By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There are always a few small entertainment shows put on at the Kansas State Fair that always turn out to be pretty good. This year, the roaming talent includes Dangerous Feats of Comedy.
Dallas Saute and his son, Nick Stainback, have been wowing audiences at the fair with a blend of dangerous acts and comedy at the same time.
“We are a father son duo that does a high energy, high comedy, daredevil juggling and escape show,” Saute said.
That includes juggling chainsaws, running lawn mowers, hatchets and various other items both flaming and non-flaming. The show's roots go back to the early days of entertainment and that's the way the duo likes it. Saute says it all started when he was in the military.
“I was in the Air Force and stationed in Mississippi,” Saute said. “On the weekends, on leave, we’d go to New Orleans and I would see shows like this.”
From there, Saute built his craft and learned what did and didn’t work. That’s how he began to involve the audience and use comedy to entertain.
“I started putting a formula together about why this guy is juggling and not making the same money as this guy who is less skilled, but funny,” Saute said.
Eventually, the craft fell to his son, Nick, who found out he had a special talent that came with a physical affliction known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue. It allows Stainback to be double-jointed and extremely flexible. Stainback began performing on the show at age 15 by escaping a straight jacket — an exercise he performs during the show.
“That’s what kind of got me in a straight jacket, when I was 10,” Stainback said. “'Oh, he’s flexible, let's take some pictures,' and at that point I was hooked.”
Stainback can get out of a straight jacket secured with a 50 pound chain and padlocks in less than three minutes.
“I would go to school telling people what I want to be and it was a problem,”Stainback said. “I said all the more reason to want to do it.”
The father and son live in Florida, but have been traveling the fair circuit for the past couple of years after reassessing their show schedule. They say it is still all about having fun.
“I have looked forward to doing every second of this for 30 years,” Saute said. “There hasn’t been one time I haven’t wanted to go make people laugh.”
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