WEBVTT - How Fire Breathing Works 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.800 Brought to you by the all new Toyota Corolla. Welcome 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:14.440 to Stuff you Should Know from House Stuff Works dot com. Hey, 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:16.880 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.000 Charles W. Chuck Bryant and this is stuff you should 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:24.800 Know too. Hot addition, this is an addition to our 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:29.200 long standing circus arts suite. What else have we done then? 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:36.040 Human cannonball? Sure, we've done lion taming. Yeah, lion taming, Goodwin, 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.519 or animal tamming in general? Maybe I think it was 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:44.040 called um that there seems to be like a couple more. Yeah, 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.839 maybe to we do the you know that sphere that 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:54.000 the motorcycle guys right in the what did they call 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.040 that thing? The probably the cage of death because it's 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.280 the most dangerous thing ever. It's a pretty dangerous. Yeah, 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.560 Gosling did it though in that movie? Did he actually 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.000 do it? Okay? Of course not what movie was that? Um? 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.080 Pines one? Yeah, place beyond the pines, among the pines, 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:12.920 beside the pines around the pines has something to do 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.520 with the pines, had a pine smell to it. Yeah, 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:17.840 that was a great opening shot, though, I have to say, Oh, 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:19.560 is that I haven't seen that movie. It's this long, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.160 continuous shot that eventually takes him from like his trailer 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.520 into that sphere of death. Well, now the whole movie 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.600 spoil You might as well tell everybody what the what 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.960 the final final part of the plot is. They called 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:36.200 the Daniu Mall resolution. Yeah, the last act called Daniu 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:41.240 Mall Frenchie. All right. Circus Arts continued with fire breathing. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.520 I just did it? Did you see that, Chuck or 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:46.360 what are some of the other names, because breathing is 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.440 technically kind of a weird thing to call it. The 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.320 fire blowing is the one fire aspirating, And apparently I 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:57.200 read something on how some somepoi dot com, which is 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.200 basically a fire arts website. Um, they were saying, like, 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.200 there's two there's a medical term for aspirating, which is 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.040 to introduce air into the lungs, and they wanted to 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:08.639 go out of their way to point out that that's 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:10.720 not what they were talking about when they call it asperating. 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:15.080 They were using the other definition, which is, uh, exhaling, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:20.240 a missed vaporous missed. So aspiating is probably the best 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.320 term technically for it, but everybody calls it fire breathing. Yeah, 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.440 because a circus, uh what do they call the people 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.760 that yell a barker, isn't gonna say step right up 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.520 and see the fire aspirator. Yeah, they may have. Some 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.360 of those old timing circus barkers were like they were 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.280 into big words fire aspiration. You'd have to say it 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:42.600 like that, exactly, like Walter Winstel exactly. For some reason. 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.359 Uh chuck, Yes, have you ever seen somebody breath fire? 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.960 Sure you have in real life? Yeah, okay, yeah, like 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:56.600 the smaller circuses lollapalooza. Well, well I did see the 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.760 gym Row show. Do they have a fire breath? Then? 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.600 I don't remember. Just remember the guy that hung from 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:06.680 needles through his and I remember dudes eating glass and stuff. 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.320 But there had to be a fire breather in there. Well, 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.399 apparently that was around the time of the fire breathing Revival. 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.680 There was a They think that it's possible people were 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:20.440 fire breathing back in ancient Persia. Apparently that's where naphtha 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:27.160 was um discovered, which we'll talk about um and the 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.959 fire breathing as we know it probably came about around 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.200 the nineteenth century, around the time when circuses started, as 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:39.240 we understand them, medieval traveling players gave way to traveling circuses, 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.600 which gave way to right uh, and then it just 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.640 kind of died off for a little while until a 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:51.000 little known guy named Gene Simmons started doing it at 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.119 shows for the band called k I S S. Yes, 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.280 what is it stand for? Nights in Satan's Service? That's 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.080 not a rumor? Is a rumor? Yeah? That's not true? 