Aaron Wollin is a man of two personas. On stage he is the world’s shortest daredevil, known as Short E Dangerously, expert in whipping the crowd into an intoxicating frenzy. He balances on freewheeling bowling balls, throws knives, and walks on fiery glass with his hands. “The high you get on stage is visceral, it's primal,” Wollin says. “It's two masses of energy colliding into each other.”

But offstage, once he hangs up his cowboy hat, his true self is revealed. “You have to have an on and off button,” he says. “You have to be able to separate the two personalities otherwise you're in trouble.” Wollin, who had his legs amputated when he was two and a half due to