ABOUT

Dan Meyer - Bio



DAN MEYER  is a unique performance artist who specializes in the extremely dangerous and very narrow field of cutting edge innertainment -
Sword Swallowing!​

After growing up in Indiana as a scared, shy skinny kid teased and bullied by the bullies in Indiana, Dan Meyer vowed he would someday do the impossible and find meaning in his purpose and calling in life. 



After being amazed while watching fire-eaters and sword swallowers -- first as a child watching circus sideshows in Indiana, and later as a missionary witnessing Indian fakirs in India -- Meyer became passionate about learning the incredible feats himself. 

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After working in the music business in Nashville, London, and Stockholm Sweden, Meyer shifted his focus from music to variety entertainer as clown, juggler, stilt-walker, fire-eater, glass-eater, and finally the most dangerous of all performance arts:  Sword Swallower.

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Hearing there were "less than a dozen sword swallowers left in the world" in 1997 led Meyer on his quest to locate the surviving sword swallowers and master the ancient art himself.  After four years of in-depth research and careful daily practice totalling almost 13,000 unsuccessful attempts, Meyer finally taught himself to swallow solid steel swords up to 30 inches long while networking the remaining sword swallowers into the Sword Swallowers Association International.



As President of the Sword Swallowers Association International, award-winning author of a 2-year medical research study published in the British Medical Journal that won him the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine at Harvard, global TEDx speaker, and avid historical researcher and passionate advocate for preserving the ancient art of sword swallowing, Meyer quickly became recognized as the world’s leading expert in the 4000 year old art of sword swallowing.



A 7-time Guinness World Record holder, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and Top 50 Finalist on NBC’s hit reality show America’s Got Talent, Meyer is in demand as the world’s top performing sword swallower for his live comedy performances, high profile stunts, motivational talks, science and medical lectures and media appearances - seen by over 750 million viewers in over 40 countries around the world. 

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Described as a "Christian David Copperfield” who combines extreme feats with a powerful message instead of just tricks and illusions, Meyer eats fire, glass, and swallows solid steel swords, sabers, bayonets, razors, saws, hedge clippers, and other objects up to 30 inches long, and up to 21 swords at once! 



Meyer has been featured on programs such as The Today Show, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, CNN News, CNN Health, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, Discovery Int’l, The Learning Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel, USA Network, Food Network, Spike TV, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, MSNBC, AOL News, MTV, ESPN, ET, CMT, WGN, 20/20, 48 Hours, PBS, NPR, BBC, CBC, CTV, ITV, NTV Russia, Jimmy Kimmel, Mancow, Newsweek, USAToday, NY Post, NY Times, London Times, National Geographic, Forbes, Nature Magazine, Guardian Magazine, British Medical Journal, Scientific American, Science Daily, Christian Activities, and Lutheran Standard – on over 700 TV appearances, 800 radio stations, and 1000 magazine and newspaper articles around the world. 

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Meyer has also shared the stage with artists such as Brooks & Dunn, Dwight Yoakim, Danny Glover, Sharon Osbourne, David Hasselhoff, Jerry Springer, Carmen Electra, Elvira, Rupert Boneham, Jenny McCarthy, Jeremy Camp, Britt Nicole, Paula White, Phil Joel, The NewsBoys, Audio Adrenaline, Hawk Nelson, Ceili Rain, and at Guinness and Ripley’s Believe It or Not attractions, colleges, universities, museums, science, medical, corporate, family and youth events around the world.



Despite a close call with a near-fatal injury while swallowing 5 swords at once, Meyer enjoys inspiring audiences with incredible feats.  “I enjoy performing REAL feats that people think are impossible to demonstrate how incredible God made the human body, and to inspire people to do the impossible in their lives,” Dan explains. 

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To prove his point, Meyer swallowed a 30-inch sword while submerged 20 feet underwater in a tank of 88 sharks and stingrays for Ripley’s Believe It or Not, a feat witnessed by over 40 million viewers on over 500 TV stations.  In 2010, he topped that by swallowing a sword heated to over 1500 degrees red-hot for Stan Lee’s Superhumans, a feat witnessed by 90 million viewers on The History Channel.



Today Dan enjoys traveling, geocaching, doing historical reenactments with his pet macaw, and speaking and performing full-time at colleges, universities, museums, science and medical events, conventions and corporate events, fairs, festivals, and artist tours, concerts, schools, churches, family and Christian youth events, TV and radio talk shows, documentaries, and other events around the world through Cutting Edge Innertainment.com

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ROLES

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Wimp. Loser. Coward. Failure. 
Child of ridicule.  Target of bullies.
Role model.

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40x World Champion Sword Swallower with 7 Guinness World Records



​​"Most Dangerous Act" and Top 50 Finalist on America's Got Talent



Winner 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine at Harvard for sword swallowing medical research



Ripley's Believe It or Not for swallowing swords underwater in a tank of sharks and stingrays



Stan Lee's Superhuman for swallowing sword heated to 1500 degrees red-hot



President Sword Swallowers Association International



Global TEDx Speaker, Ig Nobel Speaker, Ig Nobel World Tours, PINC Netherlands, IAEWP World Peace Conference



Advocate against Bullying, Cutting, Self-Injury, Social Anxiety Disorder, Malaria and Esophageal Cancer.