KALISPELL — World-renowned sword swallower Dan Meyer is performing at the Northwest Montana Fair this week.
It is a crazy, have to see it to believe it, act. But for Meyer, it's about more than just swallowing swords.
“Yes, sword swallowing is really real, but that's not what my show is all about. It's about finding your purpose and calling in life. And for me, I found my purpose and calling is to change the world by inspiring people to get over their fear and to do the impossible in their lives, not necessarily swallowing swords, but doing the impossible in their lives. And so for me, it's a much bigger thing,” Meyer told MTN.
Sword swallowing began over 4,000 years ago in India. Meyer saw sword swallowing for the first time while on a mission trip to India when he was 20 years old. After four years and 14,000 failed attempts, Meyer swallowed his first sword in 2001.
“So an unsuccessful attempt means I decorated my shoes a lot. I had to clean my shoes quite a few times,” said Meyer.
From there his career took off and he has performed in 60 countries, holds 40 world records and has been on over 100 TV shows including America's Got Talent.
“But that's the easy part for me, the swords are actually the easy part. It's getting my mouth to work and actually impacting people's lives and their hearts and inspiring them to do the impossible in their life. That's the hard part,” said Meyer.
As a kid, Meyer was bullied and suffered from social anxiety. But once he discovered he could do the impossible and swallow a sword he knew he could change people's lives.
“It's all about proving to people that you can do the impossible in your life. If this scared, shy, skinny, Wimpy Kid can do the impossible, then so can you,” said Meyer.
Meyer is the President of the Sword Swallowing Association. Only a couple dozen people in the world do this stunt. Meyer’s show is funny, death-defying and seemingly impossible. But it is completely real.
“One thing that people don't realize is that I actually have to nudge my heart aside as I swallow the sword. The esophagus goes around the heart, so I have to nudge my heart to the left. So if you watch very carefully, you can see the blade beat with my heart like that. And you can't fake that,” said Meyer.
Meyer has been hospitalized four times from sword swallowing injuries but that does not stop him from continuing to do his show and spread his message.
“And it's my goal in life is to reach as many people as I can, not with a message on sword swallowing, but that you could do the impossible in your life,”
Meyer will be performing at the Northwest Montana Fair through Sunday if you want to see this impossible performance for yourself.
You can learn more about Dan Meyer at https://www.cuttingedgeinnertainment.com/.