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.720 At are you getting me there? Like they just want 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.400 to party to Jewish guys from New York that or makeup. 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.600 So yeah, Jean Simmons used to do it on stage 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.800 at Kiss shows. I didn't know that, did you that 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:15.480 he did that? And say, oh yeah, that was a 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:22.840 big trick. So you've been in a Kiss tribute band before? 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:26.279 Did we dressed up as Kiss for a Halloween concert? 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.360 That we did the same thing. We did not play 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.960 a single Kiss song though, Oh gotcha, because they're kind 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.400 of crappy. Well, did Dan go in brief fire? I 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.520 should have. I should have had the blood capsules too, 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:40.000 you know. So Gene Simmons taught a guy who was 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.359 in a tribute band called Black Diamond Um how to 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.880 breathe fire, so he could do a better tribute act. 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.360 And that guy eventually started this whole well, he kind 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.000 of introduced fire breathing to the whole urban tribalism raver 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:58.400 goth culture, and then there you have it. Now, now 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.240 we have fire breathing. Jeans Emmons is responsible for the 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.600 resurgence in the nineteen seventies and fire breathing pretty much 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.560 all right. So, um, if Gene Simmons can do what 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.760 you say, anybody can do it, and you're pretty much right. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:12.920 But the thing is that it takes a certain kind 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:18.080 of person to breathe fire. And with that, I feel 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:22.960 like we should see away here, like this is fire breathing. 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.360 So there's actually stuff called fire arts. It is a 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.680 subsection of the circus arts, and it's basically anything dangerous 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:33.560 to do with fire, juggling, breathing, eating, eating, anything you 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.080 can do with fire is pretty dangerous. Fire breathing is 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.320 far and away the most dangerous of the fire arts. 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.440 It is extraordinarily dangerous. It is you could say, extremely 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:49.360 dumb to do. And I used to think that when 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:50.760 I saw it, I was like I could do that. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.400 You know, you just put it in your mouth and 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:54.719 you just blow the fine mist just spit it out. 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:59.599 But that's you will end up burned and disfigured if 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.480 you just try that on a whim, which we'll get into. UM. 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.880 I was reading an article by Pendult about fire eating, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.600 and the whole time he was talking about you know 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:10.720 how dumb it was, and don't do it, but then 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.840 he's giving a step by step which is what we're 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:17.320 gonna do kind of um. But he was saying that 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.800 fire eating and fire breathing, any of the fire arts 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:22.600 are one of those rare things where even if you 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.440 do it right, you're still going to get hurt, if 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.760 you're not gonna come away unscathed. And in addition to 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:30.839 the immediate problems you're gonna have, you can have long 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.240 term problems, which we'll get into as well. But we 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.600 should say that just from the outset, people who are 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:39.800 fire breathers typically won't teach you how to do it 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.240 if you ask them to, and they will also tell 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:47.160 you don't listen to podcasts, don't read magazines, don't read books, 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.080 don't go to websites, like, all of those things have problems, 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:53.960 and you if you really do want to learn how 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.840 to breathe fire, then go find somebody who does this 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:58.640 and has done it for years and knows what they're doing, 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.599 and ask if they will teach you how to do it. 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.040 That's the only way you can possibly even remotely safely 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.400 learn how to breathe fire. That's right. And for this article, um, 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.840 who wrote this? Uh, this is a Tracy Wilson jam 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.200 Well you know it's thorough, but um, she interviewed a 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:20.840 couple of professional fire breathers, Mike Garner and a lady 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.960 with the stage name of Pelee, And so we're gonna 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.320 be quoting from them and a lot of this is 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.880 their expertise on the page. So we just want to 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:30.520 shout out to them. Yeah. I don't know if they're 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:34.680 still doing this, but um a bit they are, Like 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.000 who hangs up their boots their spurs If you're a 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.040 fire breather, I think when your mouth falls out. Well 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:43.560 they've both been hurt. Yeah, all right, so let's get 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:47.320 into it, all right. So, um, with fire breathing, Uh, 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:52.440 you've got basically two things that you need. You need 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:56.760 a fuel source and a flame source and a mouth. Yeah, 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.280 that's pretty much it. Yeah, you don't even take thickly 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.400 need a hand you could use some sort of robotic 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.800 arm to hold your flame source. So really you just 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.679 need a mouth, a fuel source, and a flame. Um. 