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Message from a Hall of Fame Trickster:

My name is Mark Farrington and I was a principal skater with Disney on Ice from 1988-1999. I was a comedic performer who in his career did over 50,000 stunt falls. I call them stunt falls because I put a lot of time into figuring out how to fall with the safest results.

I was very lucky to work with such talented people as Bill Wall and Jimmie Santee. Jimmie was my comedy partner for 3 years. Watching and studying these gifted comedians helped me become a better performer.

As a person who has performed in front of thousands of people, I learned that the safety of the audience and my co-workers was my number one priority when creating my stunts.

Stunt falls should be done with a certain amount of muscle relaxation. Learning how to let your body take the impact of the fall without much tension, not only helps your body withstand the fall without injury but gives a much more realistic look to the audience.

Falls that have a roll to them are the easiest. Then there are more difficult falls such as the face plant, side twists and back drops. All of these falls should first be practiced and mastered on off-ice mats before being transferred onto the ice.