- Dan Meyer (performer)
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Dan Meyer Born Daniel Meyer
April 7, 1957
Michigan City, Indiana, United StatesNationality American Occupation Corporate entertainer, author, inspirational/motivational speaker, performance artist, sword swallower, fire eater, juggler Known for Ig Nobel Laureate known for Sword swallowing underwater in a tank of sharks and stingrays Spouse Lisa Littrell (February 29, 2004 – present) Website www.danmeyer.org Dan Meyer (born April 7, 1957) is an American performance artist, corporate entertainer, inspirational/motivational speaker, and professional sword swallower best known for swallowing swords underwater in a tank of sharks and stingrays.[1] Meyer is also internationally recognized as the world's foremost authority in the field of sword swallowing as a published author [1], Ig Nobel Laureate [2], and Chief Executive Director of the Sword Swallowers Association International (SSAI). [3]
Contents
Biography
Early life
Meyer was born in Michigan City, Indiana on April 7, 1957. He first observed sword swallowers in the mid-late 1960s with the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus and Carson and Barnes Circus at Pullman Field in Michigan City, IN, and at the La Porte County Fair in La Porte, IN.
In late 1975, Meyer began to study juggling and clowning while attending Waldorf College in Forest City, IA. [4] During this time, Meyer learned the art of clowning from local clowns and was heavily influenced in Christian clown ministry by the work of the Rev. Floyd Shaeffer. It was during this period that Meyer also learned fire eating from a local Iowa magician in 1976.
In 1977-78 Meyer served as a short-term Lutheran missionary to India with the first Lutheran Youth Encounter mission team to India, “Rainbow of Promise”. [5] In 1978, Meyer was based in Madras, Tamil Nadu, and traveled to rural villages, hospitals, and leprosy missions throughout Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh India. During this time Meyer learned to read and write Tamil, Telegu, and Malayalam. It was during his missionary period in south India that Meyer witnessed sword swallowing and fire eating among Indian fakirs firsthand. Sword swallowing and fire eating are believed to have first originated in south India around 2000 BC.
After performing juggling and fire eating for over twenty years, Meyer became intrigued with learning the most difficult and dangerous of all the sideshow arts: sword swallowing. After meeting sword swallower George the Giant McArthur in Nashville, TN in 1998 and hearing that there were "less than a dozen sword swallowers left around the world", Meyer became passionate in his quest to locate as many of the surviving sword swallowers as possible while studying the 4,000-year-old art.
Over the next three years from 1998 to 2001, Meyer researched and studied the art of sword swallowing while networking with the remaining surviving sword swallowers around the world and compiling a collection of over 500 photos of sword swallowers. On February 12, 2001, after over three years of research, study, and daily practice with over 13,000 unsuccessful attempts, Meyer managed to successfully swallow his first sword, an 8-sided sai, followed by a curved military saber. Over the next 5 years, Meyer taught himself to swallow solid steel swords up to 30 inches long and up to 8 swords at once while networking the remaining sword swallowers into the Sword Swallowers Association International. [6]
Performance career
As a sword swallower, Meyer can swallow swords with blade lengths ranging from 15 to 30 inches in length and up to 15 swords at once. Besides performing juggling, stilt-walking, fire eating, and eating glass lightbulbs, Meyer’s act has included swallowing daggers, bayonets, sabers, cutlasses, rapiers, the serpentine Flamberge sword, the curved Persian Shamshir sword, 19” surgical forceps, a 20" long screwdriver, a jumbo hedge-clippers, a 40" long broadsword, a flaming sword with the blade engulfed in flames, a multiple "sword sandwich" of up to 15 swords at once, and swallowing a sword while passing 6 juggling clubs with the sword whipped out of his throat with a whip from 8 feet away. Over the course of his career, Meyer has sustained serious injuries to his throat, esophagus and stomach requiring hospitalization, he has received 5 Guinness World Records, the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine, he has been featured in a Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon and the 2008 Ripley's Believe It or Not book, and been featured in hundreds of interviews on radio, TV, network documentaries, and in newspapers and magazines around the world.
2002
In the second half of 2002, Meyer toured the United States opening for the Country band Brooks and Dunn on their national Neon Circus tour.
In August 2002, Meyer organized the world's first annual Sword Swallowers Convention in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Meyer invited all known sword swallowers worldwide and assembled a total of 21 of the remaining sword swallowers from around the world. At midnight on August 30, 2002, Meyer assembled 19 of the world's top sword swallowers and set a Guinness World Record when the combined group swallowed a total of 50 swords simultaneously before an audience of sideshow veterans, historians and fans. Among the media in attendance to document the historical feat was CNN's Jeanne Moos who aired coverage of the convention on CNN on September 3, 2002.[2]
2003
In 2003, Meyer again toured selected dates with the Country band Brooks and Dunn with their second Neon Circus tour.
