Alberta is a hotbed for music, arts, and culture, and Peace River’s Circus of Hell are making it even hotter.
The duo are known for turning danger into performance art, blending fire performing and sideshow stunts with punk rock showmanship. Doug the Demon and Sisu van Hell will bring their one-of-a-kind spectacle to Drumheller’s Loud As Hell festival from July 31 to August 2.
The highlight of a Circus of Hell performance is undoubtedly Doug the Demon’s jaw-dropping fire eating. A multiple world record-holder, the Demon (real name Doug Thompson) regularly extinguishes pressurized gas flames on his tongue without batting an eye. According to him, this focus is what keeps him safe while performing.
“You have to have 120 percent commitment,” he explains. “There is no trick. I do it for real.”
Thompson frequently performs with flames hotter than 2000° C. He is the only person known to have extinguished an oxyacetylene torch (nearly 3500° C) on their tongue.
“I wanted to evolve the art of fire eating from a wick on a stick to pressurized gases, propane and oxygen,” Doug says. “I wanted to make fire eating scary again, really.”
The pair’s journey into flames began when Sisu van Hell (real name Susan Thompson) sought to incorporate fire into her act (that includes dancing, flow artistry, and walking on glass). Unable to find the equipment she wanted, she enlisted Doug—already an experienced welder, fabricator and blacksmith—to build the props himself. He became her safety technician, prop maker and fuel handler, and began thinking of ways to become part of the show himself.
“I learned fire spinning and became a flow artist, but he didn’t ever connect with that,” Susan explains.
“When you go into a new area, you have this [period] of ‘where do I fit in?’” Doug recalls. As the pair continued to hone their craft, they learned fire eating, fire breathing, and eventually sideshow arts, gradually developing a unique and captivating performance style.
They’ve also begun to teach others the art of fire performance and safety, becoming the first GardeFeu-certified instructors in Western Canada.
“From the dawn of time, all of us humans were associated with fire,” Doug explains. “We’re keeping that sense. We’re keeping the fire.”
Today, Circus of Hell have climbed to the top of the international sideshow community, making media appearances for The Proof is Out There, Wild & Weird America, Outrageous Acts of Science, New York Post’s Extraordinary People, and the CBC. For Doug and Susan, however, there’s nothing like live performances to connect, inspire, and occasionally terrify their audience.
“A lot of people have really lost that closeness, that connection with fire. It draws people together,” Doug says.
“To be there and actually experience it live, it’s a form of connection.”
Circus of Hell will be performing at the Loud As Hell festival in Drumheller from July 31-Aug 2. Check out Mark Rodger’s preview of Loud As Hell in the CKUA Summer Festival Spotlight Playlist.
Learn more about Loud As Hell and buy festival tickets here.
Learn more about the Circus of Hell here.
Watch Doug the Demon set the world record for Hottest Flame Extinguished on a Human Tongue below:
