>> This episode of the Modern Rogue
brought to you by CuriosityStream.
>> Go to curiositystream.com/rogue and use promo code rogue
to get one month free.
>> Yeah, man.
[stammering]
Dang it.
>> Just--he gets so worked up.
He wants you to do this so bad. >> [unintelligible explaining]
Want to try something cool?
>> Yeah.
>> Here, put your torch right there.
>> Right there? >> Right there.
>> JASON: Gotcha. >> BRIAN: I'm going to do a little squiggly line.
There we go.
I'm going to light this and then boom.
[Jason gasps]
And now you eat that.
>> I haven't read the book.
>> It's very easy.
Come on. >> No, what‽
>> BRIAN: Just a taste! >> Stop, stop, stop!
>> Just a little bit.
Come on, you big-- >> Stop it!
[deep synthetic rumble]
[electrical pop] [gentle vinyl static]
[rising chime]
All right, what are we doing here?
Wingardium Leviosa?
Swish and flick?
>> [through laughter] Yeah. >> Is this some of your wizard bull[bleep]?
>> We're going to learn how to eat fire.
[prominent static crackling] ♪ [samba]
But of course, much like a Jedi needs
to make his own lightsaber,
you have to build your own torches.
>> Okay, now are these like,
going to be--can I Tomb Raid with one of these torches?
Is it that kind of torch? >> Okay,
dude, they're very versatile.
You can explore tombs,
you can host reality shows on Discovery,
you can harass Frankenstein.
>> Ha, oh! >> That's a joke I stole from Penn & Teller.
>> You know what?
It's Frankenstein's monster, okay?
[Brian laughs]
>> There are juggling torches out there
that have a Kevlar thing
with two screws in it. You don't want to use those,
because they're too big to fit in your mouth.
Plus also, those screws get really, really hot.
You'll burn the heck out of your tongue.
I know this from experience.
There are fire eating torches out there,
also with that same Kevlar material.
>> Some of them--oh, you're talking about ones that are pre-made
that you can just order off the internet or something.
>> You can buy off the shelf, however,
and take this from me,
the guy that wrote The Professional's Guide to Fire Eating,
I strongly, strongly advise that you build your own torches
mainly because what happens when you buy off-the-shelf
is you might get a reservoir of fuel that's inappropriate
for the size of the mouth
or the skill that you want to demonstrate.
Some people like really big torches
that hold a lot of fuel because they can keep on using them
without re-soaking them for a while,
but the trade-off
is that you lack the precision
of having the exact right torch
for the size and shape of your mouth.
We have two handmade torches
that are about perfect, in my opinion.
>> They're really smaller than I would anticipate.
>> Yes, I am a big fan
of soaking your torches very, very often
because you've got to remember,
it's not the cotton wicking that burns, it's the fuel.
I never leave a fire-eating torch going
for more than maybe 10 seconds.
And if I do, it's in motion.
But here, you can see that the cotton wicking
is actually starting to combust and you don't want that
because even after you put out the fire,
now, this is all very, very hot
and will burn your mouth from the inside.
>> So how long does one of these last
if you make it right and treat it right?
>> If you do a good habit of soaking your torch
before every single time you eat fire,
something like this, I believe,
I made this maybe three years ago.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And that's hundreds of performances.
The longevity of your torch is directly related
to how good you are about putting it out,
soaking it for the next one,
and then going into the next part.
So look at this, at this point we're running out of fuel.
Watch what happens when I blow it out.
You'll see that there's all these embers and cinders.
[a smooth-turned-turbulent exhale]
>> Oh, yeah.
You're just ruining it.
[sustained exhale]
>> Two things are happening.
Number one, this will burn you if you put it in your mouth.
[exhale]
>> BRIAN (VO): And number two, you're destroying the torch itself.
So what'll happen is,
god forbid this happens onstage or during a performance,
but once this breaks all the way through,
it will unravel on stage which can be disastrous. >> [distressed] Oh.
>> We just finished a two-hour shoot
where we did my full fire eating performance
and over that time, I wasn't this bad
but it does degrade faster when you're doing it
for minutes and minutes and minutes an hour.
>> Repeatedly, yeah. >> Right.
>> Okay, so this is just t-shirt material here
but what is your base?
What are you using for that?
>> Any kind of metal skewer or stick or anything.