In 2003, Meyer was featured in the 2003 Travel Channel documentary Traveling Sideshow: Shocked and Amazed by Jeff Krulik.
2005
In 2005, Meyer performed on international tour with the Celtic Christian pop band Ceili Rain in Ireland as both pennywhistle player and sword swallower.
On September 2005, Meyer and eight other sword swallowers broke the standing Guinness World Record when the nine sword swallowers swallowed a record 52 swords at once. As his part of the contribution to the record, Meyer set his own personal record by swallowing 7 swords at once.
On October 14, 2005, while performing at a restaurant in Hartselle, AL, Meyer suffered his most serious injury, a near-fatal puncture wound when 5 swords punctured his lower esophagus at the entrance to his stomach, causing pleurisy as well as fluids around the heart and lungs. Meyer was hospitalized and remained unable to eat solid food for nearly four weeks.
On November 14, 2005, Meyer filmed an episode for Food Network's "Unwrapped: Food Magic" at the Timberloft Restaurant in Gordonsville, TN. During the taping, Meyer managed to swallow several individual swords, and finished by successfully swallowing the "sword sandwich" of five swords for the finalé of the episode.
2006
On June 18, 2006, Meyer won 2nd Place in USA Network's "You've Got Character" national contest. [7]
On December 23, 2006, the article Sword swallowing and its side effects, co-authored by Meyer, was published in the December 2006 British Medical Journal. [8]
2007
On May 3, 2007, Meyer quit his job selling cars to pursue sword swallowing full time.
On May 18, 2007, Meyer swallowed a 22 inch long sword with 16 inch blade, followed by a 30 inch long sword with 24 inch blade while submerged 20 feet underwater in a tank of 80 sharks and stingrays at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC during the Myrtle Beach Bike Week. The feat was broadcast by over 400 television stations to over 40 million viewers, was featured in a Ripley’s Believe It or Not syndicated cartoon on September 22, 2007, and in the 2009 Ripley’s Believe It or Not book.
On June 21, 2007, Meyer performed at the grand opening of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium Times Square, NY with Carmen Electra, Jenny McCarthy, Kelly Osbourne, LizardMan, and other Ripley's Believe It or Not performers and celebrities. Meyer swallowed a sword, removed it by flinging it into the air, caught it and used it to cut the ribbon. The event was filmed by several international TV and film crews and broadcast to over 40 million viewers around the world.
On October 4, 2007, Meyer received the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine [9] at Harvard University for co-authoring with Dr. Brian Witcombe the research article Sword swallowing and its side effects published in the December 2006 British Medical Journal. [10] The event was featured on NPR Radio "Science Friday", and covered in media around the world including BBC, USAToday, New York Post, The Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, AOL News, ABC News, MSN, Forbes Magazine, Scientific American, to over 180 million Russian and Eastern European viewers on NTV Russia, and others.
2008
In March and June 2008, Meyer and Witcombe presented lectures and presentations on sword swallowing on two Ig Nobel Tours of the UK at Oxford University, Imperial College, The Guardian Newsroom, BBC World, ITV, the Alan Titchmarsh Show, Newcastle Centre for Life, and the Cheltenham Science Festival.
On July 1, 2008, Meyer was featured as a contestant on the third week of the third season of NBC's reality television show, America's Got Talent in the Southeast regional auditions in Atlanta, GA (Episode 303). Out of over 70 contestants who performed, Meyer was one of only a few voted through to advance to the Las Vegas, Nevada semi-finals stage (Episode 308) which aired on August 5, 2008. Two days later, during the second Las Vegas semi-finals episode on August 7, 2008 (Episode 308A), Meyer was selected to be a "Wildcard" contestant to be voted on by viewers, with the results to be released at the live Los Angeles finals. On August 26, 2008, in the first live Los Angeles episode (Episode 309), Meyer and 8 other contestants were eliminated from America's Got Talent when Donald Braswell II was chosen as the "Wildcard" choice.
Meyer was featured in the 2009 Ripley’s Believe It or Not book published August 5, 2008. To promote the book, Meyer and other Ripley's performers were featured on CityTV "Breakfast TV" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2009
On July 22, 2009, Meyer appeared with Cirque Éloize in Montreal, Canada in the French-language series "La Vie Est Un Cirque". The program was broadcast on TV5 on August 16, 2009, to over 6.6 million cable and satellite subscribers in Quebec, and to more than 180 million homes in over 200 French-speaking countries around the world.
