I love it when people send me messages letting me know of the places that they’ve seen me. It’s endlessly flattering and, as I often don’t know myself where my image will be splashed, exciting and humorous to discover all the new places that I’ve been spotted. So, in the interest of shameless self-promotion, I’m writing to tell you about the latest place I’ve been seen…:

On a billboard!

The last fun sighting affiliated with Magic Hat was in a storefront window in Manhattan, spotted, photographed and sent along by Bethany Boles. This billboard – also for Magic Hat – was spotted in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Quite odd, as I am currently sitting in Burlington, VT, home of Magic Hat, though I actually live not too far from Scranton! Love the coincidences…

Any more sightings? Ads, television appearances, magazines… Send them along!

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It’s now the last week of August and here I sit, in one of my favorite cities (and old home town), Burlington, VT sipping coffee in my favorite cafe, reflecting on the whirlwind tour of shows that was summer, 2008. There’s technically only one week left in the summer touring season and I have only a few shows left in the Northeast before I make my way back to Pennsylvania.

At this point in the year I’d normally be eagerly looking forward to a couple weeks of downtime following Labor Day, but it’s not to happen this year. My usual time off the road has quickly booked up and, between September and October alone, I’m looking at a run of 49+ shows. No rest for the weary I suppose – or is that the wicked?

Sword swallower and mind reader Roderick Russell will be appearing at the Pennsylvania College of Technology for a show that is completely free and open to the public. (sponsored by PCT Student Activities)

WHEN: Saturday, April 19th
WHERE: Klump Academic Center Auditorium on the PCT Campus (W. 3rd in Williamsport)
TIME: 8:00 pm
PRICE: FREE!!!

The theater is a beautiful little performance space with 561 seats that I first worked in back in, oh, 2004 or so. We’d like to fill the space and have a great time. If you’re in the area be sure to come on out, and bring your friends!

Hope to see you there!
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tags: mentalist, pct, penn college, pennsylvania college of technology, roderick russell, sword swallowers, sword swallowing

Many thanks to all who turned out for the book signing this past weekend at Borders Books in central PA. Not only did we have a capacity crowd, the store also sold out of their entire stock of the book!

The current edition of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not will soon go off the shelves to make room for the upcoming edition, so if you’d like to see me at a store near you, make sure you drop me a line soon or have your bookstore contact me!

The Take a Picture, Get a Poster promotion is still running, but again, if you want to participate you better do so quickly, as the book won’t be around much longer!
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tags: book signing, bookstore, borders, ripley’s, ripley’s believe it or not, roderick russell, sword swallower, sword swallowing

After a long journey through the postal system from Germany to the United States, along with time spent being forwarded within the US itself in an attempt to find me while I travel, the March issue of Matador Magazine, Germany’s best-selling GQ-style magazine, has finally made its way into my waiting hands.

A bit late perhaps – the fault being entirely mine, as I’m currently away from home – but the spread looks great, making it well worth the wait.

Alongside the usual gear reviews found in men’s lifestyle magazines (audio equipment, auto news, gadgets), how-to lists and entertainment news, you’ll also find an interview with Charlize Theron, a profile of Shaun White, and a list of bands with the guru’s they adore. Amy Winehouse apparently works one-on-one with David Sye, while the Beach Boys go in for the more 60’s commercial message of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. And of course there’s also the stunning spread (oddly not the cover) of Sabrina, aka Miss Matador. What men’s lifestyle magazine would be complete without a Miss Magazinename?

I love hearing from fans of the show. I get incredible letters from all sorts of unexpected places, and sometimes, they let me know that I’ve been spotted in unexpected places.

One of the most recent messages was from Bethany Boles, a fan from Connecticut. She was recently visiting New York City and while in downtown Manhattan she spotted me as part of the Magic Hat ad campaign. (for those who don’t know, I lent my image to Magic Hat Brewery for a series of commercials and print ads run throughout the country)

Naturally I was flattered that someone even noticed me amidst the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, and I was thrilled that Magic Hat had placed ads throughout the city. What I didn’t realize was the extent of the presence!

I’ll be on the road for the next seven weeks and will be making some public appearance stops along the way. Here’s one to watch out for:

Roderick Russell : Sword Swallower
Appearance and Book Signing
Borders Books and Music
300 Lycoming Mall Circle
Pennsdale, PA 17756

DATE: April 12, 2008
TIME: 1 pm

I’ll be on hand to sign copies of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not : The Remarkable… Revealed and will be giving a close-up performance, a brief sword swallowing demonstration and a Q&A session to follow.

Hope to see you there!
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tags: book signing, books, borders, ripley’s, ripley’s believe it or not, roderick russell, sword swallower, sword swallowers, sword swallowing

Germany’s most popular men’s lifestyle magazine, Matador (think GQ for those stateside), will be running a full-page article about me for their popular series How does it feel… In this case, naturally, to swallow a sword.

The article was written by Stephan Bernhard, a freelance journalist who writes regularly for Matador and has authored several books, among them No Limits – a book on rare and extreme sports – and a separate text on the famous climbers Alexander and Thomas Huber (known for, amongst other things, their free ascents and speed records).

Bernhard’s last How does it feel… article for Matador featured Tom Sietas, the free diver who in 2007 set a free diving world record for holding his breath underwater for 9 minutes and 8 seconds.

The upcoming feature will also include a new sword swallowing x-ray image, a preview of which can be found on my personal Flickr account.

tags: posters, roderick russell, swag, sword swallower, sword swallowing

Two New Guinness World Records Name Sword Swallowing and Roderick Russell

The Guinness World Records organization recently announced the official release of the records for Most Swords Swallowed at Once as well as the Most Swallowed Sword, and my name appears on both records.

Technically these records were “set” in years past, but the Guinness organization has finally issued the certificates for both.

Nine Sword Swallowers - Fifty-Two Swords
The record for most swords swallowed at once was set in 2005 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and is a collaborative record held between myself and eight other sword swallowers, who simultaneously swallowed a total of 52 swords during the 4th Annual Sideshow Gathering. The record attempt – and success – was sponsored by the Sword Swallowers’ Association International, the organization which I co-founded in 2001/2002.