Neil E. Dee has a pretty unusual profession.
As the main star of the Danger Thrill Show, which will make its debut at Spiritbar on Friday, Dee will drape his bare flesh on the blades of two razor-sharp machetes while having a concrete brick smashed over his chest.
He will also swallow a sword, sandwich himself between a three-level bed of nails and shower in a wash of white hot metal sparks.
“At one point in the show I’m going to hammer a giant spike into my face—it’s called the Human Blockhead act—and then we have a volunteer help me remove it from my sinus cavity,” Dee told the Star.
And he’s always looking for ways to take it to the next level.
When Dee first discovered that he could lay on a bed of nails while someone skipped rope on top of him, he decided to up the ante.
“We did a big show in Vancouver a few years back. We set up a bed of nails like we normally do, then we put out a board and a couple of ramps and a friend on a motorcycle drove over me,” he said.
“It sucked.”
And Dee is only one of the performers Nelson residents can expect to see during the circus-style extravaganza, which will also feature glass, fire and insect ingestion.
“Our stuff is very much based on the circus sideshow. In the old days you’d see that tent outside the circus with all the followers, the burlesque ladies and the fat man sitting there. That’s where we got a lot of our inspiration.”
But when Nelson residents come out on Friday night, he wants them to expect to see something they’ve never seen before.
“This is a chance to step out of the everyday world you life in and see something totally strange and amazing. We’re bringing a show not from not just another time, but a whole other world.”
And that world is populated by the likes of Fatt Matt Alaeddine, the “World’s Fattest Contortionist”—he can bend rebar with his gut—as well as Kata Sita, Scarlet Mary Rose and the Heavy Petal Burlesque.
Besides stunts, the night will involve plentiful music, audience interaction, comedy and burlesque performances. The audience will be invited to staple money to the bodies of both Fatt Matt and Dee.
Dee is especially thrilled to be sharing the stage with local little person performer Mandy Pandy.
“I love working with her, she’s a bundle of job that’s really bubbly on stage. Once I had her pull a sword out of my throat, and I had to kneel down to get to her level. We’ll be getting up to some more nonsense.”
Dee said he’s thrilled to come to Nelson for the first time, at the invitation of his friend Rosie Delight from Ymir. They will also be performing in Ymir on Thursday night at the Schoolhouse and in Fernie at the Royal on Saturday.
Doors for the Nelson show are at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $12 and the door is $15.
For more information visit the Danger Thrill Show on Facebook.