Next comes several minutes of fire devil sticks with helicopter spins, behind the back passes and other moves. He starts a torch routine with three and does a diving forward roll to catch a high toss. Then he does four and five torches.

 

His next prop, plywood rings, are also flaming. These and his other non-traditional flaming props are adapted for fire by tacking cotton wicks on them and soaking the wicks with Coleman fuel. Wold says he can do five rings, but only does four in the show because the wicks sometimes stick together.

 

The next routine is a big audience favorite - jumping a flaming rope on a unicycle. He follows that by juggling flaming balls while standing on a bongo board rigged with flaming wicks at each end.

 

Wold juggles aluminum cigar boxes next. Wicks attached to each end extend over the sides so he doesn't mash the fire out when banging the boxes together. It's an impressive sight, he says. "I'm grabbing right in the middle of the flames. I have to keep them moving or I'll get burned. There's about a minute to 90 seconds I can do before the aluminum starts getting too hot to handle with the gloves. I end with a one box pirouette and catch. "

 

After three flaming boxes, Wold stacks nine boxes and tops them with a flaming

cocktail. Each box is knocked out from the bottom until he ends by catching the glass.

The final trick is juggling on a free standing straight ladder. He climbs to the top, begins juggling torches, then his assis­tant lights the wicks that run up each side.

Often he follows this with a straight jacket escape where he hangs upside down from a burning ropes. There are no tricks here, he has less than two minutes to escape before the rope burns through! The rope is suspended from an 18-foot tripod, which is also on fire.

 

All of the above is crammed into a fast-paced 30-minute show set to music. Wold says he keeps safety in mind throughout the spectacular display. "It's dangerous, plain and simple," he said. "And I've been burned some, though it's mostly just singed eyebrows and burning hair off my arms and hands. I've had to buy fireproof clothing because I was burning up a lot of clothes.

 

"But people like the fire, and I think they'll always be amazed by it. At the same time, I urge other fire jugglers to realize that accidents with fire could be disastrous not only to themselves, but every other juggler out there who's doing fire."

 

Besides the safety techniques listed above, Wold carries a million-dollar liability policy and tries to avoid doing fire shows in the dark, when the bright flame prevents him from clearly seeing the piece of the prop he needs to grab. Dusk is the ideal time of day, he says.

 

Wold has staked out this fiery corner of the juggling market as his specialty, and thinks he'll do well with it. Recent sponsorship from Brian Dube gave a boost to his confidence that it's the right path for him. And just in time now for the Fourth of July!