At 89 years old, Jim Ball holds a rare triple distinction in sword swallowing: he’s the world’s oldest living sword swallower; when he learned at age 12, he was the world’s youngest; and having swallowed steel for 77 years, he’s the world’s longest-performing sword swallower. Jim is also unique in that both his parents were sword swallowers: John “Lucky” Ball and Estelline Pike. It was his mother, Estelline, who trained him. 

Jim’s career took him across the U.S. and Canada, working with legendary showmen like Dick Best, Walter Wanous, and Alex Linton. From Hubert’s Museum in New York to Madison Square Garden with Ringling Bros., to What’s My Line? in 1958, and a stint in the army in between it all, Jim has many adventures to share in this episode.

Jim Ball is one of more than a hundred sword swallowers featured in the book, To The Hilt: A Sword Swallower’s History of Sword Swallowing, published by Schiffer Publishing.

For more on To The Hilt, visit ToTheHiltBook.com or purchase a copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EbUsQf