Dr. Dennis Cummins
- New York City, NY
- Motivational Speaker
- 20 Verified Bookings
Marco B. said “Very enlightening and entertaining!”
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Back before talking pictures overshadowed Vaudeville, live entertainers would front music halls and theaters. If you were lucky a strongman would headline the event, performing mind-blowing feats of strength.
As time passed and as the great depression forced people away from live entertainment, the strongmen stepped off the stage, passing the lessons on, awaiting their return.
Now a days, the strongman has evolved into something inspirational.
Eric was trained by the best to be the best and is experienced in front of large crowds and always gets raving reviews. Perfect fits are corporate entertainment, speaking, colleges, and school assemblies. To truly inspire will take more than words.
Eric did such a great performance for Stephen's birthday. He engaged the kids and made them excited for the show. The birthday was especially thrilled with all the "bent metal" he got to take home. Thank you Eric for being a special part of Stephen's birthday!
Eric contributed his time to entertain both adults and children for our benefit raising money for a friend with cancer. He relayed a positive message about the power of the mind and how we are all superheros who help others. His performance was very interesting and amazed everyone who was there to watch, especially the children! My son still talks about the "superhero" who bent a steel rod and gave it to him as a souvenir.
Eric was so professional in his demonstration and easily incorporated the function into his dialog. He did not "sell" his profession and was there totally as a solid performer and proponet for the cause.
This is truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It almost hurts to watch because you can tell the amount of pure concentration and effort that must be expended to accomplish this. I don't know the science behind it, but it sure is entertaining to watch.
Price Range: Contact for rates
Gig Length: 15 - 60 minutes
Languages: English
First you’ll do a quick introduction for Eric as a hush of anticipation falls over the students when they realize that this is not just any speaker. The music starts and Eric nails them with back to back feats of strength coupled with one liners. The audience will have their jaws on the floor as they see him bend steel bars and nails, twist a horseshoe into a heart, roll a frying pan up like a newspaper, drive a nail through a board by hand using only a washcloth as protection, and perform even more legitimate feats of strength.
After about fifteen minutes of the strength feats including comedy and audience interaction…Now Eric has the complete attention of every single student. He captivates them when he reveals his story of overcoming adversity of having been bullied. He takes a slight detour as he gets them to grasp that they might not know what a person might already be going through and there is no point to making life any harder than it already is. It’s not a story that’s intended to make them cry…it’s intended to make them question why they even bother bullying in the first place. He continues his story of being betrayed by his ex-wife and ex-best friend as he gets them to accept that the hard times we face are a fact of life, but they strengthen us so that we will be strong enough for our true purpose…whatever our individual calling in life may be.
They’ll be on the edge of their seats as Eric tells them stories from learning from some of the best in the world, connecting them with concepts relating to; self esteem, leadership, work ethic, perseverance, resilience, self-forgiveness, taking it one step at a time, and the mindset for success from a legitimate strongman’s perspective. These are the same things Eric used to establish a world record in strength despite being less than average size and these principles can conquer all obstacles and accomplish seemingly impossible dreams. He throws in even more feats of strength throughout the speech to illustrate these concepts so that every single person is spellbound throughout the entire presentation. The messages really hit home as a light bulb goes off over their head when they understand what their true potential is.
For the finale feat he bends a reinforcing bar (rebar for short) on the bridge of the nose to illustrate the secret to success. This ensures that the message really sticks and provides a final recap to bring everything together as he do my send off. At the very end of the presentation, while everybody is cheering and clapping, he'll call you to the front of the room and present a gift to the school or corporation as a thank you. He explains to the audience that you brought him in because you take pride in and truly care about their future and they will thank you with a standing ovation.
The rebar from the finale feat gets donated to cancer patients to inspire them to fight the good fight (part of the Rebar To Ribbons Project he started). Then he'll stick around and answer any questions that the audience may have to make sure he hasn’t missed anything and to fill up any remaining time so there isn’t any “dead air”.
Eric's 5 star rated book will be made available autographed and at 20% off after the show as well.
Then it’s yet another round of applause for you as the students leaves beaming with pride and truly inspired and in gratitude to you for bringing me in to show them what's possible.
The short version of my story:
When I was a kid, I was allergic to just about everything you can think of making it difficult to get proper nutrition. When I was in elementary school I was told by my teacher that I was “A lazy little boy and would never amount to anything” before I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. I was medicated and the medication acted as a personality suppressant making it difficult to make friends and I was bullied. I found my confidence through weight training and that started a passion for strength and fitness that I used to become a personal trainer and later a professional old-time performing strongman.
I was coached and mentored to do the old-time feats of strength by the best coaches in the world including Chris Rider and New Jersey’s Superman the late Greg Matonick (I was his last student before he passed away but the lessons he gave in peak performance will make him live forever through the stories I tell).
As a motivational speaker I’ve been a member of Toastmaster International and I am personally coached by Dr. Rob Gilbert (an amazing motivational speaker with 35 years of experience). I believe that combining incredible feats of strength with a powerful message is the single best way to change lives and that is my true purpose.
I may not have been born with the ability, but I was born for this.
I spend my spare time coaching my personal training clients, getting attacked by my cat “the Batman” and gazing into my girl’s eyes while she looks back and says “why are you looking at me like that?”, reading books, figuring out ways to improve myself and my crafts, and trying to enjoy the moments that pass our eyes like sand in an hour glass. When it’s my time to pass I want it to say “He died, but before that he lived, he loved, he changed lives.”
To get a more in depth look at my story, my biography "The Performing Strongman's Experience; Real Stories and the Lessons Learned While Becoming a Modern Day Man of Steel" is available on Amazon currently with all 5 star ratings.
I have a projector and screen for when powerpoint style presentations are needed. I'll need to know in advance if this is something you need.
I'll need a flat stable surface that the audience has a clear view of and has access to electricity.
For schools, summer camps and youth groups, I'll need the cooperation of teachers, counselors and staff.
October 14, 2015 • 7:00pm - 8:00pm | Local High School Assembly |
Available Feats of Strength
Thick structural steel bar bend
60 penny nail bend
ripping a tennis ball meant for pitt bulls
twisting a horseshoe into a heart
breaking a chain
bending a 12 inch hex bolt or wrench
one handed human link
bending steel into a cool shape (steel scrolling)
frying pan roll up
driving a nail through a board without using a hammer
inspirational speech covering my story of adversity, positive thinking, leadership, resilience, perserverance, focus, self esteem/confidence, self forgiveness, staying true to yourself, taking it one step at a time, and the secret to success.
ripping a deck of plastic coated playing cards
bending a reinforcing bar on the bridge of the nose.
My late and great mentor Greg Matonick, Tony Robbins, The Mighty Atom, Robin Sharma, Slim "the hammer man" Farmin, Jim Rohn, Eric Thomas, Les Brown, strongman extraordinaire Chris "Hairculese" Rider, Zig Ziglar, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Rob Gilbert, Superman
access to electricity
Marco B. said “Very enlightening and entertaining!”
Jene C. said “Ari should know how great of a job he is doing and how much his story resonates with anyone who had experienced struggle or hardships in life. He really…”
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Paul P. said “First, when you work with Mike, you're working with a kind and thoughtful man. He is so accommodating and responsive to what my needs were for our…”