For those of you who have not seen his show: Manolete blends humor and action, with his boledoras (weights on rope) that swing too fast to follow but make a resounding crack on the wood stage, and his death-defying fire acrobatics with flaming ropes, torches, and even lighting the helmet upon his head. We heard him announce (and saw the sign) that he was coming up on his 1000th show on that stage and knew we needed to be there, front row, to witness such a milestone.