Joseph Peace is The Manchester Company of Extreme Largeness in a highly original Fire Stunt Spectacular, mixing fire stunts with comedy and audience response.

The stunts are generally pretty much the same from show to show although I am always fine tuning existing stunts and developing new ones. What changes from show to show is the banter. I work a lot on involving the audience and incorporate what they say into the show as much as possible. This makes the show fresh and exiting each time I do it. There are people who have seen the show many times and keep coming back for more.

I also alter the show a bit to cater for the particular audience. If I'm playing to a family audience I keep it clean but if I'm playing to an adult audience and it's OK with the organiser of the event then the language changes accordingly and I sometimes have an assistant end up topless part of the way through the show!

The show works well at all times of the day or night although at night a bit of illumination is needed as there are not fires going on all the time. This show is great if your event runs from daytime into the evening such as a balloon festival where you have daytime entertainment and a nightglow. This show can fill the dusk slot perfectly. Also works brilliantly as a prelude to a fireworks display.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
To perform the show the minimum space required if the audience is all around the perimeter is an oval 25m X 15m. It is better to have a bit more space than this in case it is windy so that there is a greater distance between audience and fire. If the audience is to be along one side then the space can be reduced. I need less space outside showtimes.

Fencing
I do have fence pins and orange fencing but it is much better if the venue can supply 1m high crowd control barrier.

Public Address
I have my own radio microphone and a small public address system that is sufficient for small events where I am not competing with other sound sources. For larger events and if I am competing against other sound systems the venue should provide a public address system.

For a more detailed history of the Manchester Company of Extreme Largeness, click here.