# Those guys on letterman eating lightbulbs and martini glasses..Fake, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987 "2004-05-01T14:26:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/21 "2004-05-02T21:09:15Z")
There are actually plenty of crazy people out there that eat anything. Guinness used to have a record for most beer mugs eaten. I remember watching a show about mug eating people, and this guy could litterally leverage his jaw and pull huge chunks from thick beer mugs out with his teeth, then grind them up. It was amazing. The guy’s dentist must be rich. So, my conclusion: real. Jman ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/22 "2004-05-03T06:44:50Z")
By chance I came across [Badfads Museum](http://www.badfads.com/pages/events/glasseating.html) which had a piece on this as well as one about an earlier thread on goldfish swallowing. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/23 "2004-05-03T11:27:19Z")
> [@Joey P](#): > > I’m not sure who stole it from whom, but in his standup act The Amazin Jonathon says right before drinking Windex. “I’m gonna take off my cloths and run around…this keeps me from streaking” Ah, I may stand corrected. (As I typed it I thought “that’s cheeseier than I remember Jim being”). It may have been **The Amazing Jonathon** I heard use that line…possibly on the stern show. ---
**Author:** ![Flyhalf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea5d25/32.png) [@Flyhalf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyhalf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/24 "2004-05-04T15:26:17Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > I can elaborate on this a bit, with the book right in front of me. To paraphrase Rose, one doesn’t bite into a whole lightbulb, but eats a broken one. (He usually has an audience member smash it for him, to indicate that it’s a real lightbulb.)Chew very softly to break the shards into smaller fragments, then shift them back to the molars and chew more vigorously, to reduce the glass to sand-like particles. These can then be swallowed with minimal danger to the stomach. Rose does admit that the stomach may feel a bit “sandpapery” the next day, and he adds the caveat that tooth damage is a possibility for those who perform this trick regularly. > > I’ve seen him do it, up close and personal, when I spent a harrowing hour interviewing him and his band of sideshow freaks several years ago. :shudder: His method certainly seems to work, though. In the book, he also mentions that in some countries, light bulb glass is thicker than in others, so the martini glass is most likely not out of the question. Fanny May, it’s ok to doubt… however, see above. It’s quite easy. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/25 "2004-05-04T15:52:24Z")
> [@Fanny May](#): > > II suppose the levitation must be real though, since science can’t explain everything. Oh, please. No one anywhere in the history of the Universe can levitate without some sort of mechanical support. Period. It’s _always_ an illusion, regardless of how it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/26 "2004-05-04T16:00:42Z")
Mmmmmmmm…lightbulbs… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/27 "2004-05-04T18:22:09Z")
> [@Fanny May](#): > > You see, he didn’t really drink Windex. I think any of us could fake that one. I drank Windex when I was two years old. It’s not as good as it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987/28 "2004-05-04T20:38:21Z")
Am I the only one who is puzzled as to why people want to swallow glass of any kind? I’m sure its a hoot and all, but damn! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-guys-on-letterman-eating-lightbulbs-and-martini-glasses-fake-right/242987.md?page=1)