Impalement arts
There are important distinctions between knife throwing or archery practiced as competitive sports and similar skills displayed as impalement arts.
[2] The historian Suetonius reported these acts in his biography of the emperor: There are many who have more than once seen [Domitian] slay a hundred wild beasts of different kinds on his Alban estate, and purposely kill some of them with two successive shots in such a way that the arrows gave the effect of horns.
Buffalo Bill's performances in Europe in 1887 resulted in a wave of popularity for Wild West shows and the "western arts" they involved, including knife throwing, archery, whip cracking and sharp shooting.
Among the most significant events were Barnum & Bailey's tours of Europe from 1897 to 1902, which made a huge impact on European circus owners and led them to adopt similar formats.
As well as providing a friendly stage where impalement acts could rely on finding an audience, circus was a competitive environment in which shows and performers sought to out do each other and thus there were incentives to develop new stunts.
[6][7] Another trend in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was that acts from circuses began to find work in permanent venues that were developing in rapidly growing towns and cities.
When the BBC started the world's first practical television service with experimental transmissions in 1936 one of the types of programmes it produced were variety shows with circus artists.
[13] Generally speaking, the assistant, whether male or female, stands in front of a board, made of wood or some similar material, into which the knives or arrows are embedded.
Impalement artists have adopted a variety of guises, including Wild West figures, "gypsy" characters or tuxedo-wearing cabaret performers.
There have even been efforts to package impalement arts within dramatic productions, such as the play Pin Cushion, which consists of a monologue delivered by an actress as she takes part in a real knifethrowing act (see Theatre).
There are many variations on the simple arrangement of having the assistant stand in front of a target board and remain still while knives, arrows or other objects land about them.
Examples include the cases of Yana Rodionova, injured in a televised stunt with knife thrower Jayde Hanson, and French target girl Catherine Jamet, of Duo Grey Arrow, who suffered a near fatal wound during a crossbow act at the World Circus Festival in Paris in 2001.
Some are recognised for pioneering achievements, some for bringing the arts to widespread audiences and some as distinctive characters who, although less famous, have had significant influence on their peers.
Perhaps the most notable movie example is the French film Girl on the Bridge (1999), in which a knife throwing act is at the centre of the plot and serves as a powerful erotic metaphor.
