OctoberFiesta - Two Famous Performers

NOTE: This is a long post, but you should find it interesting. I wish I could write tons more about the different things that these performers did, but there is no way to convert the experience into words.

Wow! OctoberFiesta was a whole lot of fun. There were many different attractions. There was a mechanical bull, a live radio broadcast (courtesy of WVTC 90.7 FM), several side-games sponsored by clubs, an inflatable booth for video games on a projection screen, a hot pepper eating contest and several other awesome things including free drinks and food.

Even though the first huge chunk of the show was great, the last part of it was downright awesome. There was a magician running around reading people's minds and performing some very cool card tricks. He did an amazing job of freaking people out by reading their minds. One person swore when he guessed the card a kid was thinking of and was so freaked out that he left the gymnasium! :-)

There were signs posted about "Sword Swallowing @ 9:00 PM" which I had to stay for. I didn't realize that the magician was going to be the sword swallower. Keep reading, it gets better. Right before the show was about to begin the radio station introduced the magician by saying:

"Ladies & Gentlemen. Can we have your attention please. He has travelled all around the world performing his act, he has appeared on Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Discovery Channel, the Travel Channel, MTV and several other channels, he currently holds 3 records in the Guiness Book of World Records for his dangerous acts. Ladies & Gentlemen... We now present to you... Mr. Roderick Russell!"

I had seen this guy swallow swords on Ripley's Believe it or Not when I was younger, and I thought that it was the coolest thing that was ever on the show. It was really cool to meet the guy in person and see his act live. He said that Guiness has banned sword swallowing because of how dangerous it is, and that he is 1 out of only 50 people in the world who can perform this act. He did so many awesome things. He lit one torch, inhaled the fumes, and then lit a second torch by breathing the fire onto it! He explained that he has pages (not one, but many pages) in the Ripley's Believe it or Not book that show pictures and xrays of the swords in his throat. This guy is very well known. He has his own website. His website is, www.roderickrussell.com be sure to check it out if you want to see higher quality pictures. I could write ten pages on this guy because of how cool his act was, but unfortunately I don't have time to do so.

It was cool because after the act was over, I got to talk to Roderick Russell. I told him about how I had seen him when I was younger and I thought that it was the best act on Ripley's (which it definately was), and how I didn't realize it was him until it was announced. I told him that it was really cool to be able to see him in person.

The sword swallower wasn't the only famous person there. There was a french guy there also who goes by the name Etienne (sounds like A-T-N). This guy's act was, by far, the funniest thing that I have ever seen. He is both a comedian, and a juggler. He travels all around the world performing his acts. His act is one that has to be seen though. Even more so with this act than the sword swallowing, this act had so much going on that it is hard to describe. One of the cool things he did, was he managed to balance on a step ladder, while playing the tuba! He was a wicked funny guy. He had a very deep French accent, but you could easily understand him. He made jokes about how you can never trust a mime, and he called them death mimes for the rest of the show... hard to describe, but trust me he was very funny. He asked the audience "Who has been to France?" No one raised there hands so he responded with "Yeah. I didn't think so. I mean, why the hell would you want to travel thousands of miles to be treated like shit by the people in France, when you can be treated the same way by people in New Hampshire?"

He also asked for an assistant from the audience to help him out. He asked the kid, "Have you ever been to Massechusettes?" the kid responded with, "No, but my girlfriend lives in Mass." the performer than responded with, "Yes. Yes. That is good to know..." He then asked "could you please lay on the floor?" the kid began to lay face down on the floor and Etienne stopped him and said with a stutter, "N-N-N-N-N-N-NO. Where do you think you are from? Massechusettes? What are you... like your girlfriend?" When the kid finally lay down, Etienne began to juggle swords right over his body. This was ver entertaining. He asked "Are you getting freak out yet?" and when the kid said "Yeah. a little bit." he got down on one knee and began juggling even closer to his body! This was, of course, one of the countless hilarious things that he said and did during the show. When he did the one handed balancing (picture above) he said " I call this the tie trick"... "Because if you look... the tie is holding me up!"

This event was one that I will never forget. The put this on every year, right after October break. I am really looking forward to the next 4 OctoberFiesta's that I will be attending. I hope that both of these performers come back next year because they are the best acts I have ever seen... by far. :-)

P.S Etienne also has a website. It hasn't been updated in a while, so he is actually much younger in the pictures on his website. his website is, www.veryfunny.com ...I mean, of course it is. :-)