Human ashtray(s)

American sideshow performer Richie Magic (1st image) put Ripley's Times Square Odditorium in a bit of a bind. He was slated to do his act on Monday, May 23rd. That is the day that New York's ban on smoking cigarettes outdoors in the city's 1,700 city parks goes into effect. Magic made headlines in 2009 when he quit smoking on the day he set a world record for extinguishing 200 lit cigarettes in his mouth in the fastest time (6 minutes, 3.7 seconds). He was scheduled to attempt to break his own record and send an anti-smoking message - until Ripley's learned that he had not kicked the habit after all. He attempted to stop smoking after 40 years, but resumed after only 2 months. "We admire Richie for his courageous attempt to bring to light the harmful effects of smoking in such an outrageous fashion. We support Richie in his pursuit for a new world record. However, as Richie is still -- like many others -- battling his addiction to smoking, Ripley's Times Square has decided to cancel the upcoming event," read the prepared statement. If only they had secured London-based Missy Macabre (2nd image), they wouldn't have had to cancel the event...