Cracking a whip is already risky enough – especially for amateurs – but now imagine cracking one that’s on fire.
For local whip-cracking pro Walter La Souef, who goes by the stage name Walter Whip and the Flames, and will be performing at the Beenleigh Show, the risks are well worth the rewards.
“I’ve been cracking the whip since I was six-years-old,” he said.
“It turned from a weekend sport to an actual show about 10 years ago after a mate told me there’s not much in the way of rodeo entertainment anymore.
“I was probably one of the first in Australia to import custom made whips that are actually set on fire.”
He said the whips were made to withstand being doused in fuel and lit.
In true cowboy style, Mr La Souef laughed while remembering the time he injured himself walking through what he called a “tornado of fire”.
“The third show I did I trusted some bull fighters to help start the fire, but they poured the whole jerrycan of fuel out and when my partner at the time went to light it, it basically turned into a fire-nado,” he said.
“I knew it was too hot, but I had 3000 people cheering so I ran through the fire.
“I lost all the skin off both hands.”
Walter Whip and the Flames is returning to Beenleigh Show for the second time.
“First I’ll be doing a workshop with the kids teaching the basics of whip cracking, then I’ll do the night-time show, which I’ll open with the big bullock whip,” he said.
“Then I’ll do some other stunts with two whips and another with a kangaroo hide whip.
“And then we move on to the fire segment of the show – so it’s a special custom-made whip that gets doused in fuel.
And audience members can become part of the daring stunt, with the crowd often invited to participate in the show.
“I often get a crowd member to come out and I crack a whip on fire over the top of them,” he said.
“I’ve also got the largest fire whip in Australia – it’s eight foot long and it puts out a fireball around six or eight foot long.
“I’ve got to make sure I position myself according to the wind so that the fireball doesn’t come back towards me, because it often takes out my eyebrows and eyelashes – it’s been an extreme sport.”
Mr Whip said he wasn’t overly bothered by losing features that “grow back”.
He also said teaching whip cracking is just as rewarding as performing.
“I enjoy keeping the sport alive with the kids,” he said.
