Meet One of the World's Only Female Sword Swallowers
by Lindsay Schrupp
Oct 6, 2015 6:00 AM
Images courtesy of the Lady Aye
We talked to the Lady Aye about learning to swallow swords while recovering from bulimia and why women get pushed aside in the sideshow business.
When I told people that I was interviewing one of the world's only female sword swallowers, the reaction I got was similar to the reaction I imagine most ophthalmologists get when they blow puffs of air into their patients' retinas: surprised, confused, and with eyes open just slightly wider than normal. Some people looked like I had just told them they have glaucoma. Again: surprised, confused, but also a bit nauseated.
The Lady Aye, whose real name is Ilise Carter, is an award-winning sideshow performer. She is a fire eater, escapist, and sword swallower who's not afraid to lie down on a bed of nails, tear herself free from a straitjacket, or swallow a 19-inch steel blade. While the sideshow industry may not be as male-dominated as it once was, there are still few female sword swallowers in the world. The Lady Aye has been involved in the sideshow business for a decade, though she didn't begin performing until her 30s, and training to be a sword swallower took something extra. Today, she talks candidly about the challenges unique to sword swallowing, including her own personal battle with bulimia and the sexual stigma that surrounds the act. We caught up with the Lady Aye over the phone to find out what it takes to be a sword swallower, how sexism persists within the industry, and how women can fight back from being pushed to the side in the sideshow biz.
Broadly: How did you first get interested in the sideshow business?
The Lady Aye: I got interested when I was a kid. I must've been like 11 or 12. The first place I ever saw fire eating was in the mid-80s. As a kid, my parents took me to see Penn & Teller off-Broadway, and there was fire eating. From that, I got interested in sideshow. It seemed really punk rock to me because it's so about being an outsider. It was so unusual. I was already interested in sort of goth stuff, weird things. If it was weird, if it was dark, I was interested in it.
What about sword swallowing in particular interested you?
Sword swallowing is sort of the ultimate sideshow skill. Almost everybody can learn everything else—people can pick up fire eating, and I've seen a lot of burlesque performers do the most basic job of picking up fire eating, and they're like, "I'm a fire eater now!" and there are one or two things that they go to: walking on glass or a bed of nails and stuff like that. Sword swallowing is just the next level of commitment. I always likened it to doing a split—either your body is set up for that, or it's not. I'll never be able to do a split, and no amount of training is going to change that.
Right.
And the same with sword swallowing; it's this weird relationship that's between your body and your brain, and there are some people who will train and train and train and still not get it because their bodies are just not set up for it.
What was more difficult for you, training your body or your brain?
They go together, but I'd have to say the brain because it took me about six months to start. I'm a recovering bulimic, and part of it was just the fear of triggering. I obviously have a very strong association with sticking anything down my throat. I was afraid that, well, what if I start and I re-trigger the purging, you know?
How long are the swords you typically swallow?
My favorite stage sword is 19 inches, but I can do stuff that's longer than that. I think I'm up to 22 or 23 depending on how thick it is.
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