The Cabaret took place at the World renowned Coney Island Aquarium in Brooklyn, New York and featured many interesting acts. From Nitrogen ice cream to a bed of nails, there was never a dull moment.

My absolute favorite part of the Cabaret had to be The Sword Swallowing. Coney Island's own Heather Holliday [real name Heather Ramon] is a professional sword swallower. Born and raised in Salt  Lake City, Utah, this woman right here has no fear of the big city, especially with her Big talent.

(This is Heather Holliday, sword swallowing extraodinaire!)

Upon researching sword swallowing to prepare for the event, I was a bit skeptical. Youtube and Imeem videos had shown me videos of people swallowing 18 inch or more swords, but I was not convinced. Through the computer screen, there may have been some light trick or something of the sort to prove that these people were faking it. Well, do I tell you I was wrong.

The day had come, and our sword swallower was going to be one of our final acts. I still hadn't seen her yet, but I had a description of her in my mind. I pictured, a medium build woman, with short dark hair with no sense of humor. After all, If I were swallowing something that can cut a person in half, I wouldn't be smiling. As I waited on the side of the stage, I heard her being announced and I waited:

"Hailing right from the Coney Island Boardwalk, here is Heather Holiday!"

The Crowd cheered, the loudest I had heard all night, and I was ready to be convinced. A tiny figure skipped right in front of me onto the stage. My eyes widened in disbelief. This, this....girl who looked no bigger than me, with streaked blond and black hair, was going to swallow a sword? No. It couldn't be. The real Heather was waiting out back, this was a joke. A Joke.

The tiny one carried with her a case. A case that looked as though it would house a trombone. But as she opened it, there were swords of all different shapes and sizes inside of it. "Still a joke?" I pondered. But it was not. Heather in an instant downed an 18 inch sword like it was nothing, and then licked her lips afterward as if it were dessert. My eyes widened in amazement as the 5'3", 110lbs woman swallowed a sword with effortless ease. But the night was still young.

Heather proceeded to down swords left and right, and even at a point down two at a time. I stood behind her and watched, looking for a light trick or maybe even a valve on the side of her neck, but there was nothing. Nothing to prove that it was a trick. The highlight of her act, as if she knew that I personally didn't believe, was when she asked for an assistant to pull out the sword from her body.

She chose a gangly man from the back row who looked like quite happy to get the opportunity to pull a 24" word out of a person's mouth. How often does one get that opportunity? She devoured the sword, telling us before hand that it would hit the tip of her stomach as she did this, and that she was putting her life at risk for our entertainment. She bent down on front of the man and urged him to pull the sword out of her ever so gently. Gingerly, he grasped the sword, with beads of sweat forming on his brow, and pulled slowly, not trying to harm her. I watched as the man pulled the sword out of her, and stared in amazement. It was no trick. It was all real. I was proven wrong by a 22 yr old woman from Utah.

This was just my personal take on the event. It was quite interesting as a whole, and one of the funniest Friday nights I had in a long, long time. So the next time you want to learn something and have a good time, head over to TalkingScience.org and find out when the next Science Cabaret will be near you.