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.920 And like you said, it's just you thought you could 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:15.640 just do that. You put a little fuel in your 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:17.640 mouth and you spit it at the flame and you're fine. 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.560 I was just gonna do a tiny bit too. Well, 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.800 apparently that's all you want. You want about a shots worth. UM, 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.400 so I already would have done too much, probably thinking 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.880 it was little and I have a huge beard, which yeah, 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:32.120 that's another big one to Some people say that you 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.360 should do this, um unclothed from the waist up, just 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.600 to prevent your shirt from catching on fire or whatever. Um. 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.679 But the the the key to fire breathing, apparently is 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.959 the mist you produce. You don't want to the fuel 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.199 to be You want to kind of atomize the fuel 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.679 in your mouth with the spit. You want to create 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.480 this mist because if it's not misty enough, the fuel 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.160 will be too heavy or catch fire and land on 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.640 the ground and just burn the grounds. Right And if um, 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.160 this is something that eventually you want to try and 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:05.640 do professionally, and you get hooked up with a professional 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:08.600 and they're gonna give you lessons. They're not gonna hand 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:12.720 you a cup of Colman fuel and say let's give 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:14.880 this a try. They're gonna hand you a cup of 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.160 water and then say we're gonna be getting this missed 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.840 correct and the angle correct for the next two years 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:25.320 until you ever touch fuel to mouth. And uh, speaking 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.360 of angle, that angle needs to be between sixty and 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.240 eighty degrees because if it's too low might get on 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:35.240 your body. It's too high, it might fall back onto 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.840 your face. And that's that's really important angle. That's the 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.120 angle of the miss coming out of your mouth in 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:45.160 relation to the ground. Yeah, okay, is that confusing? Okay, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:46.840 They're like, what are you supposed to lay on a 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:51.480 board at a certain angle? Uh? So the first thing 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:53.480 you want to do, or the first thing the professionals do, 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.760 is examine their surroundings. They gotta check the wind, of course, 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:03.120 even if they're indoors um and Gardner says, uh. Actually, 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.959 Pale says, to actually watch the flame on the torch 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.680 is the best way to tell what the wind is doing. Yeah, 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:10.800 but it can all change in a moment. Oh yeah, 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.000 it definitely can. Win. Wind changes correct a direction and 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:18.040 you're in trouble. Yeah. Um, you also want to This 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:19.840 is not something you want to show up to. You 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:21.800 just put the fuel in your mouth and blow into 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.840 a flame. You want to do a little recon work first. Um, 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:27.960 you want to make sure there's no power lines around 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:31.319 where you're gonna be blowing fire. Um that you want 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.080 to make sure that you know where the people are 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.080 going to be and where they're not going to be. 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.040 You want to know which direction you're standing, the wind direction, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.120 wind speed, all of that kind of stuff. Trees, Yeah, no, 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:45.080 low hanging fruit nearby, that's right. Uh. And then once 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:49.040 you've kind of got your your miss down, your angle 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.920 of your head, and the knowledge that you don't want 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.480 to blow fire toward power lines. H, it's time to 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.679 investigate what kind of fuel to use. That's right. There 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.880 are all kinds of fuels. Um. One thing that you 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:07.920 want to always avoid is gasoline or just straight up alcohol. 