Moveable Fest review: Bending Steel

Chris Schoeck likes to introduce his act by saying, “I’m interested in things that were done between 1890 and 1910 on Coney Island,” a contradiction in modern times that’s proves to be only one of many for the diminutive strongman in Dave Carroll’s portrait “Bending Steel.” Given to grand statements such as “I get out of this steel what most people get out of personal relationships,” he’s got a long way to go if he wants to be a successful entertainer, as that specific statement would suggest, even without facing the considerable odds of making it as a performer of a bygone artform.

Schoeck isn’t a natural in front of an audience, which proves to be a double-edged sword in Carroll’s feature debut. At once, we’re the ones who have to spend time with Schoeck as he pursues his dream of bending a 2″ inch steel bar around his inner thigh in time for a showcase at Coney Island, hyping himself up with platitudes and appearing to be the greatest appreciator of his own company, [...]