1 Equipment - 2 Liquid Fuel - 3 Juggling props - 4 Non-Juggling Props - 5 Dry Fuel
6. So what does all this mean?
Well, if you use kerosene to fuel your fire-juggling props, you don't have to worry about medical problems unless you bathe in it, get it in your eyes, breathe it, or get burned. All other fuels are more explosive and poisonous. Careful attention to the rituals of safety will probably keep you from harm.
Among liquid fuels, only 100% pure kerosene is not immediately toxic, but it is very hard to find. Grain alcohol is very volatile and requires clearheadedness to use with relative safety, but using it gets you drunk. If you eat or breathe fire using liquid fuels you are in considerable danger from chemical pneumonia, poisoning, and badly burning yourself and others. Dry fuels are probably safer than liquid, but fire is fire.
Performance with fire is a form of entertainment. It is sometimes exciting to watch but is more often trite and hackneyed. It is always exciting to do. Perhaps for this reason it takes fire performers longer than other performers to learn that it isn't the prop, it's the performer. Because it is such an easy crowd-gatherer it is popular among street performers. It is not a test of bravery or a demonstration of worthiness. If you want to perform with fire, read this essay, find someone with experience to show you how they do it, and then develop a habitual ritual of safe practices with your prop of choice. Habit allows you to make safety automatic.
I hope I have dispelled some of the myths and assumptions about working with fire. It's still dangerous and of course always will be, but now you have a better idea of what the real dangers are and how to minimize them.
1 Equipment - 2 Liquid Fuel - 3 Juggling props - 4 Non-Juggling Props - 5 Dry Fuel
A
revised and expanded print version of Fire Safety for
Jugglers is available now from
Flaming Sparrow
© 1998-2002 Eric Bagai
page last revised 11/20/2003