strongman shows - what's feats 'look' the most impressive to the general public?

I have done some stuff in the past - when i worked as an activity leader with foreign exchange students they used to love watching me bend 2 6 inch nails , bending nails behind the head, tearing a deck of cards . I have been thinking about doing a show at my brother's school as part of the sports day there and hopefully raising a little bit of cash for them in the process. Hopefully health and safety won't get in the way again... Can anyone who has done shows give me some ideas - i want stuff that looks impressive to the general public. Thanks guys, Sam.

A big one hand lift a girder with kids sitting on each side. Probably wouldn't happen because of health & safety now.

Good idea - I also thought of 2 kids hanging on to a bar - one either side and doing a few strict presses. Again health and safety.

Yeah kids would love it, but it's that over cautious H&S that's prevelant in the UK now.

Having done about a dozen little shows - and one small professional show - I can tell you that the hardest feats are often the ones that the crowd is least impressed by. Bending an easy 12" spike with small pads is far more impressive to the general public than lifting a Blob. Until they try it of course, but I'm just talking visually. Tearing decks of cards has impressed people about as much as the spike bending and skillet rolling feats. I stopped doing the shows because of the prohibitive cost though. So hopefully they're paying you enough to get decently hard stuff (in case the audience tries) for the show and still get a bit left over for yourself at the end of the day. My "professional" show actually ended up costing me $50 after gas and travel expenses, haha.

I think lock breaking might be a nice feat to do on a show.



Depending on the quality and thickness of the lock it can be hard to impossible, but the lock I used above would be perfect for it IMO

Horseshoes and spikes/big bolts look very impressive. Crescent wrenches (use a line about you making a pencil holder for school), tappet wrenches, frying pans, bat breaking (expensive though), phonebooks, cards, odd object bending with other stuff you could find, and I can't think of anything else. Some of that stuff can be expensive but those are just ideas.

I think that tactile 'real world' objects that people can relate to are great to spectate..even if they are not
necessarily elite feats of strength.

Pressing a keg overhead is good cos the kids can touch the keg and roll it around., count each of your reps etc.
then you can get the gym teacher to have a go!

Or something involving a willing teacher...like pulling their car ..or the school minibus with kids in it ...hand-over-hand or with a harness. you would probably be allowed to do that if the kids/teachers are seated and the school driver at the wheel.

some good ideas thanks guys!

Sam

with your crush grip, i think you could do the soda exploding feat very nicely. There are a few ways people do it (not many are able to it...), but you would be able to do the "strangle" thing with a two hands crush on the can.

big bar bending is always good. I personally think flat bars look better than round stock, you will form your own taste for it if you get in to it.

Nail driving is always visually impressive to people.

An observation, people are usually impressed by things that are relatively easy (phone books, cards) than things that are really tough (like closing a heavy gripper, bending a tool) its a weird thing.

Start off with some feats at a BBQ or family dinner, and just ask them what they liked the most.