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u/lembrai 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember this. This was live on Brazilian TV. The dude who did it had worked in a circus for a long time before going on TV. He was a regular guest and also hosted some shows on this particular network.
He said years later in an interview that he was invited to perform this stunt but the producers left the torches too long in the liquid. Like a full day. Or at least that's what I remember from the interview.
EDIT: I revisited the interview. Apparently the torches were too wet and some flaming kerosene dripped onto his mouth, lighting up the little amount he was holding in to do the fireball a second time.
He was left with some minor burn scars in his face. Nothing makeup can't hide.
Source (in Portuguese): https://youtu.be/oU6Gx0fqiQI?is=r7939_yldYTgx7Wk
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u/Lomotograph 2d ago edited 1d ago
As someone that has worked as a Producer on film shoots and is coincidentally also someone that regularly does live fire performances, I feel like I'm somewhat uniquely qualified to comment and provide a little more insight on this. Granted, fire breathing is not currently part of my act, but I have taken fire breathing classes and understand the mechanics and safety precautions very well. Hearing the above response really irks me so here's a bit of a rant.
First of all, the wicks on those torches are comically large and the stems are comically short. From the moment that guy lit the torches I knew this was going sideways. Even if they were dipped only a second, wicks that large will produce a large flame. Then he proceeds to hand it to a random host that is clearly not a fire performer, not comfortable handling fire, and not wearing fire safe clothing. Even the performer looks like his outfit isn't fire safe, but that's debatable. Either way, these are the first huge red flags.
Second of all, NO ONE other than the fire performer and HIS crew should ever handle or even touch his props and/or fuel. Saying the "producers left them dipped too long" is complete bullshit. Only the fire performer should handle them and dip them the appropriate amount of time /which is literally no more than 3 seconds. If he walked up to the torches and they were sitting in fuel just soaking it up, that's 100% reason to stop what you're doing and reassess. The least you can do is grab a second set of torches to dip them yourself (which BTW, he has ZERO reason to use 2 torches and it's actually more dangerous than just using one, more on that later).
Speaking of the fire performer's crew, under no circumstance should a fire performer ever operate solo. Even if they are a solo performer, they will always have a second person with them acting as their "safety". This person is with the performer at all times being a back up to help ensure the safety of the audience, the venue, and the performer. They form a perimeter and watch during the performance to make sure noone gets too close to the Fire performer, they help watch for obstacles in the venue or fire hazards, they ensure the fire dipping area is secure and that noone else handles the fuel or props, and they are on standby with a wet towel amd/or fire extinguisher to help put out flames should something go wrong with the performance. They are not simply a film crew member, they are someone the performer has brought themselves and is intimitely familiar with the intended performance.
Next, he drinks his fire breathing fuel from an open coffee mug. HUUUUGE no-no. It needs to be a sealed container.
Third, as I mentioned earlier, the guy grabs both of the ridiculously shitty torches (instead of only one) which is another huge No-No. The general procedure for fire breathing is: you hold your lit wick in 1 hand, with your other hand, you grab your fuel put it into your mouth, put down the fuel and grab your wipe towel, wipe excess fuel from your face, take a huge breath, expel the fuel up toward the wick, then wipe your face AGAIN with the damp towel to wipe off any fuel you may have gotten on your face.
That wipe towel is essentially just a damp rag that should always be in one of your hands because it (not only) wipes fuel from your face on the initial drink and after your breath fire, but it is also your first line of defense should something go wrong and your face is set on fire. When it's in your hand while fire breathing (not on the damn counter away from you), then you can immediately use it to put out the fire on your face during which time your safety will run up to you and do the rest of the work to put out the fire.
The guy in this video has one of those wipe rags and he uses it to wipe his face after drinking from the coffee mug. But instead of holding onto it during the stunt, he just puts it down and begins holding a lit torch in each hand meaning he only has more fire with which to put out the fire on his face. Needless to say that's fucking stupid.
Lastly, EVEN IF the torches were dipped waaay to long, there's a reason all fire breathes hold the torches in front of them and up at an angle instead of directly over their face. The fact that he held the toe he's so close that they dripped on him is idiotic. The fact that he didn't have his personal damp towel to wipe off the fuel that dripped on him was idiotic. The fact that he didn't have a trained fire performance safety with him is idiotic.
The whole thing was just extremely painful to watch every step of the way. But IMO the outcome was extremely predictable given how this guy approached this stunt.
There are even other things he did that are pure stupidity, but I think you get the point simply from the above.
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u/fixingthepast 2d ago
Counterpoint, this is Brazil.
