Early 20th century vaudevillian Hadji Ali was known as the "Great Regurgitator."
From: "American Vaudeville" by student Charla Kinkel
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ZCJA_AM8mLYJ:www.du.edu/~ckinkel/AmericanVaudeville.doc+vaudeville+regurgitate&hl=en
"Hadji Ali amazed the crowds with his unmatched regurgitation acts. .
. . he would swallow a gallon of water chased by a pint of kerosene.
Then, he would douse the building [a miniature house] by spewing the
swallowed kerosene on it, causing it to burst into flames. He would
then amazingly regurgitate the water and quench the fire."
Read more about Ali and other, uh, bodily-function-driven vaudeville acts at
"Mark Corrington's American Miniature Theatre" site:
http://www.ipa.net/~mc64802/amtdark.html
(Ali is mentioned under "Bad Taste.")
You can see old film of Ali's act in the 1997 documentary, Vaudeville,
which is available at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000034DDM/102-4620457-2296932?v=glance
Harry Houdini also had an unusual regurgitation act:
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/magicians/houdini/
". . .he was best known for being 'the original Jail-Breaker' -- able
to escape from any locked cell, wearing just underwear, manacles, and
leg irons. The local police would search him, lock him in chains, and
then toss him in the cell. After they were gone, Houdini would
regurgitate a small bindle containing some lockpicks and keys. Once he
was free of his physical restraints, he would start work on the cell
door . . . ." |