Don’t try this in jest, says fire eater
ONE of Britain’s last professional fools has warned the country’s growing band of YouTube fire eaters that they could kill themselves.
Monty Gupwell, one of only ten full-time jesters in the UK, fears the DIY wannabes are courting disaster.
And the 44-year-old, from Solihull, speaks from experience. His health has suffered to the extent that doctors have urged him to quit.
He has also lost three friends to the showbiz disease dubbed fireeater’s lung.
Mr Gupwell, a member of the Jesters Guild, said: “A cardiologist told me that one performance is the equivalent of smoking 20 fullstrength cigarettes.”
The former resident fool at Warwick Castle has radically cut down.
“I used to do 250 fire-eating shows a year, but now it’s down to 15,” he said. “I did stop for three years because it had made me really ill – I had ulcers in my mouth, damaged teeth...”
Mr Gupwell began feasting on fire when 17 and spent years painstakingly honing his performance.
But now lessons in the ancient art are available on social media, together with videos of young peo- ple foolish enough to try their hand.
“I lost three friends through fireeating.” he said. “Poor technique is the danger. People don’t realise it is not just the fire, it’s the gas the fuel produces.
“You only breathe through your nose. I spent months simply holding water in my mouth for long periods. I take my technique very seriously.”
Monty is much in demand at children’s parties, wedding receptions and even seminars. He is still a regular turn at Warwick Castle.
And the trained circus performer – he’s also a dab-hand on stilts – is a man of many parts.
Viewers recently watched him tackle the famed course on ITV challenge show, Ninja Warrior UK – in full jester’s costume.
Mr Gupwell, who is married with two children, certainly has what it takes to tackle the extreme event.
He’s a master of slacklining, which is balancing on thin webbing, and bouldering, rock-climbing stripped down to its bare essentials.
Next month he opens his own climbing business, Flash Climbing Centre, in the centre of Solihull.
Despite juggling a number of jobs – and juggling is one of them – Mr Gupwell is a jester at heart. When the bells on his cap ring, he’s up for tomfoolery. But the former salesman has suffered for his art.
“I’ve been injured,” he admitted. “I’ve broken my wrist on stilts, I’ve broken my thumb. At A&E they dosed me up with painkillers and I managed to finish the show with fire-eating. I didn’t remember much about it.”
Mr Gupwell decided on a comic career ten years ago after becoming stuck in a rut.
“I was in a job I hated in sales,” he explained. “I’d previously managed the entertainers at Warwick Castle and I thought, ‘I can do that’.
“Now, I’ve never been shy about going to Tesco in my costume,” he laughs. “I tell staff, ‘You’re wearing your costume; I’m wearing mine’.”
But his days as a medieval entertainer may be numbered.
“I said I’d be a jester until I’m 50. I’ve had a very good run, but I’m 44 and not getting any younger. It’s a tough market,” he added.
I lost three friends through fire-eating. Poor technique is the danger Monty Gupwell