Roderick Russell is a Burlington, Vt.-based mentalist and sword swallower who travels the country performing his unusual brand of family entertainment. He also performs internationally and his work has been featured by many media, including the Discovery Channel, the Travel Channel, CNN, NPR, and “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.”

The 34-year-old native of Portsmouth, N.H., set down his sword long enough to speak with the Tri-Town Weekly about his upcoming show in Freeport, the power of the mind, and why he chose to swallow swords for a living.

Q: How long have you been performing?

A: I’ve been performing for 14 years now and started out in central New Hampshire and it was completely unintentional. I started after a few friends begged me to participate in a charity event. I had absolutely no desire to perform, but I did a number of unusual things in my personal life that my friends thought an audience would appreciate.

Q: Such as?

A: I was challenging my sense of fear and putting a number of obstacles in front of me that I thought would be impossible to overcome. I was curious to see just how many of these obstacles I could overcome just by changing my mindset. That’s always been my motivation behind everything I do, including sword swallowing, and it’s about how far I can push the edge of human experience. I also dabbled in fire eating, escape art and mind reading.

Q: You also bill yourself as a mentalist. Why are you interested in the power of the mind?

A: I’m interested in how we as humans can change and reshape our world just by changing and reshaping our minds.

Q: How does one start or get involved in sword swallowing? It seems to be a steep learning curve if you’re not very good.

A: It is a steep learning curve, but thankfully it’s self-limiting, for obvious reasons. It may sound crazy, but the next logical thing for me at the time was sword swallowing and I had never seen a sword swallower – not on television, not in a book, not in anything. I generally knew what a sword swallower did and it seemed like an impossible task to me and a challenge that epitomized facing down fear. There are a lot of unconscious processes going on inside the body to successfully swallow the sword. I literally bought a sword and started poking and prodding and studying anatomy. I studied all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Q: Did you consider starting with something smaller? Maybe a spoon?

A: Yes, the most common path is to start with something non-lethal, like a coat hanger, but I figured if you want to be a good Bach pianist, you play Bach. That’s why I started with a sword.

Q: You say that you are one of only 50 sword swallowers in the world. Is that true?

A: Well, there are certainly more, but I am one of roughly 50 professional, full-time sword swallowers. Of course, there are old timers, circus guys, who practice on the side. Others may practice the craft but perform on a strictly part-time basis.

Q: How many shows do you perform a year?

A: Roughly 150 to 160 shows a year. I do a lot colleges and corporate work, but also conferences, too. There is a strong educational component that I offer also.

Q: Where does the art of sword swallowing come from?

A: It’s actually an ancient Indian ritual performed to demonstrate their divine union with their gods. From there it migrated to China and became part of their circus performances until reaching Europe through traveling minstrels. Eventually it arrived in America and became quite popular in traveling sideshows.

Q: What can people expect from your show in Freeport? It includes more than sword swallowing?

A: Yes, it’s best summed up by envisioning Sherlock Holmes having a stage show. I use applied psychology, misdirection, and I get inside people’s heads and also allow them to get inside mine. I pull out thoughts and use them for entertainment. Nothing too personal, though. It’s an exploration, demonstration and ultimately a celebration of how remarkable we are as human beings.

Q: So are these swords real? It’s not collapsible, right?

A: I can assure everyone that the sword is real, and I encourage everyone after the show to inspect them. I actually bring a copy of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” which I’m in, that has x-rays of my body with the sword inside. The Freeport Theater of Awesome is a small venue and there will be no question that what I’m doing is real.

Roderick Russell performs nationally and internationally and brings his mentalist and sword-swallowing skills to Freeport this weekend. 
Courtesy photo

Roderick Russell is a Burlington, Vt.-based mentalist and sword swallower who travels the country performing his unusual brand of family entertainment. He also performs internationally and his work has been featured by many media, including the Discovery Channel, the Travel Channel, CNN, NPR, and “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.”

The 34-year-old native of Portsmouth, N.H., set down his sword long enough to speak with the Tri-Town Weekly about his upcoming show in Freeport, the power of the mind, and why he chose to swallow swords for a living.

Q: How long have you been performing?

A: I’ve been performing for 14 years now and started out in central New Hampshire and it was completely unintentional. I started after a few friends begged me to participate in a charity event. I had absolutely no desire to perform, but I did a number of unusual things in my personal life that my friends thought an audience would appreciate.

Q: Such as?

A: I was challenging my sense of fear and putting a number of obstacles in front of me that I thought would be impossible to overcome. I was curious to see just how many of these obstacles I could overcome just by changing my mindset. That’s always been my motivation behind everything I do, including sword swallowing, and it’s about how far I can push the edge of human experience. I also dabbled in fire eating, escape art and mind reading.

Q: You also bill yourself as a mentalist. Why are you interested in the power of the mind?

A: I’m interested in how we as humans can change and reshape our world just by changing and reshaping our minds.

Q: How does one start or get involved in sword swallowing? It seems to be a steep learning curve if you’re not very good.

A: It is a steep learning curve, but thankfully it’s self-limiting, for obvious reasons. It may sound crazy, but the next logical thing for me at the time was sword swallowing and I had never seen a sword swallower – not on television, not in a book, not in anything. I generally knew what a sword swallower did and it seemed like an impossible task to me and a challenge that epitomized facing down fear. There are a lot of unconscious processes going on inside the body to successfully swallow the sword. I literally bought a sword and started poking and prodding and studying anatomy. I studied all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Q: Did you consider starting with something smaller? Maybe a spoon?

A: Yes, the most common path is to start with something non-lethal, like a coat hanger, but I figured if you want to be a good Bach pianist, you play Bach. That’s why I started with a sword.

Q: You say that you are one of only 50 sword swallowers in the world. Is that true?

A: Well, there are certainly more, but I am one of roughly 50 professional, full-time sword swallowers. Of course, there are old timers, circus guys, who practice on the side. Others may practice the craft but perform on a strictly part-time basis.

Q: How many shows do you perform a year?

A: Roughly 150 to 160 shows a year. I do a lot colleges and corporate work, but also conferences, too. There is a strong educational component that I offer also.

Q: Where does the art of sword swallowing come from?

A: It’s actually an ancient Indian ritual performed to demonstrate their divine union with their gods. From there it migrated to China and became part of their circus performances until reaching Europe through traveling minstrels. Eventually it arrived in America and became quite popular in traveling sideshows.

Q: What can people expect from your show in Freeport? It includes more than sword swallowing?

A: Yes, it’s best summed up by envisioning Sherlock Holmes having a stage show. I use applied psychology, misdirection, and I get inside people’s heads and also allow them to get inside mine. I pull out thoughts and use them for entertainment. Nothing too personal, though. It’s an exploration, demonstration and ultimately a celebration of how remarkable we are as human beings.

Q: So are these swords real? It’s not collapsible, right?

A: I can assure everyone that the sword is real, and I encourage everyone after the show to inspect them. I actually bring a copy of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” which I’m in, that has x-rays of my body with the sword inside. The Freeport Theater of Awesome is a small venue and there will be no question that what I’m doing is real.

Roderick Russell performs nationally and internationally and brings his mentalist and sword-swallowing skills to Freeport this weekend. 
Courtesy photo