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April 13, 2025 20 mins

To The Hilt Deep Dive Podcast Ep 1.20 Count Desmond: A Sword Swallower’s History of Sword Swallowing


In this episode, we take a deep dive to explore the life of legendary sword swallower “Count Desmond”, Edward Benjamin, who received three Guinness World Records, one for swallowing 13 swords at once, who swallowed a sword while hanging suspended upside down over Niagara Falls, and who worked as a sword swallower with circuses like the Shrine Circus, Circus Bartok and many other circuses and sideshows between 1957 and 1994.


Count Desmond’s story comes from his chapter in book “To The Hilt: A Sword Swallower’s History of Sword Swallowing” by sword swallower Dan Meyer and sideshow historian Marc Hartzman (Schiffer Publishing), now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Target, Walmart and more:


https://amzn.to/47Qqw6p

https://ToTheHiltbook.com


#ToTheHilt

#swordswallower #CountDesmond

#swordswallowers #history

#swordswallowing

#circus #sideshow #daredevil

#CircusBartok

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