Breathtaking Footage: 104-Pound Cannonball Hits Man's Stomach At Close Range
Discover the jaw-dropping story of a man who turned his iron stomach into a legendary performance.
Frank Richards, known as “Cannonball,” wasn’t trying to be tough for attention. He was building a whole routine around the most brutal kind of proof, the kind you can feel in your ribs just watching.
In the roaring 1920s, this Kansas-born performer, later based in California after WWI, turned his stomach into a stage. He started with bystanders throwing punches, then upped the ante with hits from heavyweight champions like Jim Jeffries and Jack Dempsey, plus belly-jumps, wooden planks, and even sledgehammer blows.
And then came the moment that sounds fake until you see it, a 104-pound cannonball fired from 12 feet at his stomach, twice a day.
That’s the part that makes everyone pause, Richards went from bystander punches to taking hits from Jeffries and Dempsey like it was just another warmup.
Frank Richards, often called 'Cannonball,' was not just any performer. In the roaring 1920s, he turned his unbelievable tolerance for abdominal pain into a public spectacle that fascinated many across America. Born in Kansas and a resident of California post-WWI, Richards showcased a physical strength that seemed almost superhuman.
Once “regular” impacts stopped being exciting enough, he started stacking harder props, a plank, belly jumps, and then the sledgehammer routine.
His performances started relatively tame, with him taking punches from bystanders, but it didn’t stop there. Notably, Richards' abdomen could withstand hits from heavyweight boxing champions like Jim Jeffries and Jack Dempsey.
However, ordinary punches weren’t enough for the thrill-seeker. Richards craved more intense challenges. He escalated his acts to include jumping on his belly, hits from a wooden plank, and even blows from a sledgehammer.
It also echoes the choice in when a struggling friend asked for money again, despite past unpaid loans.
The real jaw-dropper was the compressed air cannon, 104 pounds launching at his stomach from 12 feet, not once, but twice daily.
The pinnacle of his acts involved a 104-pound cannonball shot at his stomach from a 12-foot distance using a compressed air cannon. Remarkably, he performed this dangerous stunt twice daily, citing any more as overly painful—a testament to the physical limits he was pushing.
Despite the extreme nature of his performances, Richards appeared to manage the pain and the risks well. Videos of his stunts circulated widely, eliciting astonishment and disbelief from those who watched. Viewers often wondered if such a feat was a result of intense training or a natural ability.
Even after viewers argued about whether he was trained or just built different, Richards kept performing through it all, living to 81 before passing in 1969.
Social media comments reflect a mix of admiration and concern, with users praising his strength and resilience while hoping such extreme performances did not cause him long-term health issues. Richards continued to perform without significant harm, living to the age of 81 and passing away in 1969.
His legacy, captured in videos and stories, remains a fascinating glimpse into the lengths one man went to entertain and astound, showcasing what seems like an almost superhuman capability of the human body.
Nobody’s stomach should need a cannonball twice a day to prove a point.
For a different kind of stomach-churning conflict, read about the roommate who bought a snake without agreement.
