Sword Swallowing and Other Assorted Oddities

There’s a certain aesthetic associated with the roller derby subculture. It’s one imbued with attitude and confidence and a significant amount of alternative flair, all of which gives the seriously tough women who participate in the sport a bit of a hard edge and the entire thing a feeling of mystery.

So, it should come as no surprise that prior to the start of its recent showcase the Red Bank Roller Vixens, instead of trotting out cheerleaders or singers performing mediocre versions of patriotic tunes like most other sports, chose to entertain the crowd at with a sideshow typically reserved for a traveling carnival.

The program said only that the Pretty Things Peepshow was set to perform for an audience of more than 300 people. It’s likely no one, aside from the organizers knew what to expect.

With short introductions, Donny Vomit, Miss Heather Holliday, and GoGo Amy stepped out onto the basketball court at Red Bank Middle School to perform the kind of death-defying oddities that made traveling shows the hottest attraction in this country in a time well before television and shows like Fear Factor. The crowd was treated to juggling knifes, flowers cut by the crack of a whip, nails driven into noses, and the most hold-your-breath, cringe-as-you-want-to-look-away-but-can’t spectacle of the night: sword swallowing.

According to the Pretty Things website, Miss Holliday, is proficient at fire eating and breathing, glass eating, laying on beds of nails, and more. Her forte, however, is swallowing swords, including more than one at a time, and as a coup de grace, one over two feet in length.

And yes, it’s all real.

With Donny Vomit imploring the crowd not to try this at home, of course, Miss Holliday not only swallowed a more than two-foot long sword, but also bent at the waist and had a member of the audience pull the sword out of her stomach. She’s a professional and did survive.

For those who are curious how this all works, sword-swallowing resources are available from the Sword Swallowers Association International, which defines sword swallowing as “the act of inserting a solid metal blade at least 15 inches long into the mouth, down the esophagus, through the esophageal sphincter and into the stomach."

Yep, that sounds about right.

Check out the sword swallowing in the act in our gallery above or to see a Pretty Things Peepshow visit www.prettythingsproductions.com. Check out the Red Bank Roller Vixens , or visit their website at www.redbankrollervixens.com.