Is it an art or fake or a optical illusion?

Question

The sword swallowing act~is it an art or fake or optical illusion?

Answer 1

yes around 75% of times its a retracting sword, 5% fake shown on t.v and the rest a handful of people have learnt the right techniques.

www.google.com >> sword swallowing basics

Answer 2

It could be either - there are retracting swords, but it is possible to train yourself to keep your oesophagus open and override peristalsis and genuinely swallow the blade. Houdini writes about the techniques in his book 'the mystery mongers'.