circus act that I won't be copying.

[willowcandra]

Last night I took the chldren to the circus. One of the acts was a lady who was suspended by her hair. Her hair was attached in a tail to a clip that attached to a hook on the end of a rope. The rope was lifted and she literally flew around the arena suspended by her hair. In a later act I saw that she had very fine waist length hair-couldn't tell if it was truly fine or thinned out.

My husband said maybe we could try it out.:rolleyes:

Her hair was in pretty good condition I was surprised. Interesting act but did make me wince a bit. Anyway just thought I would share..ya know in case ayone feels their hair isn't reaching its potential.:D

[Purdy Bear]

Iv seen a similar act on Tv, it always makes me wince, and wonder whats been woven into the hair to give it strength. Im always a skeptic as far as circus and magic goes.

[DragonLady]

Im always a skeptic as far as circus and magic goes.

I agree. Never trust that what you see them doing is really what's going on...they're full of illusions.

I've seen the act you're speaking of; back before I ever considered growing my hair out. But even then I didn't really believe it was "just" her hair. I've seen too many people with huge chunks taken out of their scalps by violence or just getting it caught in fans or other unfriendly places.

[Loreley]

Wow!
Maybe a new way how to grow long hair fast. ;) :rollin:

[GlassEyes]

I agree. Never trust that what you see them doing is really what's going on...they're full of illusions.

I've seen the act you're speaking of; back before I ever considered growing my hair out. But even then I didn't really believe it was "just" her hair. I've seen too many people with huge chunks taken out of their scalps by violence or just getting it caught in fans or other unfriendly places.
Actually, I think it would depend on how the hair is arranged, but I think it might be possible with hair alone. If the hair was twisted so that the...force, or whatever, was evenly distributed, it might be able to support a person's weight. It's sort of like how pulling on an individual strand of hair could cause it to break, but pull on a few and it's less likely. The less hair that's pulled, the more likely it is to tear.

I doubt it was the only thing supporting her, but it's not impossible, I think, from my limited scientific point of view. Maybe physicschick can give a better opinion...

[McFearless]

The thought of that alone gives me goosebumps. :eek:

[tcheney91]

I've actually seen the preparation for this stunt, and it's truly only the persons hair! It blew my mind. I talked to the performer and she said it doesn't even really hurt that bad. More neck pain than actual scalp pain. I thought that was interesting. Hair is such a mysterious thing...

[misspriss]

And When the scalp is ripped by pulling hair, it's more of the jerking action that pulls it, if you pull steadily, it is much less likely to damage I would think. Still not trying it though!

[LoversLullaby]

Don't you think that would HURT? I don't care if anyone tells me that it wouldn't or wouldn't damage - I certainly would not try it! :no:

[Arctic_Mama]

I could see that being done without much problem, especially if your neck muscles were strong. Hair is VERY strong under tension, especially with twist added, and provided the lift was slow and the style was evenly tight across the whole scalp I could definitely see no damage to the scalp or hair :)

[SHELIAANN1969]

Egads, no thanks! I love the circus, but that is crazy!

[christine1989]

Yikes! I wonder if it might have been some kind of extention or clip in though. Im sure it would work with her real hair as long as she didn't weigh much.

[JamieLeigh]

Ouch!! I think I'll keep my hair circus-free also, thanks!! :eek:

[loralie]

This is what wikipedia say about hair hang! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_hang)

I don't doubt it could be done with hair alone but don't think it would be good for your hair long term, nor would it could be comfortable!

[orbiting]

I think it's pretty cool. Heck I'd love to try it if my hair ever got that long..

I mean... Grab all your hair... and very slowly start to pull. It doesn't hurt like hair being yanked, especially in small bits. And my hair doesn't fall out, no matter how hard I pull... So yeah. I think it's pretty awesome. I doubt you'd want to do it long term or too often, but I think it would be fun once or twice :D

[MAO]

I wonder how long she can keep doing that before she starts going bald.........?

[naereid]

If I remember correctly, there are some contests in which people pull trucks and cars just with their hair (or other specific body parts), so I guess it's possible. Far from being recommended, though. :grnbiggri

[Anje]

A while ago I saw this site (http://www.azteco.com/lamarina/) (or maybe something similar, it's been a while), where the performer says that it's only her own hair, and that she dislikes that people often don't believe it, given the effort and pain it takes.

Yes, I suppose that could be a line given by someone who doesn't want to expose that they're wearing some secret head harness, but I'm inclined to believe that it's possible, at least in cases where people have high-strength hair and a whole lot of it.

[willowcandra]

It was definately only her hair she came out wrapped in a satin bag that was released once she was in the air. She had waist length hair but the part wrapped in fabric was only about six inches so it must have been wrapped and folded etc.

None of the movements were jerky or sudden.

a single hair is very strong so a head full I would imagine is quite able.
Her hair at her scalp seemed very fine but I don't know if thatw as natural or caused by the act. I would imagine you would need to break from the act every once in a while.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

As far as i know, a healthy strand of hair can carry 100 grams of weight. According to this, a head of 80000 strands should be able to carry 8000 kilos :D This doesn't sound impossible to me since i've seen a longhaired guy who pulled big trucks and long trains with his hair :)

[JenniferNoel]

Well, either way, it sounds a little... erm... painful...
Getting my hair caught in stuff is painful enough, but to hang from it... eep!