Johnny Fox (performer)
Encyclopedia
Sword swallowing
Sword swallowing is an ancient performance art in which the performer passes a sword through the mouth and down the esophagus towards the stomach...
and sleight of hand
Sleight of hand
Sleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation or legerdemain, is the set of techniques used by a magician to manipulate objects such as cards and coins secretly....
expert.
Early life
Fox grew up in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, and saw his first sword swallower at the Eastern States Exposition
The Big E
The Big E, also known as The Eastern States Exposition, is billed as "New England's Great State fair". The Big E serves as the de facto state fair for all six of the New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Each of the New England states is...
in West Springfield, Massachusetts
West Springfield, Massachusetts
The Town of West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,391 at the 2010 census...
, when he was eight or nine years old. At approximately the same age, his father gave him a book about Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
that inspired Fox—substituting spaghetti
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
—to recreate the magician's trick of swallowing a key on a string and then regurgitating
Regurgitation (digestion)
Regurgitation is the expulsion of material from the mouth, pharynx, or esophagus, usually characterized by the presence of undigested food or blood.Regurgitation is used by a number of species to feed their young...
it.
Performance career
Fox began performing magicMagic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
and comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
while working as a waiter in Saint Petersburg, Florida. He learned sleight-of-hand in the 1970s from Tony Slydini
Tony Slydini
Tony Slydini , also known simply as 'Slydini', was a world renowned magician. Best known as a master of close-up artistry, he served as inspiration to a generation of magicians, including Doug Henning....
, an Italian magician known as "the Master of Misdirection". In his early twenties, Fox was performing in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, when he heard that his act had been stolen by a competing magician. He was inspired to begin swallowing swords in order to have "an act people couldn't copy easily". It took him eight months to master the technique, although he has injured himself on a few occasions. Fox estimated in 1999 that he was one of twenty professional sword swallowers in the United States, noting that this was many more than when he began.
Fox can swallow up to 22 inches of steel. Besides regular swords, his act has included swallowing a retractable tape measure
Tape measure
A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible form of ruler. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiber glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common measuring tool. Its flexibility allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried in pocket or toolkit and...
, a giant screwdriver
Screwdriver
A screwdriver is a tool for driving screws and often rotating other machine elements with the mating drive system. The screwdriver is made up of a head or tip, which engages with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by rotating the tip, and some way to position and support the screwdriver...
and a neon glowing sword plugged into an outlet
Domestic AC power plugs and sockets
AC power plugs and sockets are devices for removably connecting electrically operated devices to the power supply. Electrical plugs and sockets differ by country in rating, shape, size and type of connectors...
. His act also included eating fire until he learned that the chemicals used in the trick could seep into his liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
.
Fox has appeared at venues including comedy clubs (such as Caroline's
Caroline's
Carolines on Broadway is a venue for stand-up comedy located in Times Square in New York City on Broadway between 49th and 50th Street. It is one of the most established, famous, and recognized stand-up comedy clubs in the United States. Its marketing slogan is "America's Premiere Comedy...
), casinos, and tattoo conventions, as well as special events such as an Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
album release party. His television appearances include the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, a 1992 Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
television special, and a Maalox
Maalox
Maalox is a brand name antacid containing aluminium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide to neutralize or reduce stomach acid.Maalox helps relieve symptoms of excessive stomach acidity in patients with indigestion, heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or stomach or duodenal ulcers. In large...
commercial in which he swallowed light bulbs. He was featured in the 2003 documentary Traveling Sideshow: Shocked and Amazed by Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik is a director of independent films and a former Discovery Channel producer.Krulik's work frequently explores the fringes of popular culture from an enthusiastic and appreciative point of view....
.
Although he performed among other acts presented throughout the weekend-long festival, following entertainment by the band, Radio-Free Carmela http://www.Radiofreecarmela.com/ on May 1, 2009, Fox was honored as the featured performer at the opening ceremony of the annual Avenida de Colores, http://www.avenidadecolores.com/ a festival of chalk painting by professional artists from around the world and talented local school children on closed streets in historic Burns Square in Sarasota. His act also closed the festival.
Fox is the resident sword-swallower at the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival
Maryland Renaissance Festival
The Maryland Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair located in Crownsville, Maryland. Set in a fictional 16th century English village named Revel Grove, the festival is spread over and is the second largest renaissance festival in the United States...
in Crownsville
Crownsville, Maryland
Crownsville is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,670 at the 2000 census. It hosts the Anne Arundel County Fair each September, as well as the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival for several summer weekends. A state psychiatric hospital...
, and has performed there since 1981. He has performed at the Sterling Renaissance Festival
Sterling Renaissance Festival
Sterling Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance Faire that was started in 1976 by Dennis Ouellette, Sr., and later owned and operated by Gerald and Virginia Young in Sterling, New York...
in Sterling, New York
Sterling, New York
Sterling is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 3,040 at the 2010 census. The town is named after "Lord Stirling", a general of the Revolutionary War. Sterling is the most northerly town in the county...
since 1997. He occasionally works as a consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
for other sideshow artists.
Freakatorium
In June 1999, Fox opened the Freakatorium, El Museo Loco, a museum of side show curiosities, on the Lower East Side of ManhattanLower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. In the face of low numbers of visitors and rising rent, the museum was closed in January 2005. Fox was partly inspired to open the museum by his childhood visits to Hubert's Museum and Flea Circus
Flea circus
A flea circus refers to a circus sideshow attraction in which fleas are attached to miniature carts and other items, and encouraged to perform circus acts within a small housing...
in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
. His collection of oddities includes narwhal
Narwhal
The narwhal, Monodon monoceros, is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic. One of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale, the narwhal males are distinguished by a characteristic long, straight, helical tusk extending from their...
tusks, an elephant's-foot liquor chest, a two-headed turtle, a vest owned by General Tom Thumb
General Tom Thumb
General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton , a dwarf who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.-Early life:...
, and the glass eye of Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
.
Personal life
Fox married his wife, Valeria, an ArgentineArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
dancer and photographer, while they were atop elephants in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, in 2002. They reside in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.