I made my first out of a wire coat hanger
but I figured out really fast that the thinner
the material in any of the stuff, this is a--
>> Is that like a Mortal Kombat weapon or something?
What is that? >> No, it's for roasting marshmallows. [laughing]
>> Oh, okay.
>> So let's say you cut this off,
the problem is the thinner that the rod is,
the faster it heats up.
And when you do burn yourself in fire eating,
it's usually not on the wick material, except for this.
[exhale] Look, it's still going.
This is why you never let it get that hot.
>> You can stop blowing it in my face now.
[laughter]
>> Sorry. >> I'd be happy if you did that.
>> So in general, the thicker the rod, the better a heat reservoir it is.
The longer it takes because this gets hot
and all of that heat is drawn down through the metal
so you get yourself one, two, three, five more seconds
to risk putting your lips around it
without burning yourself.
So this one is a little bit thinner. >> Yeah.
>> These are my older torches and I move to the thicker rod
which worked much, much better.
Okay, so in this case, we've got a torch
that clearly needs to be rewicked, right?
>> Yes.
>> So first thing you want to do, is you want to take off
the previous wicking.
I like pure cotton t-shirts.
♪ [smooth mellow beat] You can actually take cotton and thread and make them.
That's all in the book.
I don't like that because when the thread breaks apart,
everything kind of disintegrates all at once.
If you do it right,
you can make a excellent fire eating torch
just by using the t-shirt and tying it off on itself.
Even after being burned, it's a little tough for me
to break this all apart to get back down
to the original barbecue skewer.
>> Now, is there any type of material
you want to avoid?
>> Yes, anything synthetic because synthetic things melt,
pure cotton only slowly burns.
Of course, if you're doing your job right,
you're only going to leave the flame long enough
for it to go immediately out in your mouth
and then the actual temperature of the cotton
should be totally unaffected.
>> Okay, so we take the rod, we cut the top off,
and then make the little shepherd's crook right there.
>> You want to get the right wicking for it.
So in this case, we'll take 100% cotton t-shirt.
You want to start with a wide band and get it thinner
and thinner and thinner and let it go
as thin as you can for the longest time you can.
You can always cut more of it off later.
In the beginning, I used to only use
the bottom parts of t-shirts
because they were double-rolled-over
and they wouldn't fold in on themselves.
>> So if we ever see you wearing a t-shirt
[laughter] where it's just the bottom is gone.
>> Then you know I've become so cheap,
[laughter] that I can't afford to wear a whole shirt, yes.
♪ ♪ [scissors softly snipping]
I'm going to cut, like
an inch and a half, two inches. >> Yeah.
>> BRIAN: For your very first ones,
they work great if you just use this bottom band.
We're going to do it the hard way, though.
We're going to get rid of that bottom band.
>> JASON: Okay.
♪ ♪
>> So here, like, take that for a beginning thing
and I'm going to bet you could figure out
how to wrap that around.
>> [in disbelief] Well...
>> BRIAN: I subscribe to the probability that the right size
for a wick is about the size of your thumb.
>> Okay. >> Something that'll fit in your mouth
that will give you control,
that is not going to be overbearing.
>> Now, do you want to make sure you cover everything?
Like even the tip of the crook here?
>> It's not the worst thing if a little bit of the crook
is still there, but I like to cover everything.
>> JASON: Okay.
>> BRIAN: You have the one side of the crisscross,
I would do another side of the crisscross.
>> JASON: Okay.
>> BRIAN: And come around here and then you start tying it off
just like that. >> Ah!
>> The only problem is you don't have a very good knot here.
>> Okay. >> So at this point,
you want to tighten this really tight.
Now, I'm going to do another knot on this.
For a baby starter torch,
that's actually not bad
because this is not going to hold a lot of fuel,
it's not going to be too intimidating for you to use,
you've got a double knot down here.
It's tight enough that it's not going to come off
on its own accord.
>> And that's why the crook is important
to keep it from coming off.
>> Yeah, correct.
You want it threaded in there, wrapped around,
and then watch this.
At this point, you've got this little
dangly guy right there.
Ideally, you'll always have enough fuel
that this will never burn off
but if you're worried about making it nice and even,
all you have to do, there we go,
we're just going to burn off that edge.
Now, you can see, it's actually lit there.
>> JASON: Yeah.
