Hey, it's my professionally strong friend from the Four of Swords! Apparently he does a little bit of everything at this particular carnival.
This is the kind of act I can't watch too much of; honestly it seems to me that he's really pushing his luck with that seventh sword. He appears to be perfectly in control, and the audience is surely convinced he knows what he's doing, but ultimately we're talking about cold steel versus delicate flesh, and accidents do happen. In order to outshine our competition and electrify our audience, we suspend our own disbelief and summon inadvisable levels of confidence -- making it all too easy to misjudge distances, ignore warning signs, and generally proceed without caution.
There's a lot to be said for displays of cleverness, but it's only a matter of time before you get so caught up in the razzle-dazzle that you begin treating reality like some kind of sport, forgetting about the very real consequences your decisions may have -- on yourself as well as others. Relying on self-deception to consistently fool people is a fine short-term game, but the longer you play, the greater the odds that narrow blade will turn back on you. Perhaps you'd better take a step backwards and judge your situation from a less engaged position.
Oh yeah, and that's totally a chest tattoo of Pamela Coleman Smith's signature, which you can find on most of her RWS cards. How odd; I suppose it's possible they had some sort of dalliance when his show toured Europe...
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