Profile: Tim Mack, fire spinner

A concept designer for a video game company by day, Atlanta’s Tim Mack performs death-defying acts by night. Mack is a “fire artist” — but his scariest endeavor to date has been working as an animator on a low-budget film for the late Anna Nicole Smith

How did you begin working with fire?

I actually started from going to a lot of raves when I was a kid. At these parties, there were people with strings with glow sticks on the end, and I started being one of those people at the raves for a while. Then I went to Italy for a couple of months, and while I was there I met a gentleman who worked with fire. Of course, glow sticks aren’t boring — but fire is much more exciting.

Are you ever afraid?

It is in some ways intimidating, because it’s a ball of fire around you. But if you give into that fear, then you can’t really do anything. When you just go with it, the fear melts away.

What goes through your mind when you’re surrounded by a ball of fire?

It’s very much so a Zen moment. It’s quite an experience because of the sound. There’s a roaring noise all around you, and you can feel the heat all over your body. All you can see are a blur of faces. The only thing you can focus on is the five or six-foot area around you.