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:13.000 It's not safe. Yeah. Methyl alcohols are extremely toxic, and 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:17.160 Pale points out ethyl alcohols can induce drunkenness. You do 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.120 not want anything approaching drunkenness while you're You want to 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.319 be a sober as a judge, A sober judge while 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.559 you're while you're fire breathing. Yeah, And both those alcohols 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.240 are very low um flash points to which makes them 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:35.240 more dangerous. And here's why. So there's something called blowback. Um. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.240 If something has a low flash point, that means it 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.360 ignites at a low temperature. Right, So if you're spitting 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.000 fuel at a fire source of flame source, that fuel 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.120 that's close to your mouth, if it has a low 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.720 flash point, could conceivably catch fire. So the trail of 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.600 fire can follow the path back to your mouth and 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.480 then catch your mouth on fire while you have a 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.680 mouthful of fuel. Yeah, like, uh, you know the trick 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:01.520 that you also should never do, which is what the 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.760 aerosol can and making that into a flame torch. I've 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.960 seen it crawl back up towards the nozzle when someone 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.280 else was doing it, and that's really dangerous. That's the 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.160 same thing, same exact thing, right, But imagine you don't 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:16.720 have a cap that closes a valve with your mouth 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.680 and you have fuel all around your mouth from the 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.480 little spittle miss that you've been making with it. It's 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.520 a bad scene when blowback happens. And so to avoid that, 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:29.800 you you I should say, fire breathers use um fuels. 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:32.559 With high flash points. Yeah, so you want to look 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.800 at your flash point. You want to look at the toxicity, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.600 even though most of these are going to be fairly 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.000 toxic because you're putting this in your mouth. You know, Well, 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.280 there actually is one that's non toxic that works. Corn 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:46.720 starch y. Yeah. Apparently corn starch processing plants used to 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.160 blow up in the nineteenth century a lot um. Do 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.600 you remember that sugar plant blew up in Savannah? Well, 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:54.800 a sugar plant blew up in Savannah, and it blew 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:59.160 up because of sugar dust. Anything that's that small can explode, 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.199 can not. So corn starch can as well. So it's 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.760 non toxic. But the problem is if you get it 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.320 into your lungs, then it can cause problems. But they 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.439 actually use that professional fire. But I saw it on 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.319 house some poy Yeah, ok, and hey they know what 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:16.080 they're talking about. Love You said that like it was 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:18.280 the National Archives or something, I mean, and pretty it 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.600 pretty much is. It's the National Archives of fire breathing. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.480 Uh So the taste in the smell, you know, because 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:24.960 like we said, you're gonna put this in your mouth 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.640 and there's also going to be people around, and you 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.560 don't want to you know, offend people with some malodorous, 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.839 toxic fumes. You don't want all kinds of awful smoke, uh, 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:37.600 and you want it to make a nice plain that 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.360 has nice color and it's very visible. All this goes 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.400 into choosing your fuel, that's right. Um. The fuel, The 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.120 most prevalent fuel that I came across and researching is kerostene, 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.720 which is also known as paraffin um and it's toxic, 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.520 but as far as the fire breathing fuels go, it's 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:59.520 one of the least toxic ones. Paraffin's actually used medicinally 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.200 is a LA positive, which means that you can suffer 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:07.440 anal seepage as a fire breather if you use paraffin 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:11.800 as that's one of the side effects of paraffin laxative use. 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.320 But that's not all right, never mind. Um. They both 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.560 have kerosene in lamp oils another one. They both have 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.480 high flash points, so they're a little bit safer, um, 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.880 and they burn a low temperature but they're bright. Yeah, 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.960 but they are smoky, and they do have a pretty 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.720 nasty smell, and neither one of them is really safe 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.920 to ingest um. And they do have toxins in the additive. 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.960 So like you know, nothing's like perfect. No, I like 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.080 choosing the lesser of the evils. I think there was 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.360 a um A lamp oil that was colorless and odorless, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:49.320 but it turned out to be extremely carcinogenic. Carcinogenic because 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.560 whoever was making this stuff used additives to make it 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.920 colorless and odorless, and those things were very deadly. Isn't 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:00.400 that weird? Yeah, that's weird. I mentioned Coleman fuel earlier. 