May 6th, 2008 -- by Bacchus
Balloon Swallowing
Long ago, when dinosaurs walked the earth, cell phones were bigger than popsicles, and P2P file sharing had just been invented, I was testing out the original Napster, or maybe it was an early version of Gnutella, and this balloon swallowing video (.flv format) was one of the first video files I downloaded.
I was reminded of this when I found yet another vintage photo that had to be shared. There’s just something about those balloons:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 11:48 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Shorter URL for sharing: http://www.erosblog.com/?p=2257
Shorter URL for sharing: http://www.erosblog.com/?p=2257
true true…and from the looks of it, methinx she knows what it is :)
Whoa…how are they gonna get that out later? Does she have the amazing throat control needed to bring that bad boy back up? If so that’s an amazing talent in and of it’s own to compliment her swallowing abilities.
Ok, I will admit it. I do not understand how swallowing the balloon did not cause serious injury. Will someone please explain?
She’s not swallowing the balloon. She is holding the opening of the balloon in her teeth and is deflating it slowly into her lungs.
If what you say is true, Chris W, I still think it’s a pretty amazing magic trick :) Though it does make it a lot less interesting…
Occam’s Razor (If there is more than one possible explanation for something, the more simple one is more likely to be true.)
If she could swallow something that thick and that long, why would she use a balloon?
The give-away is how she’s holding the end when she puts it in her mouth. She doesn’t hold it with one hand, or have both hands at different places. No, she’s clearly pinching the end closed with one hand and placing it in her mouth. Once her lips close around the balloon, she can slowly breath the air in the balloon into her lungs, deflating the balloon.
It is well performed.
Chris W, I’ll start by saying I find your explanation more plausible than believing the “evidence” of my eyes. If you’re right, it’s a nice trick indeed.
I hope I don’t spoil this by pointing out that your #4 is an example of the unwarranted internet certitude that I usually delete from my comments, though. If you’d started “I think” or “It’s likely” or “I’ll bet” or with any other verbal signal that you were presenting a theory, backed by evidence and an argument and likely to be right, I’d have been much happier with the comment.
I get this all the time as people comment on pictures I post to this blog. They have an opinion, often a very sound opinion, but they spoil it by presenting it as fact — when they weren’t there, and don’t actually have any justifiable way to be as certain as they sound.
There is, as it happens, a whole centuries-long tradition of swallowing skills — swords, snakes, canes, nails, glass, light trucks (ok, kidding about that one) — and so I’ll say right now it’s completely possible for someone to have done what this girl appears to do. I don’t actually think that’s what’s happening here, but really, nobody but the girl knows for sure. That’s why I like comment #6 so much better, for its “more likely to be true” phrasing and accompanying set of arguments.
My father was a magician. I’ve seen the trick before at a magic convention. She very definitely did NOT swallow the balloon.
Chris, I’m sorry to learn that you don’t understand the difference between opinion and fact, and that you won’t respect my insistence that the one not be presented as the other on ErosBlog.
When the probably of a thing being done in one way is very near 100%, and the probability of it being done in another way nearly zero…what particular reason is there to pretend that both are equally valid? Look at the still frame…the balloon is three feet long – longer than her entire torso.
Chris, as I’ve stated before, I agree that your explanation is the most likely, and I appreciate that you provided it — you’ve changed my interpretation of that video and educated me in the process.
The problem is your insistence, which baffles me, on presenting your theory/opinion as if it were incontrovertible fact. I’m not asking you to pretend that another theory is “equally valid” — I’m asking you, and all the ErosBlog commenters, to present theories with the tiniest bit of basic humility. Overstating your case with insupportable certainty is an aggressive rhetorical technique, it’s a type of verbal agression that’s rampant on the internet, I don’t understand the need for it and I don’t enjoy it. So, I’m asking people to refrain from it, and in extreme cases, I’ll enforce that request with the moderation tools.
I agree with you Bacchus about the differences between facts, speculation and assertion. I am inclined to believe that she is sporting an impressive skill. Akin to sword swallowers, light bulb swallowers and the swallowers of small animals such as mice. They have developed a regurgitation skill which allows them to bring the stuff back up safely, though in the case of swords, they have to pull them out or the tip of the sword will penetrate the stomach lining. Anyone can learn this skill. You start small with a potato, baked or raw and thread it on a cord. Swallow it and hold on to the thread. With practice, you can get it out by regurgitation and assistance with the thread. After a while you can do it unassisted.
I do not think that the lady in the video is controlling the deflation and it is deflating too slowly to my mind unless there is a loose knot at the neck, Also look at the extension/distension of her throat as the thing goes down. My application of Occams razor favours the simple act of swallowing the thing whole. Everything else in my opinion is too complicatedd and fraught with difficulty.
By the way, part of the trick of swallowing some things is to put water in the stomach to act as a kind of cushion for whatever you are putting down there. I presume that this is a skill practiced by drug mules who swallow condoms filled with illicit substances to avoid detection on their travels.
My apologies for such a long post. Feel free to edit or discard. I will not hold it against you. Have enjoyed you blog for many years FN