Hello, Donny | NY Part 2
My brother is Donny Vomit. He's a sideshow performer - which means he hammers nails into his head and swallows swords for a living. He lives in Brooklyn, NY and just got off tour with the Pretty Things Peepshow (a touring burlesque troupe).
After our flight and train ride into Brooklyn, Donny met us in the lobby of his place. We took an elevator up to the 13th floor (of course he lives on the 13th floor), we removed our shoes and dropped our bags and just seconds later Donny was showing us a new shiny piece of steel - a sword. There was a piece of blue painters tape about 3/4 of the way up and when I asked him what that was for he told me "That's where I know to stop." Then he proceeds to tilt his head back and drop the sword down his throat.
There's no trick to it - just a lot of practice. In highschool Donny used to shove his fingers down his throat every day to try and numb his gag reflex. He wasn't yet swallowing swords but had heard somewhere that it takes 7 years of tickling your throat every day to destroy the instinct to barf. Then in college he got more serious and contorted a wire hanger into a shape that resembled a sword - he started shoving that down his throat and from there moved on to swords.
Donny had a show in the Bronx scheduled the second night we were visiting to promote Coney Island Lager Beer. If you've ever been to a sports bar you might be familiar with promo girls. They're usually wearing cut up t-shirts with a liquor logo on them, two bras, layered, to achieve awesome cleavage. They walk around handing out shots of whatever they've been hired to promote. Donny is kind of like a promo girl but instead of an awesome rack he's got an awesome mustache. And instead of flirting to sell liquor, he hammers nails into his head and swallows swords.
So, Donny has his show and we were happy to tag along. We drank pints of Blockhead Lager and watched the faces of unsuspecting bar patrons as Donny did his thing. Afterwards, a Jersey Shore type of guy in an Affliction t-shirt insisted on telling Donny over and over again how crazy he is. After a few minutes of that he starts showing us photos of his baby on his iPhone - his "baby" was a gun. I decide to remove myself from the situation and grab another beer, meanwhile Jeremy and Donny are stuck talking to this guy. I chat with the Shmaltz Beer rep while the Jersey-Shore-Affliction-guy-with-photos-of-his-baby/gun-on-his-phone, we'll call him "Noel" (because that was his name) tells Jeremy he should keep an eye on me. After a few more minutes of telling Donny how crazy he is, Noel feels as if Donny and Jeremy are his bros. Noel is becoming increasingly agitated that I'm holding a conversation with a man who isn't my husband and tells Jeremy that he will kick the dude's ass on Jeremy's behalf. Jeremy was dumbfounded and politely told Noel that I am completely capable of holding a conversation with another guy. Now I know why those characters on MTV are always getting in so many fights.
That mustache is pretty awe inspiring!
I'm currently trying to keep my giggling quiet at my desk. Noel story = oh-so-HI-larious.
How did your brother prepare for hammering nails into his head?
Ahahaha!! This whole post is awesome. From brother love to how to kill your gag reflex to Noel, oy, so awesome.
Gretchen - I think one day he was picking his nose and noticed that he could keep going with his pinky. So then he moved on to a pencil. The nail was the next obvious choice and now he'll use drills and the handle part of forks.
Well, shit. I always thought the swords collapsed or something tricky... because nobody can REALLY DO THAT, right?! And I've seen Donny! Wow wow wow. Respek.
Oh yeah, those Noel types... God love 'em.
wow! how he knows where to stop - that kinda blew my mind. crazy cool bro and hearing how he "trained" from childhood reaches new levels of incredible. awesome photos! way to go high fives to your hubs for holding his own against the potential dramz - baha!
Kathleen, pre-warning - i have no comment self control right now so it's gonna be a doozy:
my gosh, you have no idea the amount of insp i've recieved today by viewing your blog and all your creative designs/graphics!!! i've come over after reading Sana's post about your day together and was totally intrigued b/c graphics is such a passion for me. this has been BRILL lades, you have officially rocked my socks. and i just have to say the work you did for sword swallower extraordinaire; Donny Vomit (omg, what a righteous name!) was pure radness.
loved seeing your home too with it's curved architecture, beautiful lawn, hella good b/w striped wall, retro office and fur babies! every single flip of the page brought more goodness and i adore your outfit posts. the pajama alternative needs to be implemented immediatly ova heah! too cute.
reading about Sana's blog design was amazing, you totally tricked it out by using a real typwriter for the logo and it definitely captured that vintage vibe you were going for. nice one!
Jeremy is a man after my own heart, his take on brutally honest super powers was epic - mighty swell fella you got there.
cheers to you both, i'm following now so as not to miss out on any more savvy style. ♥
that story is hilarious, i love how to dude was giving permission to jeremy to kick some guys ass. keep it classy!
very interesting to hear how your bro is able to swallow swords. does he ever come to california?
Kat - I actually didn't write that clear enough - Noel wanted to kick the guy's ass on Jeremy's behalf! Classy, indeed.
Donny does make it out to California! I'll make sure to post his next tour schedule once it's up.
Lynn,
Wow! Thank you for the compliments! I'm so glad you found your way over here and are enjoying it. xoxo!
This is the best story ever told.
Kathleen, that story made my day. What an interesting family you have! And what strange characters you meet! Do you ever feel like you live in Wonderland?
Clicked on the photo of of Donny swallowing the sword to get a better look and got directed to your flicker page, where I watched the video of you getting lifted onto Jeremy's shoulders! So hilarious!!
Noel story = Best thing ever
HILARIOUS
I got the pleasure of seeing Donny on the Peepshow circuit. The ladies were great, awesome, beautiful, fantastic, talented - and yet, he stole the show.
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