How does the magic trick “sword swallowing work”
In: Biology
Penn Jilette (half of the Penn & Teller magic act) has a description that fits pretty well here: he likes to compare magic to juggling, since he started out doing juggling and other circus acts. He likes to say that a magician says “I’m gonna do this” and then doesn’t actually do that, they do something else instead. While a juggler says “I’m gonna do this” and then actually does it.
In this case, sword swallowing is a lot like juggling, and not like a magic trick. A professional sword swallower tells you that the sword is going right down their throat, and they aren’t lying to you. There are ways to do it with trick swords where the blade retracts somewhat into the hilt, but a real sword swallower will often allow a volunteer to check their sword to make sure that it’s legitimately just a long piece of metal without any tricky bells or whistles.
The only “trick” to it is practice; the sword swallower has to learn to relax their throat and properly drop the sword in straight (or follow the curve of the sword, if they’re using a bendy one) to avoid injury. And the sword itself has to be properly lubricated to make sure that it slides down easily and can be pulled out without incident.
Sword swallowing isn’t (generally) a magic trick. Sword swallowing is what’s called a circus geek trick.
There are some factors that make it easier to accomplish, but the “trick” is that the guy spent a lot of time training his gag reflex and actually inserts a sword (blunt and oiled though it typically is) down his esophagus. There have been people who have done this and then taken x-rays that have proven that the blades are 100% down there in the esophagus.
Similarly, things like the “nail into the nose” routine actually involve pushing a real nail into your nasal cavity, and fire eating involves putting a flaming wad of cotton on a stick into your mouth and extinguishing it (and other tricks that involve getting some fuel on you and being on fire for a bit), and walking on broken glass (that’s actual real broken glass in their bed of broken glass). These things all involve some degree of real risk, and shouldn’t be done at home. Fire eaters are at constant risk of severe burns, sword swallowers can suffer internal bleeding, and nails being stuck in your nasal cavity are not a fun thing by any stretch, and the dangers of walking on broken glass are apparent.
Source: Amateur circus performer and magician, have seen people do all of this and researched all of it as well.
EDIT: There have been some attempts at a collapsing sword that goes into the mouth and collapses into the hilt but these don’t pass even basic scrutiny in most instances, it’s obvious that something is wrong with the sword.
There is the magic trick version where the sword does not go down the esophagus, and the one where it’s actually swallowed. In the later, the performer aligns the mouth, throat and abdomen and literally swallows the sword (a blunt version). So…not quite magic, just a physical feat.
In the scenario where it’s a magic trick, they are creating some sort of illusion, but…I don’t think that is what you’re asking about!
There are two ways to do it.
The first way is for beginners. You use a blunt, oiled sword and you open your throat and slide it in.
The second way is for experts. The sword isn’t as blunt. It’s more impressive because you can use the sword to cut things before you swallow it.
That’s it. No tricks, no magic, just practice and technique. Anyone can learn it. Sword swallowing is a physical technique act and not trickery.
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