![[Mr. Lifto]](lift-tit.jpg)
Interview by Bill Babouris of Survival Kit
BME: In your home page you mention that you started your piercings at the age of 20 ["I got sick of the farm and pierced my own dick."] Could you describe that first experience? Was it an idea that you had been toying with for some time, or a spur-of-the-moment thing, a subconscious way of venting your frustration?
MR. LIFTO: Toying with the idea for some time... boy those National Geographics are more subversive than people think... ie: natives with lots of piercings... I guess it was a subconscious way of being weirder on the inside than out at the time...
BME: What kind of a piercing was it?
MR. LIFTO: A Price Albert, about a 22 gauge I think...
BME: What did you use?
MR. LIFTO: A sterilized safety-pin... I knew not much about piercing at the time, and put a regular earring in.
BME: Was there any pain? Any blood?
MR. LIFTO: A little blood, yes. The pain factor was ok, as I had already experimented with cuttings...
BME: How? Did you use razors? Or knives? Most of the times I've experimented with cuttings I've used razors because if you use them properly there is no pain. But then again pain is an integral part of such an experience, isn't it?
MR. LIFTO: Actually I always had a really high pain-tolerance... I used razors for the finer edge I needed and knives for the big, long cuts... I actually like the pain involved... nothing like riding that adrenaline/endorphine rush!
BME: How did you feel afterwards?
MR. LIFTO: GREAT! The earring kept rubbing wrong, though -- after about a week I took it out, and tried to put it out of my mind, but couldn't, and finally repeirced it using a different ring and kept it in.
BME: I suppose that that first piercing was a play piercing, right?
MR. LIFTO: First time, yes, I guess, the second time I did it, I did it with the purpose of keeping it in...
BME: When did you get your first permanent piercings?
MR. LIFTO: In late '89, both nipples, done by a friend...
BME: Did you do them yourself or did you have to go to a professional?
MR. LIFTO: The only one I did myself was the Prince Albert. My ampallang, tongue, and septum were done by Jim Ward from Gauntlet. My nipples and ears were done by a friend.
BME: You also mentioned that the inspiration for your act came from your love of weird circus numbers. Had you seen the weight-lifting act before?
MR. LIFTO: Yes, in old-sideshow books, mostly from the late 1800 or early 1900s.
BME: Did you start with a small weight and then add more?
MR. LIFTO: Exactly...
BME: What's the heaviest thing you've lifted with your rings so far?
MR. LIFTO: 70-75 lbs with the Prince Albert, 120-130 lbs with both nipples... Of course I had time to relax and heal after both these times...
BME: Could you please define "heal"?
MR. LIFTO: Too much weight seems to sometimes rip and tear and stretch the piercings too much, so a couple of days, weeks to soak on tube, annoint with Betadine, etc, and relax the inflamed piercings...
BME: In the RE/Search book, Modern Primitives, Fakir Musafar mentioned that weight lifting by one's piercings can also be used as an elongation technique. After all these years of doing this act, have you noticed any increased elasticity in your skin or any other side-effects?
MR. LIFTO: Fakir knows his stuff! My penis has grown in length about 2-3 inches, but gotten skinnier at the same time... I can now get hard, and fold it in half!...
BME: Have you ever had any accidents, either on or off stage?
MR. LIFTO: I try hard not to let this happen... I had a nipple ring open up once, and pull through the hole with limited bleding. I also tore my Prince Albert -- I was using the wrong ring, and again it opened up and puled through the hole, this time taking a little notch outta my Prince Albert hole...
BME: Ouch!!!!! I've seen the Jim Rose Circus videotape and I've read lots of reviews of your shows, and it seems that a lot of people (myself included) are amazed with the fact that there's hardly ever any bleeding in your acts. How do you guys do this?
MR. LIFTO: hehe... LOTSA practice... Also, anyone can do a bloody show, we try to do it without...
BME: Your home page contains a picture of you being branded. When did that happen? Did you do it yourself or did somebody help you?
MR. LIFTO: It happened in 1989 for a home-movie called Swelter in Vogue. The branding was done by the mistress in the picture...
BME: And how did you got that "part"? Is this the only time you've been branded?
MR. LIFTO: From a friend into filmmaking and foreign films... guess he thought I was right for the part... he, he... did little burnings with little pieces of metal but nothing again yet on that big of a scale...