♪ [hectic music fades in] [forcefully exhaling]
♪ [hectic music fades in]
>> And then at that point,
it seems like you're ready to start practicing,
without fuel, on the motions.
>> So how do I do that?
[Brian laughing]
I mean, I've watched you do it--
>> Well here, let me show you the way I make my torches
so that you can get the more advanced version.
It's not so degraded that I need to use
♪ ♪
pliers or anything to rip it off.
I'm just going to get all the way down
and just unwrap everything.
You can kind of see, the original shape has survived.
>> Oh, yeah! >> You can tell
I used the bottom of a shirt.
>> And you just taper it off
there to a point. >> Correct.
Exactly.
>> Yeah, for safety's sake, you've got to be really careful
that you don't have any little stray bits
[squeaky plying] or threads or anything that are going to fall off
because that's going in your mouth, right?
>> Yeah, of course,
that's one of the things we'll talk about later
is like, there is no version of fire eating
where you don't burn your mouth repeatedly.
>> [facetiously] Oh, good. >> So, if you're not into that part,
[laughing] then fire eating is not for you.
>> Well. >> So you notice that the t-shirt
kind of wants to roll in one direction.
>> JASON: Yeah.
>> BRIAN: I usually cut it about...
yeah, about an inch and a half
and you can tell, these are kind of crappy scissors so it's kind of
garbagey on the cut.
But, since it's rolling in on itself,
that doesn't matter so much.
>> JASON: So when you got started,
did you ever try to tie it off with thread?
I mean, how did you figure this out, trial and error?
>> Yeah, I don't recommend anyone
learning by trial and error.
I'm going to keep it even but at this point,
you can tell I'm starting to taper down
and I'm going to get down to a narrow, curled-over thread.
It's curled over on the inside on both sides
and I want this as long as I can get it
so that I can get as many knots as possible
so that it survives without unraveling.
That's the big thing I want to avoid.
Keep in mind, all of this is just my preference.
Nobody should eat fire.
You should learn from your local professional.
There you go. Oh, I feel really good about that.
You see how it ends >> Yeah.
>> on that tiny thread there?
Okay, oh, this is good.
So the only thing I would worry about this
is that it might not be enough material.
>> Oh, really?
Oh, because it's too thin?
>> Well, it might be too thin in which case,
what I would do is I would take a little bit
of the old wick and just--
>> Reinforce it? >> Tuck it in middle, right?
Let's just take a bit of this wicking.
♪ [energetic track going buckwild]
I'll use this to kind of wrap it over the top.
Biggest thing is I want to cover all the metal.
You want the least amount of frayed edges
as you can possibly get.
Those are going to burn faster and it's not going to last as long.
>> Now, is there a problem if it's too small?
>> No, everything in fire eating is a trade-off.
I described to people, anyone could juggle in 15 minutes
but it just takes a lifetime to
♪ [music resolves to a halt] be able to nail five balls all at once, on stage, under pressure,
that kind of thing.
So to start with, you definitely want
everything to be less than you think you're going to need.
[bugs chittering in the background]
There we go.
I'm going to do that same thing I did to get it nice and tight.
A little bit smaller than I would normally use
but I think this will be just fine.
>> JASON: [reassuring] It's a good size, Brian.
[Brian laughing]
>> BRIAN: Let's say I'm done and I don't want anymore.
>> Okay. >> That should be a-okay.
>> Once you trim it, we'll take the lighter.
>> Yeah, there you go.
Just burn off that excess there.
>> JASON: Burn the loose edges there.
♪ [jazzy contemplative beat]
>> Beautiful.
So there's only one thing left to do.
[stammering nervously] >> What's next?
What's the next step?
>> Okay, we are going to learn all of the basics of fire eating.
>> Okay. >> And there is a lot
of ways fire eating can go very, very wrong
but, usually what I do with new students
to build their confidence is I get them to do
just the babiest of baby flames.
>> Okay.
>> I quite literally have them do
just a couple of drops of fuel.
Hold out your torch.
♪ ♪
[quietly] There we go.
Just going to coat it,
that's so little fuel, >> Okay.
>> -that even if you did everything wrong,
I'm pretty certain, you can't screw it up.
>> Like, if I put it in my nose or something?
>> Well, I mean you might singe a hair.
In general, fire goes up, heat goes up,
you're going to tilt all the way back,
tongue all the way back.
