Mike Johns

VISIT DALLAS: How did you first get involved with the State Fair of Texas, and how many years have you been part of it now?

Mike Johns: I first performed my strongman show at the Fair back in 2019. This is my 7th year here at the fair!

VISIT DALLAS: Tell us about a specific moment with a guest, visitor, or fairgoer that has stuck with you. What happened, and why does it still stand out?

Mike Johns: One thing that always feels special is when folks come back to see my show, year after year. Especially the younger audience members, watching them grow up and taking photos with me over the years. I have a couple who celebrates their anniversary at the fair and comes to watch me as part of it. I have a young man who was inspired to "get strong" and is now training to wrestle in the Olympics!

VISIT DALLAS: If someone is visiting the State Fair for the very first time, what's the one piece of advice you'd give them?

Mike Johns: I'd say just enjoy the moment and realize the history of it. These fairs are a way to disconnect from the digital world and go back to the old days when people would gather around to check out the biggest livestock in the area, to try unique foods, and to see traveling performers doing strange things like feats of strength.

VISIT DALLAS: What's one sight, sound, taste, or moment at the Fair that people really have to experience in person, something no photo or video does justice to?

Mike Johns: For me it's got to be the power of a big crowd coming together. Whether that's at the grandstand for a big music act or one of the many free entertainment options at the fair like my show, the dogs doing stunts, the pig races. There's something magical when people get together live in person and it taps into something special that you don't know you needed until you're there.

VISIT DALLAS: What's the most underrated part of the Fair, something first-time visitors are likely to miss but really shouldn't?

Mike Johns: Either something like the swan paddle boats, or of course, the Mighty Mike show! I have a lot of returning fans that come back because they randomly stumbled upon me during one of their visits.

VISIT DALLAS: How did you get into strongman performing, and what eventually brought you to the State Fair of Texas?

Mike Johns: It actually all started in Texas! At least the strongman part did. I grew up on the East Coast of Canada where there’s an annual Busker Festival that hosts amazing street performers from all over the world. Seeing those shows every year really inspired me. Over 10 years ago, I decided to pursue that dream of being a performer and I quit my job at an insurance company. Dennis Rogers, my strongman mentor, had me train at his studio in Houston to learn feats of strength and from there, I built a show, grew a moustache, got stronger and stronger… And now here I am a decade later with thousands of shows under my belt.

VISIT DALLAS: Walk us through what your show involves. What's the most impressive feat in your act?

Mike Johns: My mission is to bring the message of the 1920s strongman act to the 2020s and beyond. I perform several feats of strength like bending steel, and show off my two Guinness World Records, one of which I set right here in Texas in 2022. Make no mistake, though. This isn’t a history lesson or a display of strength. I try to make it as fun as possible. I bring comedy into the show and interact with the audience, keeping things entertaining, all while wearing a striped spandex onesie.

VISIT DALLAS: How do you train and prepare your body for a full run of daily Fair performances?

Mike Johns: It’s a year-round thing, I never really stop training. I learned early on that maintaining my overall strength was important and actually use a lot of old-time training methods. In the 1920s and even earlier there were strongmen promoting physical culture, using light weights daily and really promoting long-term strength and health (check out the morning system I use and adapted for a modern audience). Beyond that, I do a lot of grip strength work and I practice my actual feats of strength even when I'm not performing every day at a fair.

VISIT DALLAS: Is there a reaction from the crowd that never gets old, no matter how many times you see it?

Mike Johns: Honestly, most people haven’t seen a strongman show before. If we went back 100 years there were tons of acts like this and it's surprising to me that the genre has almost completely disappeared. So it’s a lot of fun trying to bring back the tradition with people of all ages. Older folks have a story of a time they saw something like this, folks my age want to try the feats of strength, and the kids become like me and get to be inspired to try impossible things themselves.

VISIT DALLAS: What do you want people to walk away feeling after watching your show?

Mike Johns: Entertained. I try to create the show I'd have wanted to watch myself when I was a kid. A show with jokes that would make me stop and pay attention if I heard them when walking around a fairground. And I'd like people to leave feeling inspired. I try to share the message that nothing is impossible, that hard work is what got me here, above all. I wasn’t born strong, I worked hard and tried my best, and you can too.