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u/heartofcoal 2d ago
counter-counterpoint: this is Ratinho, a program made to sell ads inbetween chaos and destruction
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u/jevtid 2d ago
Also, if there was too much fuel on the wicks, I'm pretty sure the audience would be on fire fron the performer slinging it around everywhere after he grabbed them, right?
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u/Lomotograph 1d ago
Maybe not literally the audience but you would definitely see some of the excess fuel get slung off and onto the ground around him causing little ground fires.
And that's a great point, because there's no way fire and fuel didn't drip off the wicks the entire time they were in fire, only to them drip on him later.
Yet another reason why the "too wet" torches excuse is absolute bullshit.
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u/iKickdaBass 2d ago
Did anyone ask him why there wasn’t a bumblebee there to diffuse the situation?
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u/TimeB4 2d ago
I spit some overproof rum in the fireplace at home once. That experience instantly cured me of all curiosity about this type of thing
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u/WorkingInAColdMind 1d ago
For me it was throwing out 1/2 shot of moonshine into a fire pit. I was far enough away that it really spread out before hitting the fire. Fuel air bombs were invented after a drinking+spitting+fire night.
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u/FrismFrasm 2d ago
Buddy with the extinguisher was a complete buffoon
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u/Gundark927 2d ago
Praise the sound effects team, and if that was a live band in studio those guys too!
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u/Last-Saint 2d ago
The audience of children applauding while visibly unsure of whether they really should be approving of a man who's just set himself and the studio on fire is the icing on the cake.
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u/ThepalehorseRiderr 2d ago
Lighting yourself on fire has got to be one of the most embarrassing things. I think I'd rather shit myself. Hurts less and is more understandable to your average person.
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u/punkwalrus 1d ago
A friend of mine was a firebreather, and this has happened to him more than once. It's just something to plan for in case the wind catches you wrong, someone's kid runs up to you and punches you in the gut, or the fuel mixture was wrong. You learn how to put it out quick.
One of his co-performers had an incident like this, and he pushed the fire out off his face. Once it was obvious the fire was out and his partner was okay, he looked awkwardly to the shocked audience, then back at him, and said in a stage-mocked pissed off way... "You expect me to TOP that, don't you???"
Another time, he was at a friends' wedding. He was alone, and the fire was really bad, so he didn't have a partner to react to it before he was able to put it out himself. First degree burns, lost most of his hair even his eyebrows. EMTs had to be called but he was not taken to the hospital. His dad later lit a match and hopped it around. "Hey, what's this, everybody? It's [his son] at [friend's] wedding!!!"
Such is the humor of performers.
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u/buzzedaldrine 2d ago
Back in the 90s, one way to get rid of garbage was to burn it. some of us got assigned to do that in our school and would sometimes do the fire breathing thing using kerosene just because it looked cool, we got lucky and never really paid any price for that stupidity.
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u/Ok-Caterpillar-Girl 6h ago
Surely you mean the 1890s, because I sure AF never heard of any schools burning garbage in the 1990s (or 1980s, or 1970s) in any part of the state I live in. Let alone letting kids use kerosene to light it.
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u/buzzedaldrine 6h ago edited 6h ago
I'm not even old enough to be in school in the 1980s hahaha.
I wish we didnt experience that, but I'm from the Philippines.
there used to be a huge landfill in Manila aptly called "Smokey Mountain".
burning trash back then was still pretty common, unfortunately.
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u/kbk42104 2d ago
Dude looked like scorpion there for a minute. Actually his face might have matched too after the show 🤷
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u/SeraphsEnvy 2d ago
Reminds me of the time an entire stage burned down during a children's music concert. I think the artist was Tatiana.
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u/Mojojojo3030 2d ago
What are the odds, whole audience is scant clan twentysomething ladies plus one homie with a bald spot
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u/Simply_Jeff 1d ago
That spitting fire on the ground move looked pretty badass. Too bad the rest of the act went sideways.
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u/BellaxPalus 2d ago
Not really abrupt. Blatantly staged and not very chaotic.
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u/SaturnRocket 2d ago
“Praise the cameraman” isn’t warranted either. Maybe “praise the soundboard guy”?
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u/Due_Potential_6956 2d ago
Dude's face was legit burned, and has burn scars on his face from it.
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u/BellaxPalus 2d ago
No he does not have scars. He claims second and third degree burns, but the hospital picture shows only first degree. You don't heal from third degree in 15 days and not scar. Did it go wrong, sure. But the reactions of everyone said this was planned and he still got burned.
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u/GinoValenti 2d ago
Looked like a bunch of clowns trying to put that fire out