Back Garden Pyromania

A small collection of photographs from a shoot I was at in my back garden. Originally intended for a competition, they probably deserve to be here.

New Development!

I am preparing a stunt, below I will describe the props used in the stunt and the name only. No other details are to be included. This stunt has NEVER been attempted as far as I know. It is a mix of several effects notorious for being dangerous.

The video will be called "The Second Most Dangerous Way To Eat An Apple" and to amplify your curiosity, there hasn't yet been a First.

Equipment list follows as such, I can't go traditional like other jugglers and call it a "Prop list", as the majority of the objects are from the garden centre or bottle bank.

1 x Bowling ball (6lb)
1 x Harmless apple
1 x Meat cleaver
1 x Bag of nails
9 x Steak knives 
25 x Empty bottles
5 x Razor blades (undecided)
6 x Garden forks (optional)


The video will be released on my YouTube channel as soon as the preparations have been made in the next coming months.  

What Is Danger?

A knife lying deserted on a table, an unlit Zippo lighter in a pool of petrol, what is danger? In any other situation these objects could be considered ‘dangerous’. The definition of dangerous is:

To be in dangerous situation is when a human is in peril, so naturally one would assume that danger is only felt within living beings. Inanimate objects are incapable of feeling or even being in danger because technically they aren’t alive. Earthquakes and rockslides occur when humans aren’t anywhere near the epicentre, we don't hear about them, they aren’t dangerous.

Feeling that you are in danger is based on fear. Fear is the belief that a person is in certain or possible danger. Fears can be irrational or rational. For example the co-creator of Apple, Steve Jobs, was terrified of buttons – that’s why he always wore a polo neck jumper.
Where does this apply to the performing arts? Don’t worry, I’m not meandering off on one! I’ll try not to include a picture of a cat, I promise - oh, maybe just one. 

Above: Steve Jobs

Take a tightrope walker for instance; he walks across a wire whilst juggling, there’s a net beneath him in case he falls. The walker believes he is in danger of falling, the nerves take their toll on his mind and body so he eventually falls to the safety of the net. Let’s say that the performer meditates on what fear is, he removes the fear and controls the anxiety of potential danger - let’s say he then burns the net in a dramatic frenzy!

The man walks out along his wire, juggling and whistling a tune. He believes he is not in danger, and confidence twinned with focus leaves an incredibly low opportunity for human error.
The audience thinks what he does is super-dangerous, and this is the key, people love risk. A final thought, when you are in a car (a very dangerous situation given the statistics of chance) do you feel in danger?

I juggle dangerous things on a regular basis; I know that if you are afraid of something, usually when you are first trying to learn how to juggle a new sharp prop, you’re likely to slice your hand open like a peach. A perfect example of this is broken bottles, I could juggle them reasonably well. I dropped a few and had to replace them, then after cutting both my foot and finger I called it a day. The fear of cutting my hand open had gone because I had already done that. Coming back to it a few days later, I picked up the bottles and became quite good at throwing them about. Then I had a little photo shoot.

Prosecco bottles are ideal

 

I haven’t cut myself since.

How to balance a chair on your face

Find yourself a relatively light chair at first, it must be lacking a person. It's best to start off with a cheap garden chair. Lift it with both arms, feel the weight of it (Tip: if you can lift it above your nipples then you can balance it on your face!)

Now you should give it a wipe, it's not fun getting a woodlouse in your eye at the crucial moment of showing off. It is very important to check the floor of obstacles and ensure that your shoelaces are tied, or in fact take your shoes off - this is a bohemian act of social defiance! Lift the chair up to face height, as if you're about to sacrifice a virgin with a club.

The Gods will be happy with you

Slowly focus on the top point of the chair and gently hold the back of the chair upside-down on to your chin. It is easier to attempt this if you do it in full daylight, for some reason having a dark sky above you is rather disorientating.



Like this, but not on fire (Note: tacky white plastic chairs to the right)

 

 

Make sure you let go gently and that your chin is clean, if the chair slips on teenage greasy skin sweat it's a nasty faceplant with potential neck injuries. I'm being a bit hypocritical as the above picture is a wooden chair on fire but I'd been practising for at least a two days before that stunt.

As you let go it will be clear where the point of balance lies, it feels great! Clearly don't try this if it's windy outside, and the best thing to start off balancing is in fact a peacock feather on the tip of your nose.

Use your chin for mildly heavy things and your forehead for ridiculous objects like fire extinguishers or shopping trolleys. Below is a video demonstrating a wide variety of objects you can have fun with.

 

 

Have fun, it's addictive!

I'm back!

After much confusion I have ended up in University, I have new equipment, a suit, and a YouTube Channel. I am in my first semester at Uni and already I am notorious for being the student who jumped on broken glass and juggled machetes in the chapel - whilst eating an apple. I am also mascot to a band called Carnivale, so wherever they go, I follow with a backpack of knives and apples (last night I managed to smuggle a 6lb bowling ball into a pub as everyone else was searched and scrutinised for having car-keys!)

So I have returned, mysteriously I have little to say but prepare to be entertained.