You want it to stick out your tongue, land it,
[gesturing sounds]
and close your mouth all the way around that rod
for a good four seconds.
>> Four seconds? >> Yeah.
Don't make the mistake of opening your mouth too fast
or you'll be like my friend Justin Robert Young,
you'll light your face on fire.
[static and an electric buzz]
[distinct Texan accent] >> Oh, god damn! Your face was on fire!
>> Oh, JURY.
>> Okay, okay.
>> Also, you're forgetting one thing.
>> BRIAN: What?
>> The one important thing
that you told me years ago, don't inhale.
>> Oh, yeah.
Look, that's the advanced stuff.
Look, there's so little fuel on here.
I don't know how you can screw this up.
>> Okay, okay, okay. >> Just be fast.
No hesitation.
>> No hesitation, four seconds.
>> Oh, I will say, you hold it in the middle.
You don't actually hold it by the end.
>> Oh! >> The end, it's too easy to wobble around.
>> Oh, yeah, yeah. >> There you go.
>> Hold it by the actual rod itself? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right, ready? Three, two, one.
Uh, oh.
>> Am I doing it? >> It was too little fuel.
We took too long. >> Okay.
I did it!
Oh, no, I got it!
>> This doesn't count.
This is not the real instruction.
All right, ready and go.
>> Okay.
>> On the tongue, close your mouth, close your mouth.
One, two, three, four, you did it.
See, look at that.
♪ ♪
>> That's nothing.
You built a career on this‽
I got it in like 10 minutes!
Come on!
I'm going on the road!
I'm going to write a better book!
>> This is only the instruction on how to make the torch!
>> Oh, there's more? >> There's so much more.
That's why I wrote The Professional's Guide to Fire Eating
which we're going to make free again for 48 hours.
Normally, it's $40 but they got to go to gimme.scamstuff.com
and then they can get it free.
You got to be 18,
you got to promise me that you're not going to go up
and try this without talking to a real professional
but it's everything I know about fire eating.
This is what you're going to learn next.
>> Okay. >> And then, boom, right?
And then it's like that. >> [whispering] That's a lot more.
>> Like that stuff.
That's the action.
>> Okay, so
maybe five to six more episodes
before we get to that, right?
I've got a long runway?
>> Next episode.
>> Next episode. >> It'll be fine.
I had a dream the other night, dude.
>> Oh, do I want to hear this?
>> Yes, you do.
I dreamt that I was hanging around the house.
I was doing a bunch of chores
and I was still learning the entire time.
I dreamt that instead of a television,
there was a magical waterfall that filled my brain
with 2,400 of the best documentaries
and nonfiction programming with award-winning talent,
everyone from Michio Kaku to to David Attenborough
and I dreamt that I got the first entire month of it
completely free by going to curiositystream.com/rogue.
>> Man, in my dreams, I just forgot to study for a test
and I'm naked, but yours is way better.
>> Well I mean, also I was naked
and I did study for the test because I was learning so much.
CuriosityStream was created by the guy
who founded the Discovery Channel.
Remember how television should fill your brain
with amazing mind-blowing facts and information?
You're not going to do better
than going to curiositystream.com/rogue.
>> It's $2.99 per month for over 2,400 documentaries
and nonfiction series.
>> Plus, the whole first month, totally free.
CuriosityStream.com/rogue.
This is a normal conversation
that two regular humans sitting on a porch would have.
>> Absolutely, it is.
>> Why wouldn't we?
>> Yeah, talking about--
>> I'll tell you why not.
>> Promo code rogue. >> Aliens.
>> Oh, is this because of the thing that you ate
and it got into your brains and all that?
♪ [otherworldly drone swell]
[hemming]
You've been weird. >> Science.
>> You can't just do that and say, "science."
>> Yeah, [stammering] you can and you can't stop me.
Science.
-- CC BY BIZARRE MAGIC --
[quieter] That's an awful example of what I'm doing.
It's falling apart literally in front of my eyes.
Let me do that--
[stiffled chortle]
>> Is this covered in The Professional's Guide to Fire Eating?
>> Failure? Yes. [laughter]
It's covered in my life.
That only happened because it's the Modern Rogue.
If this was Scam Nation, it would have been perfect.
>> Lock-Picking Lawyer did it better.
[Brian laughing]