♪♪
-When I go, I put on that helmet,
I put on the harness.
I am the superhero for the night.
I'm "Mighty" Mike Murga,
and I'm the mini man behind the dwarf-tossing extravaganza.
-[ Grunts ]
-Some people take it where I discriminate little people
for money, and it's like, I never say that.
It's my body. I can do with it kind of what I want.
Mighty Mike supports dwarf tossing, little people,
everybody, peace and love, yeah.
[ Growls ]
♪♪
-Whoo!
♪♪
-Since 2012, I've now done over
100 shows around Canada and the United States.
People love to throw a midget.
♪♪
-Wow.
-I don't believe that I'm stereotyping, like, dwarfism.
I'm just frigging good at it.
Like -- Like, that's -- that's the end of the story.
I'm not calling out Little People of America.
I'm not calling out Little People of Canada.
They're calling me out that I'm bad news.
I'm a bad image for little people.
I'm not displaying that in any way, shape, or form.
What I'm displaying is, hey, you want to throw a little person?
Pay a few bucks.
Now is your chance, one night only, ta-da!
-Is this derogatory to the little-person community,
or is this person
actually advocating for themselves saying,
"I'm a grown-ass man or a grown-ass woman,
and I'm going to do this because this is what I feel like doing,
and there's clearly a market out there,
and I'm going to exploit it
because this is a capitalist country."
-When kids are like, "Grandpa, what did you do
for fun back in the day?" I want to be able to say,
"I watched people shake their ass and threw some midgets."
♪♪
-Eight and a half feet. -Oh!
That's right. That's what I'm talking about.
-It is a situation of -- of, no,
you can't pick up the little person and throw him.
I'm asking you to throw me, you know,
for a little reimbursement, but I do it as a sport.
It is a sport to me. I didn't create it.
I'm just capitalizing on it and making it fun
and entertaining guests and entertaining audiences.
♪♪
-Oh!
-I have to be very cautious
because dwarfism is basically our spine is crushing,
and it's shrinking as we're getting older.
♪♪
Okay.
Okay, give me 1 minute, and then I'll do chest.
Then we're done.
I force myself a lot to work out and train, like,
so I push my limits,
but a lot of people don't have my drive,
so a lot of little people just don't have that [growls]
that... [ Grunting ]
I wanted to be a professional body builder,
and I went, and I did that for like 2 years.
Then all of a sudden came circus,
and circus, I juggle, unicycle, blow fire,
touring with a lot of rock-and-roll bands
like Motley Crue and Britney Spears.
I got to tour half the world.
People like that I'm, like, a ripped little midget.
Argh, yeah.
The cane just keeps me stabilized
a little more and just keeps...
You know, I'm turning into an old man a little bit here.
I'm going to be 40, but I use it for a little bit of stability
when I walk because us little people,
we put a lot of wear and tear on our knees throughout our lives,
and so I just keep it just to, you know, just to be safe.
Me, I'm 4-foot-3, and I'm a dwarf.
I have a wobble butt, and I have achondroplasia.
I was a heavy baby, and my head was bigger,
and the doctor said to my parents I would never walk,
but my mom and my dad,
they force walked me, and then I --
So I kind of, like, got to straighten out my limbs,
and I got to kind of fight through it without surgery.
If somebody comes and says something,
even if it's rude, I always treat it nice
because a lot of people don't know better.
What's a dwarf? What's a little person?
What's a midget? So I just be myself.
Growing up, shit, it was a challenge.
I went through a lot of bullying.
I went through a lot of fistfights.
When people said the M word, I, like, got back in their face.
I'd go, "What? You just call me a midget?"
Boom!
At a very young age, I realized
I need to do something with my life to prove a point...
and I believe I just did.
-I know you volunteered yourself to do this,
but in a way, I feel disrespectful.
Like, I'm just going to pick up a person and throw you?
Like... Like, what about your feelings?
Like, what about your -- Like, how do you --
Like, how do you feel about this, like?
-But the thing is I make people happy.
I make people excited and happy.
So I don't, you know...
-I just feel like you're more than that,
that I would give you enough respect
that I wouldn't want to throw you
just because I would feel like --
Yeah, like, so you're a little person, and it's funny,
and everybody gets a laugh, and it's great, but, like,
you're still a fucking person, and that's not fucking nice.
-Well, eventually I'll retire. -Maybe I'll do it.
-But for now -- -I don't know.
-But for now, I'm still rocking it.
The first dwarf toss was in Detroit, Michigan on 2012.
When I went into this, part of me were like,
"Do I know what I'm doing?"
Part of me was like, "It pays well."
You know, we didn't have, like, a format,
which took time to make, so that was,
like, the hardest part, to figure out, like,
how to do this where I can live the next day.
So we figured out the right mattresses.
I, like, got this bicycle helmet.
I ripped up the Styrofoam out of it to make it,
like, nice and tight.
This harness holds like 600 pounds,
and then I got the right weightlifting belt for, like,
a 300-pound guy to go and, like, constrict and lock
the back so nothing happens while I'm being tossed,
that my hips don't go one way and my body goes another.
You're going to grab by this belt in the back
and this gold piece. -The hilt, right?
-Yeah, that's it, and the thing is no leaning back.
Pick up. Throw.
-All right.
-Okay, ready? -Yeah.
-Ready, my dude? -Yeah, pick-up drill.
Go.
♪♪
-Pick up. Go.
Tell him where to grab. -Yeah, I told him.
-He's not grab -- -Yeah, go ahead.
♪♪
-Right there?
-All right. Let's see.
-When I do the dwarf toss, I'm not afraid of it.
I get pumped. I get so motivated when I do it,
but when I go and do, and then that punch,
and then, like, I just feel indestructible.
I just, like, do it.
When I do dwarf tossing and dwarf bowling,
it feels like I'm like a hero.
You know, I'm a hero for myself,
and I'm happy that I get to interact with new people.
The thing is, being bullied throughout school,
I always told them I would go and become a superstar.
Midget tossing is the way I became a superstar, okay?
So...
So I'm not going to brag or play it off.
It's just, hey, I told you so.
I don't say for every little person to do this.
This is me and me only, and I'm proud of what I do,
and I'm proud that I bring in an audience
and entertain them in my way,
and I believe it's just a unique type of way of entertainment
that I'm having fun with.
♪♪
-Them in my way, and I believe it's just a unique
type of way of entertainment that I'm having fun with.
♪♪