A word about Fire Breathing

Hm, the issues with that video start when he says that its not really that dangerous... its the poisoning thats dangerous... yeah, sure thats got a higher likelihood of happening... (100% chance for poisoning to some degree) but if you've got that kind of attitude its asking for trouble...

MRC is right.

There are full write ups on the fuels, on the techniques (including wiping the face ) and all of that in this site.
Some of it is in the link that aston put up. Doc has an interesting story on pg 3(or so) on that link of someone who was suffering severe ARDS from Fire Breathing with alcohol.

It also links to what causes ARDS.

And it all goes back to, it's not what you swallow, it's what you inhale.
Sure you *can* swallow oils, starches, alcohol but the fact remains the body isn't made to inhale them. And we do, we will, when Fire Breathing. We simply can't create a cloud and not breathe any of it in.

I just want to add to this thread after our experience this Saturday night.

We were doing a fire show outside a club, standard stuff: 2hrs of freeform spinning and breathing to entertain the queuing masses. Sheltered location with low breeze. We had a constant lighting flame running so inspect for wind direction. About 90mins in Cam made a tower breathe just as a gust of wind blew in from the other direction. Luckily he was breathing upwards so did not ingest any fuel, but the blowback went straight into his face. Hes now left with superficial burns, the worst of which were to the back of his right eyelid (hes got no lashes left at all).

I've been performing with Cam for years and hes experienced and professional but we all agreed that he was lucky it wasn't MUCH MUCH worse, if his head had been at a slightly different angle, or his eyes open we'd not have been finishing the show (he sat out obviously), we'd have been straight to the emergency room.

Once again - BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

I work in egypt as a fire performer, My main skill is Eating but can breathe too although getting the right fuel here is very difficult could you tell me just how dangerous alcohol is comared to fuel and why an answer would be very appreciated

Alcohol is much more volatile than paraffin. It has a much lower flash point, and all that meaning not only will it be much more likely to backtrack to your face because of the volatility, but even more so because of the flash point making it easier to be lit. It will catch on fire if it is on your face, paraffin won't. And any alcohol consumed as well as fumes breathed will cause you to become intoxicated and mess up. And you WILL ingest some because it gets in your spit.

Thankyou, that is very helpful. I try to avoid breathing if I can because as we all know here it is extremely dangerous. I wont be using alcohol im just going to stick to eating and my other toys, Is anyone here familiar with the Zip poi? one of my colleagues is very good at it and I believe it is quite a new toy?

Mate, Kerosene/parrifin.

gee wiz... i have been breathing for a month now but i waited till someone taught me how. noone should try it without a guide! I was interested in the remark about wiping up. im looking for a good rag that i can hold in my hand while i hold my oil bottle too. got any good ideas for fabrics? shammy?

so if none of you will teach anyone, who is going to teach the next generation of performers?

Good question. My own personal response, is that an internet forum is exactly the wrong place to learn something like this, in the same way that skydiving or mountain-climbing just aren't suitable for forum-based learning.

Does that make sense?

Agreed. you learn Fire Breathing the old fashioned way. You find a teacher who shows you how to do it in person. Not everything can be instantly downloaded and copied.

Go to WildFire Retreat or some other conference and attend classes on it. That's how I learned.

I would NEVER tell a person "how to fire breath", give them equipment, and send them on their way. Those are hands on lessons you don't mess around with.