Sword Swallower Dan Meyer

Greetings from Greenwich, CT!

Many of you have asked how it went at the Bruce Museum today, so here’s a quick update…

It went GREAT! Even BETTER THAN EXPECTED!

The display for the sword collection I loaned the Bruce Museum for their exhibit “Art and Science of the Circus” looks GREAT! The exhibit displays a set of historic swords that belonged to “World Champion Sword Swallower” Edith Clifford when she performed with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus from 1899-1919. The museum did a GREAT job of displaying the swords!

Adjacent to the swords are two life-size x-rays of my chest with swords down my throat. About 10 feet away is displayed Diane Arbus’ original famous black/white photo of albino sword swallower Lady Sandra Reed taken in 1979, and sold at auction at Southeby’s for $38,600. Nearby is Henri Matisse’s famous masterpiece “The Sword Swallower” - not a copy or print, but the real deal, the original painting that Matisse painted in 1947! What an honor it was to finally see the originals of these two masterpieces firsthand and be photographed swallowing swords next to them!

Then my lecture on the “History, Art, and Science of Sword Swallowing” went even better than expected! The show was sold out from all the articles and interviews the past few weeks, and the room was packed to standing room only, so the audience was VERY attentive!

After the lecture on the HISTORY and SCIENCE of sword swallowing, I did a little demonstration on the ART of sword swallowing using a variety of swords and hedge clippers that I brought with me.

But the highlight of the day for me was when we took Edith Clifford’s giant straight razor, giant SAW and 6 of her swords from the display, and I attempted to recreate the historic feats Clifford performed 100 years ago by swallowing her props as a tribute to her - first the giant straight razor, then her giant saw, and then 6 of Edith’s swords mixed in with 9 of mine! In the early 1900s, these swords were in the great Edith Clifford’s stomach - Today, 100 years later, they were in mine! What a fun way to connect with her and bridge the past to the present! Edith Clifford is still creating quite a stir with audiences, as they rewarded the feat with a spontaneous standing ovation today!

Since 2005, my personal record has been swallowing 7 swords at once (which I’ve only done a few times), and my personal goal for years has been to swallow 10 swords at once. Today I broke my personal record of 7 by more than DOUBLING it - by swallowing 15 (yes, FIFTEEN!) swords at ONCE! I guess that’s not something most folks can say on an average day, but this was no average day for me, and it sure meant a lot to me today!

And to top it off, several reporters including AOL News came out to cover the story and got it all on film!

Big thanks to the Bruce Museum for making today a historic and very memorable day for all of us!

And special thanks to AOL News contributor Marc Hartzman for his great article that is now circulating around the Internet!

Click here to see the full article on AOL Weird News, complete with pictures and video!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and comments! You all mean a lot to me, so much more than you know!

As I tell my audiences - Think big, dream BIGGER! Set your goals HIGH, then set your mind to it, and with God’s help, you CAN do the impossible in YOUR life!

Thanks for believing in me and for making yourself part of my dream!

Dan

Dan swallowing 100 year old antique saw that belonged to Edith Clifford

Sword Swallower Dan Meyer swallowing 100-year-old Antique Saw at Bruce Museum

Sword Swallower Dan Meyer swallows 15 swords at Bruce Museum for a new record!

Sword Swallower Dan Meyer Swallowing 15 Swords at Bruce Museum

Wow! What an interesting week! We’ve been notified that new records were recognized by TWO different world record organizations this week, and two of them are being released in a new book!

URDB Recognizes 2 Records

URDB Record: Most Nobel Laureates to Remove a Sword

URDB Record: Underwater Sword Swallow in Sharktank

RHR Recognizes 2 Records

RHR Record: Most Sword Swallowers Swallowing Swords Simultaneously

RHR Record: Underwater Sword Swallow in Sharktank

And these new records are in addition to the three Guinness World Records, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine that Dan already holds!

Here’s video of the 2009 Ig Nobel Awards Record:

And we’ve got even MORE fun new records in the works that we hope to be able to reveal to you in the next few weeks!… Stay tuned for developments!

Dan is now recognized for two new sword swallowing World Records with RHR Record Holders Republic Registry of Official World Records:

Click here to listen to Ripley Radio Oddcast

WHY WOULD SOMEONE SWALLOW A SWORD?

Dan explains why, and what his MOTHER thinks about it, on another Ripley’s Believe It or Not Oddcast on Ripley Radio:

And if you haven’t heard it yet, check out Ripley Radio Oddcast Episode 4 from September:

Over 50 Feet of Solid Steel to be swallowed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museums Worldwide

HARTSELLE, AL (SSAI) – At 2:28 pm on February 28, 2009, Sword Swallowers around the world will attempt to swallow over 600 inches of steel swords at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums worldwide for International Sword Swallowers Awareness Day. That’s over 50 feet of solid steel! Believe It or Not!

Sword Swallowers Association International (SSAI) President Dan Meyer proclaimed the third annual “International Sword Swallowers Awareness Day” to raise awareness of sword swallowers around the world. The day is co-sponsored by Ripley Entertainment, who together with SSAI, is inviting SSAI member sword swallowers to put on sword swallowing demonstrations at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! locations around the world.

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