Who is the Space Cowboy?
Sideshow celebrity, The Space Cowboy is a truly unique artist from Byron Bay Australia. A natural performer, he started presenting his unusual skills at the local markets at the age of eight, now 33 he has shocked and amazed audiences in 30+ countries at festivals, events and in sold out venues around the world and made numerous television appearances that have earned him his fame.
The Space Cowboy is a highly skilled and diverse performer who currently holds eleven Guinness World Records, the most records ever held by an Australian. He has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival fifteen years in a row, proven unbeatable at ‘The Street Performance World Championships’ winning 2006, 2007 and on his return in 2011, presented numerous shows in the Sydney Opera house, toured with famous rock bands and shocked motorcycle dare-devils in mega arena stunt shows.
One of the most innovative Sword Swallowers alive today, he performs an ever expanding list of sideshow stunts as well as elite circus skill including his world champion dangerous 3m unicycle finale.
The Space Cowboy is a living phenomena guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on those who witness his incredible acts. Following in the footsteps of legends such as Houdini his death defying displays are history in the making.
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Interview for the ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’ Book:
Why did you start sword swallowing?
I have been performing street shows since I was
8 years old, and as a teenager I began to get tired of the same old traditional circus
skills, I wanted to do something more bizarre, more unique and more extreme. Sword
swallowing just seemed like the most adventurous skill that I could learn, but I don’t
think I quite realized how dangerous my new career choice would be.
Was it hard to learn?
Yes, it is very hard to learn. I guess I am lucky that I started
to force hoses and other objects down my throat at an early age. You need to learn to
control muscles that are usually involuntary and this can take many years. I started
training for sword swallowing when I was 16 years old.
In the beginning I swallowed a piece of string with a small piece of food tied to the
end. I then moved on to forcing hoses down my throat to train the muscles of my
esophagus. Every time a person swallows we have circular muscles that retract in our
throat. You need to control these muscles so that when you swallow with a blade down
your esophagus these muscles stay open and do not slice on the blade.
Doesn’t it hurt?
No, it doesn’t hurt, but it is very uncomfortable. Having a foreign
object in your throat instantly makes you gag and vomit, and this is just the
first obstacle that you need to overcome in order to swallow a sword. I am constantly
pushing myself to make the impossible possible, and in order to do this I need to make
the pain I experience obsolete. If you want something enough, pain is no longer an issue.
Have you ever had an accident?
I was born with an internal deformation of my
digestive system that enables me to swallow a sword deeper than any other sword
swallower that has ever lived. When I first started swallowing the long sword I was
20 years old, and in a moment of distraction I sliced my stomach lining in a
performance. Backstage I started vomiting blood and was rushed to hospital. To the
doctor’s amazement I swallowed an endoscope with no anesthetic! I was prescribed
serious drugs to stop any infection. It was a lucky escape. It was 10 years before I
would attempt this swallow again.
Do you train a lot?
On days that I am not performing I do need to keep my internal
muscles finely tuned, so I use meditation and internal isolation techniques to stay
sword-swallowing fit. In my business any mistake is potentially a deadly one!
What are your future ambitions?
I love pushing the boundaries of what people think is
possible. I regularly perform what is considered by many to be impossible, in the hope
that just by seeing these extreme acts people may consider the endless possibilities of what they can achieve.
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