masterfrederick

I have been invited to a party tonight, and am bringing fire. It should be fun, as it's for a friend's 40th birthday, and as a birthday present, she has requested a fire flogging. I, suffice to say, have been a very busy man for the last 24 hours. I finished a couple projects for my adult fire performances: a fleshing torch that looks like a plume quill pen, and a matched set of double fire floggers. The plume will not be making its debut this evening (it broke at the base of the wick-- back to the drawing board) but the twins will. I have decided that as birthday girl, my friend will get the first fire flogging of the evening, and if she so desires, the first double fire flogging as well. I don't know if she'll volunteer for Skinner, but if she does, she will get the first of the fire whippings as well. Basically, she gets the first of everything. Rank hath its priveleges, and as birthday girl, she is Queen For A Day! More on how this went down tomorrow, or when I get around to it.

And now a bit on safety:

Now, I figure I should share with you a revelation I have had lately... This morning it dawned on me that being an entirely self-trained fire performer, I have been extremely lucky not to have killed, maimed or crippled myself. I guess the Gods sometimes smile upon the foolish, and keep them around for comedy relief. I can just see Thor chillin' with Odin, looking down on the world from high up in Asgard, saying, "Hey, dad, check this guy out! Look, here it comes... THERE!!! SEE!?!? Wasn't that dumb? Wasn't that-- what? No, let's leave him down there. You don't want THAT going on in Valhalla, do you? Let's fix him up... There. Let's see if he does it again... Oh, SHIT! He did it-- oh, man, that's gotta hurt like hell..." Tell me you can't. After all the shit I've pulled off, well and with style, tell me you can't see that scenario playing out.



Okay, now tell me that and mean it!

Basically, I don't approve of anyone trying what I do with fire on their own. My success does not make me great, a prodigy, or a genius. It only makes me lucky. Don't expect the same hand of cards to be dealt to you. Always seek an experienced professional for guidance. You'll know one when you meet them. Fire and Steel is comprised of trained professionals, who received their guidance from either myself or the other troupe members, for instance. How does being lucky in teaching myself qualify me as an experienced professional, you ask? I LEARNED from the things I did wrong and know how to do it right, that's how. Now I have had students take my instruction for 3 months, then break off, thinking they know everything... Which they clearly DON'T. If you find someone to teach you that says they learned from me (or anyone else), ask them how long they trained with that person. If they say something like, "Oh, 3 months, then I went my own way..." Turn and run. That little experience is enough to be worse almost than someone who just started this morning, since they have already potentially fallen into the trap known as ARROGANCE. Just enough to be dangerous. At least a total newbie knows enough to be cautious of the fire. The arrogant ones with only 3 months of training (let alone actual experience performing) are just Darwin Awards looking for a chance to happen.