“The Amazing Regurgitator”
No one knows how Hadji Ali acquired his talent — he was born in Egypt in 1892 and came to America in the 1930s — but his stage act puts our modern entertainments to shame.
Ali would swallow small items suggested by the audience — jewelry, coins, peach pits, buttons — and wash them down with water. Then audience members would call out the objects’ names, and Ali would upchuck to order.
Classy, eh? For the big finish, Ali would drink a gallon of water and a pint of kerosene, then vomit the kerosene across the stage, where a toy castle would erupt into flames. Then Ali would disgorge the water and put out the fire. A great artist gives of himself.
