Stepping back behind the velvet curtain to thunderous applause, the woman clad in a latex costume entered the backstage area of the theatre. It is here that the “Hard To Swallow” audience enters the private world of Variety Performer, Comedian and Sword Swallower Miss Behave (Amy Saunders).
After peeling herself from her latex gear, Miss Behave proceeded to recount her life as an Artiste, her views of life living in a suitcase and her attitude to the people around her. We were told of how she stumbled into the world of a circus freak show, her experiences in Street Theatre and her progression to becoming a Sword Swallower. Throughout her tales, Miss Behave demonstrated some of her talents including a bit of fire eating, blowing up a rubber glove on her head and a slightly grotesque stunt involving a long stem rose and a tongue piercing.
Miss Behave was a fantastic storyteller. Her tales were told with a kind of world weary attitude but she inserted many humorous lines throughout, including a number of Swallowing puns. Her exaggerated movements as she changed clothes and navigated the stage made her fascinating to watch as well.
A couple of times during the show, Miss Behave asked the audience if they had any questions for her. This was not a rhetorical question used just to cover a pause in the show. She actually wanted to field any questions. A few members of my somewhat timid audience eventually got the ball rolling. Miss Behave revealed some very interesting facts about her craft and life of which we would have otherwise not been privy to. Once the line of questioning was exhausted for the second time, she went straight to her grand finale of swallowing the sword (her only sword by the way, she’s more interested in collecting shoes).
The show ended in an interesting way. After the obligatory “Tell all your friends” spiel, Miss Behave made a sly remark about the stereotypical stand up comedian and told us that the sooner we left, the sooner she could have a real drink. As we filed out of the room, she still sat on the stage reading a magazine.
If you would like a glimpse into the world of sword swallowing and stage performance in general, come prepared with some interesting questions and check out “Hard To Swallow”.
For booking details go to Hard to Swallow