There are also a number of jesters who add a small element of danger to their acts. The most common of these is Fire. A large number of today's jesters juggle with fire, a few of them offer body burning (running a burning brand over their arms and torso) and even fewer who offer fire breathing (which is of course much more dangerous and an incredibly stupid thing to do!!!)
Another dangerous act performed by a handful of jesters is sword swallowing. There are a few who turn this into a comedy event by using fake swords, but 1 or 2 of the jesters in this country do actually swallow a sword. Not only is this extremely dangerous, as if done incorrectly could cause real internal damage to the perfomer, but it also the one trick that takes longer (sometimes years) to master than any other. Only those performers with an open mind and the willingness to attempt this will ever do it.
Almost as dangerous, but attempted by a few more jesters are the routines that include lying on a bed of nails, or waking on broken glass. Neither of these are as difficult as sword swallowing, but both are just as effective in a show and if not performed properly, almost as dangerous.
One question almost always asked by members of the audience who witness a jester fire performing (juggling, eating, breathing) or a jester walking on broken glass is "Is that real fire?" or "Is that real glass?" Of course the answer is always....Yes, most definitely....
One very important thing to remember is...Never attempt to copy feats of this nature yourself - the jester performing these skills are all fully trained, but even they occasionally injure themselves.
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