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Sideshow couple are freaks for traditional family values

By Gary Buiso

She slithered into his heart…and he lit her fire. Talk about getting your freak on: Valentine’s Day saw the holy union of Tyler Fleet, a 30-year-old fire-eater/sword-swallower, and Jill Fisher, 26, a snake-charmer. Fleet, known as Tyler Fyre, made a name for himself at Coney’s Island’s Sideshows by the Seashore, the borough’s best known freak show. Fisher, a.k.a. Thrill Kill Jill, is a burlesque performer in the Washington D.C. area. “Neither Jill or I were looking for love that day,” Fleet said as the couple was in between shows in Alabama last week. Fisher agreed. “I don’t really know how to explain it, I never felt that way before,” she said. “I knew it was for real.” Cupid—most likely sporting a Mohawk, pierced nose and face tattoo—found his mark. After meeting in passing over the years, the two connected just over a year ago on Valentine’s Day at the Birchmere Burlesque-A-Pades in Alexandria, Va. “It was obvious to both of us,” Fleet recalled. On Thanksgiving, Fisher brought Fleet home and introduced him to her parents not as the fire-eater, but simply as Tyler. The two decided to get married in Las Vegas, with an Elvis-impersonator presiding. The wedding was broadcast live on the website vivalasvegasweddings.com and is still viewable in the site’s archives section. They are now a husband and wife team, performing such acts as the ‘Double Straight Jacket Escape.’” Another act, Fleet described, has Thrill Kill Jill lying on a bed of razor sharp nails, with a watermelon resting on her stomach. Tyler Fyre then carves up the melon—with a chainsaw. It’s Gallagher on steroids. “There’s watermelon juice everywhere,” Fleet explained. But Thrill Kill Jill gets the last laugh. At one point during the act, she pulverizes a cinderblock resting on Fleet’s “package,” as she described it. “There’s a lot of trust involved,” Fleet said. “We try to make sure we are getting along every day before the show.” “On a day when we are about to risk each other’s lives, it puts things into perspective for you: is this really worth arguing about?” he continued. “Any time someone is slinging a sledgehammer, you really want to trust him,” Fisher added. For years, Fleet, originally from Gwinnett County, Georgia, lived in Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island. At one point, he was a pizza maker at Two Boots Brooklyn in Park Slope. He and Fisher, originally from Virginia, now live in Washington D.C. But while the newlyweds traverse the south during the winter months as part of the Lucky Devil Circus Sideshow, Brooklyn remains close to their hearts. “Coney Island is unique in the entire world,” Fleet said. Fleet will return to Brooklyn in late April for an “alumni weekend” event at the Coney Island sideshow. For information, go to coneyisland.com/sideshow or www.tylerfyre.com. “I’m going back to retake what I consider my home stage,” he promised. Developer Joe Sitt’s plan to turn Coney Island into a Las Vegas style attraction might not be a bad thing, Fleet said. “I hate to see it change, but its abandoned beachfront real estate and it needed a change,” he said. “You can’t stand in the way of progress.” Fleet is not averse to change in his personal life either. “I’m not young, wild and single anymore,” Fleet admitted. The snake charmer has tamed the wild beast. To the borough’s lonely hearts, Fisher offered some advice: “Keep an open mind,” she said. “I never thought I’d find the one.” “Don’t let it slip away from you,” Fisher advised. And don’t let the sledgehammer slip either.