Memoirs of a Sword Swallower

Dan Mannix

I’d seen a copy of this book in a local secondhand bookshop near my village and took a fancy to it. When I found out the price was £35 rather than the £3.50 I thought was written in the spidery pencil scrawl on the inside cover, I made my excuses, put the book back on the shelf and made a hasty slightly embarrassed retreat. Fortunately a couple of weeks later I managed to pick up a 1st edition off eBay for a much more reasonable price and thus I can bring this review to you.

Although not strictly a book on magic, it is a non-fiction account of the career progression of sword-swallower and author Dan Mannix working in the sideshows of a travelling carnival. It begins with incredulous paragraph:

“I probably never would have become America’s leading fire-eater if Flamo the Great hadn’t happened to explode that night in front of Krinko’s Great Combined Side Shows”

Here begins a nostalgic and entertaining account of Dan’s career as a fire-eater and sword-swallower in a travelling carny. He begins his career swallowing fire and swords, progressing to swallowing potentially fatal neon lights before ending his career with a mind-reading act. He is hired by Hindu fakir Krinko, who’s speciality is sewing buttons on his eyes, to join his ten-in-one sideshow. Along the way he works with acts such as “The Impossible Possible”, Captain Billy the “tattooed man”, 50 stone “Jolly Daisy”, master of regurgitation: “The Human Ostrich” and Aunt Matty the palm reader; Oh, and I nearly forgot Dot the five legged horse.

I just loved this book. OK so I’m not entirely convinced by the accuracy of this story, depth can be lacking at times and I guess it finishes quite abruptly, but the sheer thrill of the stories make you just want to run away and join the circus. There are some fascinating technical passages for instance how to overcome the gag reflex that allows one to swallow a sword without vomitting, the grind of continually upping sticks to the next town and descriptions of genuinely touching lives of these freaks and outcasts that live on the fringe of society. I highly rate this book as it is, in my experience, unique in cataloging this time in history, and it’s still in print now. A must read for social and magic historians and lovers of circus and carnivals.

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