The hazards of a professional domino toppler
Every day at Old Home Week in Charlottetown, Bill Oakey spends 3½ hours to meticulously line up about 8,500 dominoes. And since it takes only about seven minutes for them all to topple — or about 25 dominoes a second — it's no wonder he keeps a close eye on his creation before it's time to officially set them in motion.
The barrier that keeps onlookers back can only do so much.
"There's actually nothing to stop the dominoes from falling if somebody were to toss something in," he says. "The only thing, I would have to run in and stop them myself. I can stop them, but it's how much do I lose before I stop them."
And yes, he says, there are many times when he accidentally knocks them over.
"Every time I do a display there's always some accidents. Usually because I'm setting them up too quickly and one will go backwards on me and then I'll reach out and grab them."
It's just one of the hazards that goes with being a professional domino toppler.
"It's a rare title, that's for sure," Oakey says, but it's something the Dartmouth, N.S., native has been dreaming about since he was 12 years old. He saw a domino toppling performance on a TV show in the 1980s called That's Incredible, and a week later bought his first box.
"Obviously I couldn't stop at that so I had to keep getting more and here we are."
Oakey says domino toppling is "half science and half art."
"The art goes mainly in the patterns that you set up, and the science is in the various stunts you set up, finding new and innovative ways to have the dominoes continue."
That could anything from a marble to bowling pins or something he might find in the toy section of a second-hand store.
"There are so many ways you can continue the chain reaction," Oakey says.
Each of his domino toppling shows has about 30 "stunts," and he says he's constantly looking for something new that will "ooh and ahh the crowd."
"People will yell out great show and things like that," he says. "People seem to love it."
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