Today we’d like to introduce you to Mercer Blackwell.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started magic at six, after seeing a magician at a birthday party. Like many kids, I begged my mom for a magic set and she caved. From that point, I never stopped practicing.
At eleven, after learning about Harry Houdini, I added a straitjacket escape to the list of things I wanted to perform and begged my mom (harder, this time) to buy one for my birthday. She did! It was a black, canvas straitjacket with silver d-rings that I used through high school. It was only years later that my mom would admit she had a very difficult time sourcing a straitjacket and ultimately bought one from a BDSM store on eBay. I still have my original straitjacket, though. Smells to high-heaven, too.
I did not have a mentor or someone to teach me. Instead, I have taught myself how to swallow swords, eat fire, escape a straitjacket, paint pictures inside my stomach, and more.
When I turned eighteen, I performed as frequently as I could while holding down whatever job would give me the flexibility. I took a dip into the financial industry along the way, becoming a certified credit consultant and moving on to work as Chief Financial Officer of a small, local construction firm. Loss of contracts at the firm due to the emerging pandemic gave me an opportunity to make performing a full-time venture, and that’s exactly what I did.
Since then, I’ve started a TikTok channel that currently has over 100k followers, developed new in-person & virtual acts, and performed for dozens of businesses.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wish I could say the journey was easy or even linear. The truth of the matter is that I (like everyone) have had to overcome many obstacles.
The predominance of my childhood was erratic. It was my mom and I against the world, living like gypsies. When we weren’t in some section 8 pad, we were sleeping in some Wal-Mart parking lot until we could land in the next town. I went to several different schools in different states, never bothering to memorize a name.
I’m slightly embarrassed to say, but I did not graduate high school. In fact, my mom had to badger me for a year just to sign up to take the GED. Don’t get me wrong, I went to school just about every day. I love learning and the classroom setting was one of the few things I liked about school– I just never did any of the work.
What was doubly frustrating about my school performance was that I’d made it painfully clear to everyone that I could do the work but refused. I was actually invited to take the ACT in 7th grade after scoring in the 98th percentile on a standardized test. I took the ACT at eleven, alongside high school students, and got a twenty-four– the average for a high school student applying for college.
There was a period in my life when I was addicted to drugs. The funny thing about addiction is it tends to make life simpler. Everything but the drugs fell away from my life. Even magic, the very reason I get up most days, vanished. I grew hollow and the spiral turned steeper. Nearly a decade ago, I was lucky enough to receive the opportunity to get clean and change my life. I was looking at serious time, but I was given the chance to avoid it and instead worked to get better. At the time, this was the scariest decision in the world. I had become someone I didn’t recognize and done things I thought I would never do. I wasn’t scared of getting clean. I was petrified of betting on myself. I feared that I was ‘one of those people that couldn’t integrate with society and maybe that meant I would be better off in a cell. Believing I could change is the only reason I am here today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My art is something that encompasses nearly everything I do. I like to think that being a Bizarrist is simply an extension of what I truly am: an artist.
To that end, something I’m most proud of is a routine I developed where I swallow paint, followed by a marble, paint inside my stomach, and regurgitate the marble. I’ve also been able to link a closed safety pin and coathanger in my stomach.
TikTok is another one of those places where my art is at the forefront. I get to learn about all kinds of topics and perform for my fans.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
You can always catch my latest video on TikTok. Maybe leave a comment if you like. I’d also love to perform for you or at your next private event!
Contact Info:
- Email: Mercer@blackwellbizarre.com
- Website: BlackwellBizarre.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mercerblackwell/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoU7kT-uTGuLioymvcAfQrQ
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mercerblackwell?
