Snapshot NY: The Great Throwdini, world's most accurate knife thrower, retired from teaching at age 50 to pursue his passion
NEW YORK -- The idea of switching careers at the age 50 might seem stressful, but a new line of work offers new opportunities to grow.
One man followed his passion 20 years ago and became the best in the world. In this week's Snapshot New York, CBS2's Steve Overmyer discovered you can find success even if you aim to miss.
"Honestly, to this day, 20 years on stage, that I haven't been backstage before walking out asking myself 'What are you doing?' One mistake, you go from hero to zero and you can seriously hurt somebody," David Adamovich said.
Adamovich, The Great Throwdini, is the world's fastest and most accurate knife thrower. He holds 44 world records and has been featured on numerous TV shows around the world.
And he's never missed ... Actually, all he does is miss.
"She literally has sharp knives being thrown at her," Overmyer said.
"Around, not at," said Adamovich. "As I like to say, they last a lot longer that way."
Knife throwing acts rose to fame in America in the 1800s as centerpieces of traveling wild west shows.
Through the years, stakes got higher, culminating in the spinning wheel of death and the veiled wheel of death. But only one man has performed the veiled double wheel of death.
"Not a lot of space when you have two girls on the veiled wheel of death," Overmyer said.
"While it's spinning almost a second per turn," Adamovich said.
In the field of impairment arts, success is not measured by hitting your target. It's how artfully you miss.
"Do you like to shock the audience a little?" Overmyer asked.
"Very often I will see people sitting in the front few rows kind of like, 'I can't watch this.' But they're watching," Adamovich said.
What's more, The Great Throwdini didn't pick up a throwing knife until he was 50.
"I'd like to look at it as saying I found myself," he said. "Perhaps all the good parts of all those things that I was, makes me who I am today."
Who Adamovich has become starts with where he's been.
"Retired professor with a doctorate in exercise physiology, paramedic, pool hall owner, professionally trained chef, ordained minister, and in my spare time, I throw knives," he said.
His home boasts racks of steel filled with blades from history, like the only known knives owned by Harry Houdini. His museum is also his practice arena.
He has a memorable way of making his point. This former professor left a job focused on stability and found a livelihood where the main motivator was self-expression.
"At any point in your life, it doesn't matter when it is, you may stumble on something that you just didn't know you had," Adamovich said. "Don't be afraid to make that change, even if it's entirely different than what you were. That change is still me."
