And who knows? Perhaps he really has complete control of his stomach muscles. Perhaps you could swallow a Rubik's Cube and solve it in your stomach (a trick he performed in the middle of the show). But how would you discover you had such a talent in the first place?
Growing up in an orphanage in Glasgow, Scotland, Starr occupied his childhood swallowing and spitting. According to his Web site, he began regurgitating his pocket money at the age of 4.
"In school I would steal and swallow the chalk," he told us. "When the teacher asked for it back, I asked which color she preferred. Eventually whenever something in the class went missing she looked at me."
But now the 36-year-old boasts an amazing array of digestive display: from popping a balloon with a nail in his stomach, to swallowing a key, a padlock, and a BC student's ring only to regurgitate the ring clamped in the lock - then spit the key back out and unlock it. With each dramatic swallowing, he braced himself with a blistering, loud smack on the chest, and slurped in a gasp that mirrored a diver about to take a plunge into unknown depths. His talent alone - which sparked a thrilling mix of shock, delight, and anger - could carry his act, but his theatrical zeal and interactive humor (you can guess the jokes he makes about swallowing), made for a memorable Night on the Heights.
In the end, The Regurgitator didn't prove that just anyone could possess his talent. In the middle of the act, he planned on hypnotizing a girl (whose ring he swallowed) to swallow a goldfish, creating anxious glee in the crowd, but he finally admitted that the fish would die as she had never practiced the art of regurgitation. Instead, Starr concluded by swallowing a film canister filled with water, its detached cap, and a goldfish. Seconds later, he spat the canister out with the cap covered. A girl opened the cap to reveal the fish inside. Illusion or not, Starr walked off the stage, sweating and chuckling, as the crowd roared in a standing ovation. Digestion, however, we cannot fake. The night concluded with BC's second annual eating contest. Though the program lacked the resources and the stomachs to consume hundreds of hot dogs, Nights on the Heights staged four smaller contests: a "first to five" hot dog contest, water chugging, whipped cream, and saltine eating competitions.
Spring Break