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.320 That's what I use. Like camping, a lot of camp 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.520 stoves and stuff use common fuel. That's what pend you 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.400 let uses for fire reading a k A white gas 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.760 or lighter fluid or naptha and that has a low 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:15.560 flash point. UM. So it's more volatile and its toxical 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.480 course um and a lot of people say it is 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:24.120 more dangerous inside with the kerosene over the common fuel. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.560 And that's a common brand name fuel by the way, right, 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.080 But it's so it's almost like tile and all fuel 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:35.800 or cleanex fuel. UM. So that we talked about avoiding 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.080 alcohols in general. You got your fuel, you got your 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.200 mouth at the right angle, and you get the miss 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.040 going on. Now you need a flame source. Just look 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.720 like a match, right, No, you'll catch your whole hand 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.040 on fire. You want something that you can you can 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:54.400 keep away from your hand. Uh So a torch. Usually 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.960 there's actually torches that I think are made for this 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:59.320 kind of stuff. You can make your own, but you 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.720 want to be uh I should say. Fire breathers can 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.520 make their own, but they want to be careful with 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:09.000 the the materials they use. Like for example, let's say 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.280 you had a lot of cotton and that was your 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:15.280 that you were gonna dip in naptha. Right, makes sense, 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.400 but the water of cotton is not going to stay there. 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.960 You need to wrap it around with something. Well, you 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:21.520 have to be careful what you wrap it around with. 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.440 If you wrapped around with rope, it can break and 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.360 fall into your mouth. If you're doing a fire eating trick. Um, 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.520 same thing with like nylon rope. That stuff will melt 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.440 and drip into your mouth and just burn until it 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.680 feels like going out. Um. So, you want to be 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.120 careful what you use. And from what I understand, you 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.040 want to kind of pony up for the torch, the 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:44.120 pre made torch that's designed by a professional not to 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.760 burn your face off if you're gonna if you're gonna 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:48.720 be a professional fire eater. You're not gonna cheap out 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.000 on the torch, right, and I mean really, that's gonna 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.080 be your most significant investment unless you have to pay 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.360 somebody to teach you. Because how much is lamp oil? 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.720 How much is your mouth? Your mouth is free, you know. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:03.960 this is pretty low buying. I guess it is, but 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.520 a high cost let you do it wrong. Well, let's 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.720 talk about the hy uh well dangers in safety. There's 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:14.439 one thing called fire eater pneumonia um, and that is 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:20.120 a condition that they're prone to called hydrocarbon uh pneumonitis. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.360 Basically that's from inhaling fuel and they've nicknamed it fire 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.560 eater pneumonia because it must just be a common thing 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:27.840 in that trade. Yeah. Um, it can lead to coma. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.920 One of the signs of it is stupor um collapsed 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.200 long You can also get a fluid build up in 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.160 the lining of the lungs. It's not it's not good, 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.160 no good. Um. That's not the only problem. We also 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:45.840 talked about blowback, because if you think about it like 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.159 you can, you can influence the direction of the flame, 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:54.120 but you're incapable of controlling it, especially outdoors. So first 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.679 of all, even without blowback, the wind can direct the 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.680 flame in a different direction that you wanted to and 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.320 all the sudden you or somebody you care about is 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.840 on fire, or maybe someone you don't even like that much. 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:07.399 But you don't want to be in the book for 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.680 setting exactly, you can still be liable trees on fire. 