BME: You've gone from tattooing and piercing to branding and to your facial implants. What's next for Mr. Lifto? Is there any form of body-modification that you haven't yet tried but you'd like to?
MR. LIFTO: I'm very interested in the new laser-scarification: instantly cauterizes the wound and leaves a scar for a long time. I'm always open to new surgical techniques... hehe...
BME: So laser scarification doesn't leave permanent scars? How long do they last for?
MR. LIFTO: Oh, yeah, it does... the laser actually vaporises 6-7 layers of skin which are immediatly replaced by scar tissue, a nice shade of bright purple. Usually other scars colors tend to fade after a year or so. These should stay colorful for about 6-7 years....
BME: Why do you think you're constantly trying to find more and more extreme forms of body modification?
MR. LIFTO: I'm always looking for some new kinda kick... gotta try to experience everything at least once!
BME: Is it a case of the "law of diminishing returns"? What do you "get" out of every body modification you try (pleasure? a rush? a sense of transcendence?)
MR. LIFTO: It depends on each experience... when I got branded I had visions of dancing with tribesmen in Australia. I was somewhere else, cause that was the most painful thing I had experienced at the time... After each show, I need to sit down for a few minutes, to try to control the adrenaline, and endorphine rush so i can go on with the show and help out the others.
BME: What's the most extreme body-mod you'd like to try one day?
MR. LIFTO: I would like to try the Indian sun-dance hanging from a tree ritual...
BME: Tell us about your facial implants. How did the whole idea come about?
MR. LIFTO: Our friend Steve from HTC had shown us a captive-bead ring that he had himself implanted in his own wrist... immediatly the Enigma and I had a whole new string of ideas for body-mod.
BME: What are these metals you inserted beneath your forehead's skin? Did you have them custom-made?
MR. LIFTO: It's actualy hard-plastic Teflon. And yes, they make them custom size. I'm keeping mine the original size, while the Enigma has his horns upgraded every 5-6 months (ie: bigger ones are put in.)
BME: So, the Enigma actually has an operation every 5-6 months now? I guess the intervening time period is enough for the skin to stretch and to allow for bigger horns, right?
MR. LIFTO: Yessir...
BME: How long did the operation take? Who performed it? How long do you plan to keep them for? You must be getting some pretty freaked looks when you walk in the streets nowadays, huh?
MR. LIFTO: It took about 1/2 hr for each side done by Steve from HTC in Arizona. Yeah, like having a flat-top haircut, it shows 'em off really well... if people ask, I just tell them I was abducted by aliens, and they did weird experimnets on me... hehe...
BME: What's the current line-up of the Jim Rose Circus?
MR. LIFTO: It's constantly changing, we're now retooling the Circus for our new tour starting in March, in the U.S.
BME: I believe that Torture King left quite some time ago...
MR. LIFTO: We've actually had several torture-kings...
BME: Who replaced him?
MR. LIFTO: Rubberman and Chainsaw Juggler...
BME: Which past or present member of the Jim Rose Circus do you admire most?
MR. LIFTO: Jim & Bebe Rose, they started the whole thing off, and they both work REALLY, REALLY hard... The Enigma, a true circus-freak and hard-worker. The Tube, his obscure knowledge is boundless, and Dolly the Doll Lady: I'm a sucker for anyone who worked the old-time circus circuit...
BME: When are you going to tour Europe again?
MR. LIFTO: Supposedly June or July on '97, although this could change, just keep an eye out for us...
BME: What memories do you have of your last tour in Europe? Reaction-wise, were the audiences different from the States? In what sense?
MR. LIFTO: All good memories. European audiences are more circus-friendly and just wanna see a show where they can have a good time, like ours... I enjoy Australia the most, crazy crowds, also Ireland and Scotland.
BME: Have you ever had any censorship problems, like getting your show, or your particular act, banned from a town/country?
MR. LIFTO: Constantly, but there's usually ways around each law... hehe...
BME: How did the home page thing come about?
MR. LIFTO: The Mr. Lifto one is done by a friend in NY outta pure love for all things circus. The Ambient/official Jim Rose Circus page one is done by our good friend Denise outta Ottawa, Canada, also outta pure love. I'm slowly learning HTML myself to start a web-page...
BME: What do you like most about the Internet?
MR. LIFTO: Instant information on almost anything you can imagine...
BME: Any future plans/last "words of wisdom"?
MR. LIFTO: Never rule anything out... always try something once... keep an open mind...
BME: Joe Lifto, thank you very much!