In the immortal words of Marge Simpson... ‘Cannons are designed to hurt’.
Well, it seems one man didn't get that memo. In a talent so bizarre it's hard to believe, video footage of an amazingly gutsy performer has left people on social media stunned.
Frank ‘Cannonball’ Richards was able to turn his unusual talent into a show for people around the US in the 1920s.
Tame start
The performer, originally from Kansas but lived in California after WW1, had an impressively strong core which allowed him to take multiple blows seemingly with no injury whatsoever.
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We aren’t just talking a few gut punches by the way; we are talking heavy duty impact to his core.
But he took stomach punches as well, not just from random people either, but heavyweight boxing champions.
These included Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Ad Wolgast, Joe Rivers, Joe Louis, Jess Willard, and Jack Dempsey.
Turning things up a notch
Seemingly craving more, Richards moved up to harder stuff. He would let people jump on his belly, being hit with a two by four plank of wood, and even a sledgehammer.
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But these would pale in comparison to a cannonball, (hence the nickname).
That's right, Richards stood in front of a compressed air cannon before it fired a 104-lb cannonball at him from about 12-feet away.
The real-life Iron Man
Amazingly, he was fine. While doing this act, he would only take the cannon twice per day as doing it any more than that was too painful. Yeah, wouldn’t want things to get too dangerous now...
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It almost sounds too good to be true, but there is video footage of some of his stunts and it's just as amazing as it sounds and X users simply can’t comprehend it.
“Amazing what the human body can be capable of. Looks like he’d flex his abdominal muscles prior to any impact. Wonder if people could train/build to do this, or if it’s something naturally occurring about him that gave him that ability,” one user commented.
“That had to f****** hurt,” another person wrote.
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“He must have had some awesome abs. The funny part is he is wearing sunglasses just in case,” added another user.
“At least he was able to monetize his gift. I just hope he didn’t have serious health issues bc of it,” a fourth commented.
There is no clear indication if he suffered any long term health issues due to his performances. Richards died aged 81 in 1969.