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.479 There's there's things that catch fire when you're fire breathing, 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:18.480 if if even under the most perfect of circumstances. Uh, 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:22.920 some of the lesser effects over time um skin irritation, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:27.480 ulcers in the stomach, gum disease in dry mouth, poisoning, 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:33.720 and um general respiratory distress. Like if you're a pro 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.080 fire breathering, you know it's it's not a normal thing, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.119 right to put this toxic fuel in your mouth and 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.520 blow it back out, So over time it's gonna catch 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.840 up to you. Yeah, and don't forget anal seepage. Who 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:49.160 can that's another for using paraffin. But they do take 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.520 a lot of safety precautions. Pale points out that they 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:58.480 work with partners who are very adept at putting out fires. Um, 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.399 they train them in how to put out, the tools, 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.080 how to put out the person, how to put out 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:06.600 the area around it if anything bad happens. And it's 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.600 basically just an assistant there in case anything goes wrong 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:15.200 with all of the accoutrement. Like fire A wet blanket, Yeah, 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.240 like literally a wet blanket. I guess that's where the 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:22.639 term came from. Fire breathing. Don't be a wet blanket. Uh. 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.159 In this case, we want someone to be a wet 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.680 blanket right at the right time. Um. And the person 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.480 is not only good at extinguishing a tree or a 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.120 loved one, Um, they're good at extinguishing the fire breather 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:39.360 himself or herself. Um, and calling nine on one. Yeah, 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:41.200 it's probably good idea. How the old cell phone handing. 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:42.720 But you want to have someone you trust and who's 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.000 not going to panic. Yeah. You also want to have 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:47.159 a first aid kit and make sure you have everything 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:50.680 you need. Um. You just don't drive up willy nilly. 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.080 If you're a pro, You've got all this stuff squared away, 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.479 You've talked to the local authorities, maybe the fire marshal. 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.040 You've said, here's what we're gonna do, is it okay? 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:05.200 Here's my fire plan? Um. One was saying like she 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.920 contacts the local fire department or the local fire marshal 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.040 and says, hey, I'm going to do this. Are we cool? Yeah? 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.920 And then yeah, here's what happens if if things go 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:18.800 out of control. That's that's the fire marshal says, ah, yeah, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:20.960 that looks good to me. Hey, Jimmy, pass a lasagna 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:26.240 over here. Right, fire marshals are known for loving lasagna. Yeah, well, 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:27.960 I think that's all those guys do is eat, right, 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.240 eat lasagna? Well, just good food. Yeah, that's why people 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.040 go into that business, right, I don't know, hang out 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.720 with the dudes and eat good food. That Dalmatian that No, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:42.640 they're saving lives, buddy. We talked about where Dalmatians became 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.440 associated with firefighting, right at some point we didn't. It 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.320 wasn't stand alone. I wonder what it was. I can't remember. 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:54.720 Uh So. Another thing you can do to minimize the 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.720 effects of fuel on the body is to, um, you 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.240 want to in between acts, you want to make sure 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.480 all that fuel is cleaned off of your face and hands. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:05.240 Don't one forget any of that. I mean, like literally 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.600 what they do is they blow, they put the torch 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:12.720 down there, um, they wipe their mouth with a wet 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.119 rag and then they spit whatever fuel remains in their 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.080 mouth back into like the the fuel cup and wipe 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:23.160 their mouth and hands again. And then that's one blow 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.719 of the thing. That's one blow, ideally one breath. Uh. 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:30.600 They also recommend um, or some of the tricks of 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:33.520 the trade at least is to eat um like bread 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.480 and drink milk and an an acid. Yeah, I'm just 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:38.600 kind of funny anything about it. Pendela was saying, like 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:41.560 the burps that you will have after this there are 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.280 indescribable interesting and a little puff of smoke comes out 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:47.680 or I think it's worse than that. That be the 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:52.000 car smell and the taste of it are just horrible. Wow. Uh. 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:56.160 There are associations, real professional associations. The North American Fire 0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:01.600 Artists Association and the National Fire Protection Association have guidelines 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:03.920 for all this stuff with performance safety. So does Home 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.200 of POI. M let's go ahead and get to the POI. 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:09.920