Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer was a sword swallower act from Season 3 of America's Got Talent. He was eliminated in the Vegas Round, but was called back again as a Wild Card in Hollywood. However, he was eliminated again when he did not receive enough votes to enter the Quarterfinals.

Background
Dan Meyer swallows swords, eats fire and glass, and inspires audiences to do the impossible in their lives. A corporate entertainer, TEDx motivational speaker, Ig Nobel science speaker, medical lecturer, and comedy youth speaker, Meyer performs in up to 25 countries around the world.

A 35x World Record Sword Swallower with 7 Guinness World Records, Dan swallows up to 21 swords at once, is featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not books and museums around the world, and is recognized as one of the top sword swallowers performing around the world today.

Dan is known worldwide for performing extreme stunts such as swallowing a red hot sword on Stan Lee's Superhumans, for swallowing swords underwater in a tank of sharks and stingrays, and for pulling a car with a swallowed sword for Ripley's Believe It or Not! As President of the Sword Swallowers Association and winner of the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine at Harvard for medical research on sword swallowing injuries, Dan is recognized as the world's leading expert in the 4000 year old field of sword swallowing.

Dan enjoys inspiring audiences by sharing his story and unique talents at colleges, universities, science/medical centers, museums, conventions, corporate events, fairs, festivals, youth events, churches, schools, documentaries, and other events in over 25 countries around the world. 1

Dan holds 35 world records for sword swallowing as recorded by many different organizations. He has seven Guinness World Records for the following feats: Most Sword Swallowers Swallowing Swords Simultaneously, Most Swords Swallowed Simultaneously, Single Sword Swallowed by the Most Sword Swallowers, Most Swords Swallowed Simultaneously by Sword Swallowers, Sword Swallowing Underwater (18-inch blade), Sword Swallowing Underwater (24-inch blade), and Most Swords Swallowed Simultaneously Underwater. 2

Audition
Dan Meyer's audition consisted of swallowing a medium sword, a long sword, a heavy sword, and then seven swords at once, each of which required nudging his heart aside. David Hasselhoff buzzed the act. Although David voted "No," claiming the act was too scary and hard to watch, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne both voted "Yes," sending Dan to the Vegas Round.



Vegas Round
Dan Meyer was one of the Variety Acts in the Vegas Round. He was sorted into the "Danger" category. His performance consisted of swallowing a flaming sword and a curved sword. He also juggled six clubs while a sword was whipped from his mouth by a whip from 10 feet away, but this was not televised. His audition was strong enough for the judges to include him in the Top 60, and he survived other eliminations to make it to number 43. His audition was not strong enough, however, for the judges to send him to the Top 40 Quarterfinals, eliminating him from the competition.







Wild Card
Dan Meyer was one of eight acts eligible for the Wild Card spot in the Quarterfinals left by the Russian Bar Trio, who was forced to withdraw due to a serious injury. Unfortunately, Dan did not receive enough votes to be sent to win that spot, eliminating him from the competition again.

After the Show
Meyer was featured in the 2009 Ripley’s Believe It or Not book published August 5, 2008. To promote the book, Meyer and other Ripley's performers were featured on CityTV "Breakfast TV" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

On July 22, 2009, Meyer appeared with Cirque Éloize in Montreal, Canada in the French-language series "La Vie Est Un Cirque". The program was broadcast on TV5 on August 16, 2009, to over 6.6 million cable and satellite subscribers in Quebec, and to more than 180 million homes in French-speaking countries around the world.

On July 30, 2009, Meyer addressed the IAEWP World Peace Conference as a featured speaker at A&M University presenting a keynote speech entitled "Sword of War, Sword of Peace". At the end of his presentation, Meyer requested World Peace delegates from three different cultures, continents and religions to come together in harmony to remove a 40 inch "Sword of War" from his throat as a metaphor for creating peace through cooperation. Meyer then presented the sword as a gift as a "Sword of Peace" to IAEWP World Peace Conference president Dr. Charles Mercieca.

On March 24, 2010, Meyer was awarded a Guinness World Record in Rome, Italy for swallowing a 24 inch long sword with 18 inch blade while submerged underwater. Meyer immediately broke that record by swallowing a longer 30 inch sword with 24 inch long blade underwater, and then broke both records by swallowing both swords together at once underwater. However, during filming of the stunts Meyer sustained a serious injury when he punctured his esophagus and was rushed by ambulance to a Rome hospital where he was hospitalized for 10 days on IV drip.

On September 23, 2010, Meyer was featured on The History Channel Stan Lee's Superhumans where he swallowed a 37.5 inch long sword heated to over 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, and 7 swords at once under fluoroscope at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. 3

On February 23, 2013, Meyer pulled a 3700 lb. car by swallowed sword out of the Ripley's Believe It or Not in Baltimore, MD for World Sword Swallower's Day.

Trivia

 * Dan Meyer was the first sword swallower in the history of America's Got Talent to audition.