mannix, Daniel P. (1951). Step right up!(1st ed.), Harper.