A human blockhead is a carnival or sideshow performer who hammers a nail or other implement (such as an ice pick, awl or screwdriver) into their nasal cavity via the nostril. [1]
A human blockhead is a carnival or sideshow performer who hammers a nail or other implement (such as an ice pick, awl or screwdriver) into their nasal cavity via the nostril. [1]
The stunt is often shocking to audiences, who believe that the nail is being hammered into the skull itself. In reality, the stunt plays on the anatomical misconception that the nasal cavity goes upward, rather than straight back. [1] The performer merely learns the terrain of the nasal cavity and lessens their sensitivity (and urge to sneeze) until the implement can be slid straight back through the nasal cavity until it hits the back of the throat.
The use of a hammer merely adds to the shock value by creating the illusion that the nail is being pounded through bone. One performer, Doc Swami, pushed the nail too far such that it got lost; however, shaking the head and blowing the nose can dislodge the nail. [1] Some performers have gone so far as to use a power drill.
This stunt is said to have been developed by renowned magician and sideshow performer Melvin Burkhart (1907–2001) [2] [3] after his nose was broken in a boxing bout and he became fascinated by the way that the doctors inserted instruments into his nose. Since then, it has become one of the staple acts of the sideshow. Over the years, several variations of the act have been developed by numerous performers, using objects including running power drills, fireworks, lit fire-eating rods, condoms, balloons, cork screws, letter openers, straws, spoons, forks, ice picks, and much more.
In 2005, scientific skeptic and investigator James Randi criticized faith healer John of God of Brazil for his use of this carnival trick to convince unsuspecting people, some desperately ill, of his paranormal healing powers. [4] [5] Randi and others also criticized news media outlets ABC, CNN, and Oprah Winfrey for uncritically promoting the faith healer's quackery. [6]
On November 23, 2009, The National Geographic Channel's Humanly Impossible series aired an episode "Human Blockhead" examining this trick with a visual camera probe inserted through the nostril and up to four inches into the sinus cavity. [7] [8]
One example of a variation of the original Human Blockhead act is the "Human Meathead", created in 2000 by Ryan Stock. The performer displays a large meat hook and then proceeds to force it into the nostril, through his nasal cavity and out his mouth. When performing this stunt, Ryan Stock has said that he had suspended up to 70lbs from the end of the inserted hook. [9]
In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction.
Nose picking is the act of extracting Mucus and nasal mucus with one's finger (rhinotillexis) and may include the subsequent ingestion of the extracted mucus (mucophagy). In Western cultures, this act is generally considered to be socially deviant; parents and pediatricians have historically tried to prevent development of the habit and attempt to break it if already established.
Nose piercing is the piercing of the skin or cartilage which forms any part of the nose, normally for the purpose of wearing jewelry, called a nose-jewel. Among the different varieties of nose piercings, the nostril piercing is the most common.
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The Jim Rose Circus is a modern-day version of a circus sideshow. It was founded in Seattle in 1991 by Jim Rose and his wife BeBe Aschard Rose. The sideshow, then called the "Jim Rose Circus Sideshow", came to prominence to an American audience as a second stage show at the 1992 Lollapalooza festival. although they had toured the Northwest and Canada and had several US TV appearances before this time. Rolling Stone magazine called the show an "absolute must-see act" and USA Today termed Rose's troupe "Lollapalooza's word-of-mouth hit attraction".
João Teixeira de Faria, known also as João de Deus, is a Brazilian convicted rapist, self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon. He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks, and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.
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The Faith Healers is a 1987 book by conjurer and skeptic James Randi. In this book, Randi documents his exploration of the world of faith healing, exposing the tricks that religious con artists use in their healing shows to fool the audience. Randi's expertise in performing stage magic and mentalism allowed him to easily identify the same techniques when used by con artists. Randi analyzes the methods used by A. A. Allen, Ernest Angley, Willard Fuller, WV Grant, Peter Popoff, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Ralph DiOrio and others, exposing their tricks. Popoff was dramatically exposed as a fraud by Randi on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Randi expended considerable effort contacting people who were supposedly cured by these faith-healers. He found there was a lot of disappointment and not a single verifiable case of healing. Randi describes the "calling out trick," the "wheelchair trick," the "leg-stretching trick," the "how many fingers trick," the "shotgun technique," as well as methods used to gain personal information about potential victims in the audience. He also describes methods used, often by mail, to convince people to make large donations.
Todd Robbins is an American magician, lecturer, actor, and author.
Oprah Gail Winfrey, known mononymously as Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Carnival Diablo the Ultimate Sideshow is a travelling sideshow operating primarily in Spencerville, Ontario, Canada. Performances by the troupe follow a traditional Ten-in-One format featuring such acts as fire-eating, sword swallowing and a human blockhead, with show times lasting two and a half hours. Carnival Diablo opened on April Fools' Day 1992 by Scott McClelland, whose family goes back three generations in the carnival and side show business. Shows have been performed across Canada, including shows at The Calgary Stampede, Edmonton's Klondike Days Regina's Buffalo Days, and the Canadian Tulip Festival. In 2008 and 2009, Carnival Diablo was a featured act at Carnivàle Lune Bleue, a dedicated revival of a 1930s old-time carnival located in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Melvin Burkhart (1907–2001) was a sideshow performer known as the Human Blockhead for driving a large steel spike up his nose with a hammer. He was also known as Melvin the Two-Faced Man, due to his ability to wear different facial expressions on the two sides of his face, and as Melvin the Anatomical Wonder for his abilities as a contortionist. His act also included magic, sword swallowing, fire eating, and an electric chair.