As Cirque du Soleil, Cavalia and other international  performance groups have put a sexy and sophisticated twist on the circus of old, the idea of seeing clowns, elephants, acrobats and other such performers feels a bit nostalgic. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still find a three-ring circus spectacle like the ones many of us grew up seeing. In fact, with up to three different shows on tour at any given time, when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to town, you can still expect to find some of the most death-defying feats you’re likely to ever witness. They don’t call it “The Greatest Show on Earth” for nothing.

One of the most amazing feats in Ringling’s Fully Charged show comes from “The Human Fuse” Brian Miser, a man who started out on the trapeze, but has become known for his human cannonball trick. But his routine has evolved to the point that he is now being launched across the arena at 65 miles per hour from a giant crossbow – while he’s on fire! Why would someone do such a thing? Well, Miser talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about how he got to this point in his career and what he has planned for the future.

At what point in your life or your career did you decide you wanted to be shot out of cannons for a living?

Well, when I was on the trapeze I was the acrobat who did the flips and got caught. My shoulders were getting worn out and I wanted to still fly through the air. I was always intrigued by the human cannonball and I got into fabricating and figured, “Well, at least I could still fly through the air if I was a human cannonball.” So I designed and built my own cannon 15 years ago.

You’ve added a few things to your show over the years. Now you’re shot from a giant crossbow while you’re on fire. How did that come about?

Yes. The neat thing about the crossbow is that it’s an open concept. It raises up to a 42-degree angle and you can see me get on top of the crossbow. Then you see me actually ignite on fire, then I burn for three seconds, then I am propelled across the arena at 40 feet high and I fly 110 feet in distance. I’m totally on fire the whole time, about 20 seconds total.

That definitely sounds entertaining for the audience, but I’m not sure about you.

It’s fun for me, too.

Anytime I see athletic spectacles like that, whether it be skateboarding tricks, pro wrestling or someone being shot out of a cannon, I always wonder how do you practice and figure out you are good at something like that?

I’ve been acrobatic since I was eight years old, so for me it kind of came natural. You have to have a lot of body control to know where you’re at, you have to know if you’re going to over-turn or under-turn because I’m actually flying like Superman. But I’m rotating at the same time that I’m doing a flip in the air and I land on my back on an airbag. So I have to be able to control the projection to make my body do the right thing and land the right way. It’s so dangerous that I don’t shoot anymore than I have to. I have a dummy that I shoot in case I need to test something or I’m not sure how high or far I’m going to go.

You met your wife while working in the circus and she used to work with you, first as the one who pulled the trigger, then joining you as the first double human cannonball couple. Was it more comforting or more stressful working so closely with your wife?

She’s actually retired. We have an 8-year-old daughter and my wife is going back to nursing school. So I’m actually traveling by myself now, but I wish she was here. It was much more comfortable with her.

Had you not made a career out of being an acrobat and a human cannonball, what other career paths do you think you might have followed?

Well, I will be driving a monster truck next year.

Oh, cool. I just interviewed Madusa a few weeks ago, who is a former professional wrestler who now drives a monster truck.

Yeah. The circus and Monster Jam are both owned by Feld Entertainment, so they want me to go perform at Monster Jam next year.

Would you still do the human cannonball stuff or devote yourself just to driving a monster truck?

I’m actually doing the cannon and driving a truck. Either at the beginning or at some point during the event, I’d still do the cannonball thing. I’m getting ready to celebrate 31 years as a professional entertainer and this is all I’ve ever done since I was eight years old. But to answer your question about what I’d be doing if I wasn’t doing this, I do a lot of fabricating and building equipment and designing equipment. It’s kind of like my hobby, and what I would probably be doing if I wasn’t a human cannonball.

For more information, go to www.ringling.com.

Wrestling with Pop Culture has complimentary passes to Fully Charged at Philips Arena Feb. 15-20 and at the Gwinnett Center Feb. 23-26. Just comment below with your favorite circus performer. We’ll randomly pick winners from correct answers until all of our passes have been claimed.