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HADJI ALI – The Great Regurgitator
The Great Regurgitator, who was also billed as The Egyptian Enigma, was born Hadji Ali in Egypt in 1892. In the 1920’s Hadji Ali came to be something of an American vaudeville sensation for his unusual ability to swallow unique items, regurgitate them in an order specific to audience requests and for his ‘human water spout’ routine.
Professional regurgitation and the human water spout acts were actually nothing new. In the mid 17th century a Frenchman named Jean Royer was known for his regurgitating and spouting abilities. Another spouter, Blaise Manfre, was noted for his ability to drink water and regurgitate wine. Of course, his feat was accomplished by simply swallowing Brazil wood extract before the water which would then tint the liquid deep red. The regurgitation act was also common enough for Houdini to make mention of it, and his distaste for the act, in his book Miracle Mongers and Their Methods.
There was really no trick to the regurgitator act as it was a matter of controlled vomiting and repetitive training of the muscles of the stomach and throat to clench at will. Some performers were known to use substances to induce violent stomach spasms while retaining firm lip control, but those individuals lacked poise and presence and their careers were short lived as a result.
Ali brought a lot of unique elements to an act that had been virtually forgotten. His rather unique and foreign appearance certainly captured attention as did the vast amounts of water he was able to ingest and expel with ferocious pinpoint precision. Ali was known to swallow two or three fishbowls of water, cup by cup, and eject a six foot arc into a small waiting basin. Ali was able to accomplish the same feat even after swallowing numerous items before ingesting the water displaying some ability to compartmentalize his stomach.
In his finale, as drums roared and his assistant erected a small metal castle on stage, Ali would down a gallon of water followed by a gallon of straight kerosene. Expelling the kerosene in a powerful jet Ali would ignite the castle in flames, feed the flames with subsequent gusts, and then extinguish the inferno by driving out the water he had swallowed previously.
He performed his act a minimum of twenty-two times a week.
While other regurgitators were present in Ali’s the era, like Harry ‘The Human Hydrant’ Morton and The Great Waldo, their acts failed to really catch on. Morton’s act consisted primarily of downing mugs of beer on stage and regurgitating them before he became intoxicated and came across as being rather lowbrow while Waldo’s incorporation of living mice and rats terrified onlookers. The mere fact the Ali’s vomiting was regarded as impressive and credible entertainment certainly shows that his presentation and showmanship was remarkable.
Thankfully, Hadji Ali’s act was immortalized in the Laurel and Hardy movie “Politiquerias”, a Spanish-language version of the Laurel and Hardy movie “Chicken comes Home” and he has also appeared in a contemporary documentary called Gizmo.Ali’s performance in Politiquerias can be viewed below.
While touring England and still enjoying a wave of unexpected popularity, Hadji Ali died of heart failure on November 5th 1937 in Staffordshire, England. The tradition of professional regurgitating has since been carried on by UK native Stevie Starr.
© 2009 – 2012, J Tithonus Pednaud. All rights reserved.
RECOMMENDED READING
American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia
Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination
Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls
Pickled Punks & Girlie Shows: A Life Spent on the Midways of America
The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins
The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top
Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body
James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed: On & Off the Midway
THE AUTHOR
J Tithonus Pednaud has dedicated this site to highlighting the remarkable lives of those born exceedingly different. These so-called freaks and human oddities stand as uplifting testaments to human spirit and serve as inspiring examples of human tenacity.
16 Responses to “HADJI ALI – The Great Regurgitator”
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Job that I would not like #903: The straight man in the act who gets projectile vomited on.
Amazing. I wonder how he figured out he had the talent..
He’s selectively bulimic…:]
That video was phenomenal–projectile vomiting at its finest! I’m guessing this wasn’t very good for his teeth…
This makes vomiting look fun!
Thank you for posting this!
He really was an incredible showman. Aside from the obvious talent, It’s really the interaction with his assistant and the tongue in cheek attention to the audience that make this really enjoyable to watch. It seems like this could have been an uncomfortable act, but he really made it work. Color me impressed. =)
makes vomiting look fun!
Wow. Just…wow.
great site you have here thanks for all the hard work you put into it!!!
very interesting. I’m trying to find out more information about non-white vaudeville stars in the early 20th century who didn’t perform racist minstrel shows (blackface, yellowface, brownface, Orientalism, etc…) thanks for sharing info with us about Hadji Ali!
Wow. Very useful. If you know what I mean..
So, lets examine the kerosine and water selection procedure.
It is easily proven that kerosine is lighter than water so if we imagine Hadji Ali’s stomach as a container then we have a thick layer of kerosene over a base of water.thats why after he set his little castle on fire ,as you may noticed he “shot” a test to chech the density of kerosene.When he was sure that no more kerosene in his stomach then he burst all the water he had.
One more thing. I am 100 percent sure that before his show he had a sort of stomach washing.
I can’t imagine why anybody would do this but its an amazing story. Very good research invoved in finding these unique stories.
Sorry if I’m just being blind or stupid, but I can’t find any link to a movie clip here… and the story made me very curious.. so.. is the link still available and if so, please repost it ^^
Thanks for a great site, it has entertained and enlightened me for several evenings already!
If your having trouble seeing the link, heres a youtube link of his performance! >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_EB0yBS5c