On July 30, 2009, Meyer addressed the IAEWP World Peace Conference as a featured speaker at A&M University in Huntsville, AL presenting a speech entitled "Sword of War, Sword of Peace". At the end of his presentation, Meyer requested World Peace delegates from three different religions, cultures and continents to come together in harmony to remove a 40 inch "Sword of War" from his throat as a metaphor for creating peace through cooperation. The response from delegates and the audience was a spontaneous standing ovation.
2010
On March 24, 2010, Meyer was awarded a Guinness World Record in Rome, Italy for swallowing a 24 inch long sword with 18 inch blade while submerged underwater on the Italian TV program "Lo Show Dei Record". Meyer immediately broke that record by swallowing a longer 30 inch sword with 24 inch long blade underwater, and then broke both records by swallowing both swords together at once underwater. However, during filming of the stunts Meyer sustained a serious injury when he punctured his esophagus and was rushed by ambulance to a Rome hospital where he was hospitalized for 10 days on IV drip.
On September 23, 2010, Meyer was featured on The History Channel Stan Lee's Superhumans where he swallowed a 37.5 inch long sword heated to over 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Personal life
Meyer and his wife Lisa reside in Hartselle, Alabama where they raise Arabian horses.
Appearances
Appearances on Cable TV/Documentaries
- Discovery Channel "Stomachs of Steel" (2004)
- Travel Channel "Traveling Sideshow: Shocked and Amazed" by Jeff Krulik (2003)
- Discovery Times Channel ()
- Discovery Health Channel "You Swallowed What?" (December 4, 2004)
- Discovery Channel International "I Survived Impaling" (2005)
- Food Network "Unwrapped: Food Magic" (2006)
- Documentary Channel (2006)
- The Learning Channel "99 Most Bizarre - Self-Inflicted Injuries" (June 2006)
- The History Channel Stan Lee's Superhumans "Man of Steel" episode 7 (September 23, 2010)
Television Appearances
- CNN Live Today[2] "Open Up and Say AHHH!" (September 3, 2002)
- WKRN-TV2 (Nashville, TN) (September 2002)
- Armed Forces Network TV Commercial "Circus Couple" (September 2002)
- WSMV-TV4 (Nashville, TN) (August 2003)
- CNN Health "Life Beyond Limits" with Sanjay Gupta (June 2004)
- WGN-TV Chicago, IL "Morning Show" (November 27, 2005)
- WAFF-TV Huntsville, AL (May 15, 2006)
- NTV Russia "Glovniy Geroy" (December 2007)
- ITV UK "Alan Titchmarsh Show" London, UK (March 11, 2008)
- BBC World London, UK (March 13, 2008)
- WBRC-TV Fox News Birmingham, AL (May 27, 2008)
- Today Show New York, NY (June 24, 2008)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live (June 27, 2008)
- Today Show New York, NY (July 1, 2008)
- America's Got Talent (third season, episode 3) (July 1, 2008)
- Breakfast TV CityTV Toronto, Ontario, Canada (August 5, 2008)
- Guinness World Record "Lo Show Dei Record" Rome, Italy (March 24, 2010)
- The History Channel Stan Lee's Superhumans Man of Steel episode 7, Hartselle, AL (September 23, 2010)
America's Got Talent
Week Performance Result Audition Swallowed a medium sword, a long sword, 7 swords at once, and threw a sword into the floor. Advanced Vegas Verdicts Swallowed a flaming sword, a curved sword, and juggled 6 clubs while a sword was whipped from his mouth with a whip. Wild Card Wild Card Appeared in the first episode of the live Los Angeles finals with 7 other Wild Card acts to learn the outcome of the national voting. Eliminated Appearances in Print Media
- Amusement Business Magazine "Hard To Swallow" (October 2005)
- Road King Magazine "Hard To Swallow" (November 2005)
- Women and Horses Magazine, "Back Page Man" (January 2006)
- Really Magazine "Controlled Gag Reflex" (December 21, 2006)
- British Medical Journal "Sword Swallowing and its Side Effects" (December 23, 2006)
- ABC News "Sword Swallowing Risks Hard to Stomach" (December 22, 2006)
- New York Times "For The Record: A Surprisingly Safe Job" (December 26, 2006)
- Science Daily [11] (December 27, 2006)
- NRC Handelsblad "Degenslikken: kans op bloeding" (December 28, 2006)
- The Times (London) [12] (December 29, 2006)
- USA Today [13] (February 16, 2007)
- Scientific American [14] (February 18, 2007)
- Christian Activities "Hard Act to Swallow" (May 26, 2007)
- Christian Activities "International Sword Swallowers Appreciation Day - Interview with Christian Sword Swallower Dan Meyer " (February 24, 2009)
- The Lutheran "Sword Swallower Puts God in his Act" (September 2010)
Appearanecs in Books
- "Sablar Också" Swedish book on swords (Stockholm, 2004)
- "A Chorus of Voices" Book of poems featuring Meyer's poem "The Sword I Call My Pride" (2004)
- "Ripley's Believe It or Not Book" Ripley Entertainment Publishing, page 99 (August 2008)
- "Believe The Unbelievable" Book on unbelievable oddities (2008)
Movie and Film Appearances
- "American Carny, True Tales from the Circus Sideshow" a Quattica Pictures film produced by Nick Basile (Summer 2005)
- "Circus Couple" Armed Forces Network commercial (September 2005)
Other Appearances
Meyer currently holds 5 Guinness World Records, and has been featured in a Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon and the 2008 Ripley's Believe It or Not book.
Meyer has also been featured on television and cable TV programs such as ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, FOX News, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, CNN Health, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, Discovery Times, Discovery International, The Learning Channel, Travel Channel, Spike TV, USA Network, Food Network, CMT, MTV, ESPN, WGN, America's Got Talent, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, PBS, BBC World, CBC, CTV, ITV, NTV Russia, Alan Titchmarsh Show (UK), Jimmy Kimmel Live, Mancow Show, in Newsweek, USA Today, New York Post, New York Times, The Times (London), National Geographic, Forbes, Nature Magazine, Guardian Magazine, Telegraph, British Medical Journal, Scientific American, Science Daily, Christian Activities, and hundreds of other radio, TV, magazine and newspaper interviews around the world. Meyer has performed on national tour with Brooks and Dunn's Neon Circus, on international tour with the Celtic Christian band Ceili Rain, at Ripley’s Believe It or Not attractions, and at conventions, corporate events, colleges, universities, science and medical centers, churches, parks, festivals, and other events in 12 countries around the world.
Awards and recognitions
- Guinness World Records (2002)
- Guinness World Records (2005)
- Guinness World Records (2007)
- Guinness World Records (2010)
- USA Network 2nd Place Winner You've Got Character! national contest (2006) [15]
- Ripley's Believe It or Not Underwater Sword Swallowing in Shark Tank, Ripley's Aquarium, Myrtle Beach, SC (May 18, 2007)
- Ripley's Believe It or Not Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not syndicated cartoon for Underwater Sword Swallowing in Shark Tank (September 22, 2007)
- Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (October 4, 2007)
- America's Got Talent (third season, episodes 303, 308, 309, 310) (July 1-August 26, 2008)
- Ripley's Believe It or Not Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not book for Underwater Sword Swallowing in Shark Tank (August 5, 2008, page 99)
- List of Famous Lutherans [16]
Accomplishments
Meyer is an accomplished pop and jazz musician, and award-winning published songwriter. In 1977, Meyer received his Associates Degree in Music from Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. In 1982 Meyer received his Bachelor's degree in Music Theory and Composition, Radio Broadcasting, TV, Film from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In 1983, Meyer won 1st Place in the Christian Artist's national songwriting competition in Estes Park, Colorado.
From 1983 to 1985, Meyer worked as an audio engineer/recording studio engineer and record producer for the Bill Gaither Trio's Pinebrook Studios in Alexandria, Indiana.
In 1985, Meyer was certified as an SSI Scuba instructor. He worked as Out Island Activities Manager for Admiral Cruise Lines private out-island "Little Stirrup Cay" (renamed "Coco Cay") in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas from 1985 to 1987. He had previously served as manager and caretaker of the island periodically from 1979-1983.
In 1989, Meyer wrote, directed and produced the music video for the song "Merry Christmas, Doll" which was co-written with Christian artists Steven Curtis Chapman and Brent Henderson. The music video was aired on CMT heavily during Christmas 1989 and 1990.
In 1990, Meyer worked in the music business with STIM in Stockholm, Sweden. During this time, he successfully climbed to the top of Mount Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden above the Arctic Circle.
In 2007, Meyer received his certification as a certified hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists.
References
- Brian Witcombe, Dan Meyer: Sword swallowing and its side effects, British Medical Journal, 2006, 333, 1285-1287 (23 December 2006)
- ^ Records from Swordswallow.com
- ^ a b "Open Up and Say AHHH!" CNN Live Today. 2002-09-03
External links
Categories:- 1957 births
- Living people
- People from Michigan City, Indiana
- American Lutherans
- American comedians
- American stunt performers
- Sideshow performers
- Renaissance fair performers
- America's Got Talent contestants
- People from Nashville, Tennessee
- People from Morgan County, Alabama
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